Harlequins

I love this formation. That Solitaire hits like a damn freight train.

I have been playing te Cast of Players now for awhile. It has taken center stage of my army now, but in the start I was just pulling it off the table before I did anything. Last game with them, they ate two Imp Knights, a bike squad and capped a ton of objectives.

Couple of pointers on it, go max size with at least five caresses. I put the storied sword on the master. Level two Shafowdeer with mask and ALWAYS cast Viel....even if you think you are getting stuck in combat. Hit and Run is amazing. Many times I am setting them up as counter charges turn one, every time I have gotten aggressive with them and started running actoss the board I have been seized on; so deploy for the sieze.

All in all, once you get the feeling for what even DE would call a Glads Canon unit you can do very well with this unit. It has very high initiative and the chance for a boat load of wounds. The one issue is that I wish Jesters had split fire. The only way I have found to get this is Illrith from the Forge World Shadow Specters.

Hannibal.Lictor wrote:

I have been playing te Cast of Players now for awhile. It has taken center stage of my army now, but in the start I was just pulling it off the table before I did anything. Last game with them, they ate two Imp Knights, a bike squad and capped a ton of objectives.

Couple of pointers on it, go max size with at least five caresses. I put the storied sword on the master.  Level two Shafowdeer with mask and ALWAYS cast Viel....even if you think you are getting stuck in combat. Hit and Run is amazing. Many times I am setting them up as counter charges turn one, every time I have gotten aggressive with them and started running actoss the board I have been seized on; so deploy for the sieze.

All in all, once you get the feeling for what even DE would call a Glads Canon unit you can do very well with this unit. It has very high initiative and the chance for a boat load of wounds. The one issue is that I wish Jesters had split fire. The only way I have found to get this is Illrith from the Forge World Shadow Specters.

Thanks for the advice and one question: do your Cast of Players just walk without vehicle? I've tried it several times in cover with veils, but always ends to failure. Is there any tip?

Forgot about this thread. Ok, my current CoP load out is 10 or 11 players, five with careses, the master with the storied sword, a farseer, and a succubus with armor of misery. I tend to deploy in cover and try not to get aggressive the first few turns. Once turn two hits you should be in range to start being nasty. You need to have multiple high threat units to run with them. Could be a grot crew, reavers, a wraithknight,....what have you. I recomend a unit of hornets; sadly they are hands down better than a ravanger.

You have to be sneaky with them, or you can WWP them for some truly silly shenanagains.

@Hannibal.Lictor -Thats interesting I just finished putting my Corsair equivalent of the Cast of Players together and was debating when and how to use it. Its very expensive and I can get 2 good solid CC units for the cost of Cast of Players alone.

But your experience is encouraging me to give them a whirl. What type of units do you go after with them? I'm trying to get more CC into my lists and was wondering about your overall strategy for them

10-11 players + ICs means no transport. You are actually footslogging them with success? Or would it be better to do 7 + 3 ICs (seer, jester, succ) to fit in a raider?

What I love about the formation are the four haywire grenades. Between pre-charge throwing + in combat that is 8 haywire attacks.

Cav, its sorta been a unit based on love. My first models that I bought was the old regiment of renown Quin box. Basically I stuck through the pain of figuring out this unit. The way I run them, they pretty much mulch anything they touch. A few times both my opp and I look at each other in bewilderment at the sheer number of wounds it puts out. Typically I have 3-4 Haywire nades, 25 caress attacks, the Singing spear and now Fuegan the Beat's Ap1 action (He has split fire and key as i will note later;) pretty much assured a dead imp knight. Against infantry you have a bunch of ap3, ap4, and basic attacks to pile on wounds long before inititive 4 rolls around.

All look out sirs are on a 2+, so management of ablative wounds is key (the 15 point chumps). But its the first turn or turn and a half that are vital for this unit. You need Veil of Tears...throw four dice, trust me. I tend to go for fortune on the farseer. With both of those powers you are pretty decent. I also run the sword wraithknight, he attracts a lot of hate. You have to be judiciously aggressive with these guys and try to get stuck in on the bottom half of the turn so you can hit and run out to charge that or another unit.

Split fire is key. Death is not enough is hilarious, but wasted if you cant target a second unit.

This unit becomes army defining and you need to support it properly. I personally love hornets and Shadow S[ecters with Shadows of Death (forve LD tests with 3d6 taking the two highest in a 12 inch bubble). A WWP succubus is also a nice add and lets you DS this unit where you need it and you can get off a crazy shriek and hope the jest pops something.

Its not for everyone, one failed Veil and the pain rolls in. The learning curve is steep. The look of total paradigm shift in the other guys eyes when your prissy dancing space elf emo clown killers prances across all his power armor is so worth it.