First Harlequin Game - 1500pts vs Black Templar

I played a friendly game versus Black Templar to test out my new Harlequin army, and felt I should share my experiences.

I experimented with a barebone Revenge formation, with kisses and caresses distributed evenly among the three troupes. I brought Inriam's Spectre, thinking shrouding could be useful for my Warlord's unit, as well as the Blades of Fate.

I ended up winning the game; my opponent had five assault marines left in one corner, and I still had a full troupe, two shadowseers, one death jester on an objective, and the solitaire all alive.

Overall, Harlequins are first and foremost fun to play. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an alternative to their shooty DE lists, and they definitely fill a niche role for an elite, CC oriented army.


The Good:

The solitaire was amazing: he tied up a unit of crusaders for a turn, eventually killing them all with help of another troupe. He wrecked a landraider all by himself, and blitzed 15" in the final turn to slay the enemy's warlord. In the process he lost a total of one wound, largely thanks to the re-roll of ones granted by the formation bonus.

The formation itself does not feel overpowered (nowhere near a decurion), but I like the fact that its requirements match what I would bring in a detachment anyways. Unlike with the Solitaire, the re-roll is only marginally useful for the standard players, but the true benefit is the run and charge ability. It means that I am almost always the one charging, which is crucial against CC armies (like Black Templar), not to mention I am able to cross the board very quickly. It feels fluffy, and fosters the Harlequins' style of play.

The Mediocre:

The Spectre's shrouding did not help this game, mostly because the enemy in this case did not have a lot of firepower. I would expect him to be more useful against lists reliant on ranged weaponry.

I also found that Harlequins may be weak against CC armies, especially against ones that bring deathstars. If the charge fails to kill the unit (for example, against 10 assault marines), the riposte can be brutal. In the example, my warlord's unit charged into the assault marines, and were annihilated despite killing five of them. Granted, I made a mistake by shooting at them beforehand, which let them use their counterattack special rule. If I re-played the game however, I would have still committed to the charge as in this scenario it was a case of either charging or being charged (not to mention it was good fun   ). I can also imagine that against a deathstar, the inability to kill before being killed will directly counter the Harlequins' proficiency in CC and expose their fragility.

The Bad:

Following from my previous point, I don't think the Blades of Fate are good at what they are supposed to do. I tried to use them aggressively, even charging in turn 1, but like with the warlord's unit they died quickly after their round of CC attacks. I can see them being useful coming in from reserves and taking objectives, but in that case it would be a waste to take them over an upgraded Skyweaver unit. Of course, I might just lack experience with regards to knowing what and when to charge for me to use them efficiently.

Learning points:

Inriam's Spectre should not be brought against CC armies.

Skyweavers are best taken in larger units (3+), to ensure they survive subsequent rounds of combat (making Blades of Fate an unfortunate unit).

Don't shoot at Black Templar units you plan on getting into combat with!!

Remember to play on objectives; leaving behind Death Jesters or Shadowseers to hold objectives is definitely recommended.

Veil of Tears is absolutely key if a lot of things want to shoot you. If you can tell which units are going to be shot at, even better, as then you can save dice by not casting Veil. Towards the end of my game, I did not need it at all as I was able to just cast Fog of Dreams on my opponent's Whirlwind formation, effectively removing the last ranged threat.

Thanks for reading this far, and please let me know your thoughts/wisdom on the matter.

Great report, thanks Chickendinner. I really do have to get my Harlies painted, finally, and onto the table.

One question, were your troupes on foot or in vehicles to begin with?

Everything was on foot, as per some advice I had read in the forum previously. The main reason is the inability to cast Veil from the vehicle. Also, I would rather pay the points on larger troupes rather than Starweavers, which can't even fit the troupe, Death Jester, and Shadowseer together.

I can see them being useful in smaller games, probably, or when you have more troupes than Shadowseers to cast Veil.

As a final thought, I wish the Serpent's Brood was written better.

Honestly, the restriction on casting psychic powers or using other abilities from open-topped vehicles really annoys me. Open-topped vehicles already have huge drawbacks (+1 on damage table, the No Escape rule) and it just feels totally unnecessary and illogical. How can it be possible to use a witchfire from a vehicle but not a blessing? I notice in fact that a lot of the new-ish SM powers say that they can be cast from inside a vehicle but can only effect the unit embarked or the vehicle itself, which seems much more sensible.

/rant over

Honestly, even if casting Veil was not an issue, I would still prefer running larger troupes. I think. I have yet to try Starweavers.

Good Report, I disagree with putting everything on foot. I put all of my troupes in transports. I have a high level of shooting and have actually sat back 1 turn and shoot away against all CC Armies. Thin the numbers before charging in.


COUNT ADHEMAR PREACH IT!!!! Don't quit Ranting I agree 100%. I also annoyed they took away(in the FAQ) how things don't effect from inside vehicles. (Mask Of secrets in a Starweaver) I cant shoot my Shadowseer with the Mask of secrets up 30 Inches and cause 3-4 units to run off the board first turn. Why did they take that away?

/rant not over. GW QUIT SCREWING MY OPEN TOPPED TRANSPORTS!!!!!!

Fair enough, I guess it's a different style but worth experimenting with. What so you do with the extra Death Jester/Shadowseer that doesn't fit in the transport?

They walk, I usually try to give them some form of shrouded, IE Inram Spectre or Heros Path Formation. Also I do buy a transport for some of them. Just a Random transport as a Fast attack slot.


Like you I am still playing and getting the best setup. Usually I run the Masque Detachment, Heros Path, and Falchu's Formation. I have tried others I also like the big one from the book that allowes everyone to reroll failed saves of a 1. Makes Solitare really hard to kill.

Have folks tried a mix of ground and transport units? I ask because I only have one transport at the moment and have just tried one game so far. I suspect one large ground unit and two transported units would be fairly good.

The main problem with large troupes is that they kill too fast in close combat, meaning they will likely be exposed to shooting in your opponent's turn. Ideally, you want to be tied in combat for a round, then hit and run during your opponent's turn if necessary.

I am currently building another list, which I might post as well, but I am still unconvinced of the Starweavers. I just feel like they are points down the drain when I can be enlarging the troupes.

One thing to point out about Harlequins is our lists are (hopefully) going to change dramatically in the next few weeks. With the addition of the new characters, who will more then likely be available to Harlequins. This will allow us to take a HQ slot meaning we can take a CAD. Down fall being we would have to take one of those characters to make this work. The GOD of the Dead kind of looks Harlequiny.

Harleqiuns crossing the board behind the God Of the DEAD!!!!!