Harlequin Themed Armies...
Hello everyone, it's been awhile! With the upcoming release of the new Andy Chambers book, "The Masque of Vyle", I wanted to take a moment to talk about one of my all-time favorite Eldar units; Harlequins! Harlies are one of the most unique units in the Warhammer 40k universe. In the early days of 40k (1st and 2nd edition), they were a staple in the Eldar army - in fact you could make an entire army out of Harlequins (hint, hint 6th edition Eldar codex writer). Then with the dawn of 3rd edition, POOF, they vanished! No more Harlequin models, and no Harlequin entry in the Codex. They did release an unofficial Codex in Citadel Journal, but it was pretty broken. The Solitaire could get rack up 10+ attacks that hit on 3's and killed on 2's - and would routinely wipe out entire squads (and consolidate into the next one).
They were back with a vengeance in 4th edition, as one of the nastiest units in the Eldar codex. Sixth edition brought about another change, as instead of being totally invisible at range, they instead get a very comfortable cover save. This changes how the units plays quite a bit, as you can't really let them be on their own anymore, but instead need to provide them with some sort of mobile cover (screening unit).
I can't think of any other units that have undergone such a roller-coaster "career" in Warhammer 40k. Nevertheless, they have a very loyal fan base. Below is the latest version of my "Hard to Kill" Harlequin themed army; thoughts below.
Harlequin Themed Army (1500) HQ - 425 Eldrad Ulthran (210)
Phoenix Lord Karandras (215)
Elites - 250 10 Harlequins (250) Shadowseer; 10× Harlequin's Kiss.
Troops - 387 19 Guardians (197) +1 Warlock (Conceal); shuriken cannon.
10 Guardians (95) scatter laser.
10 Guardians (95) scatter laser.
Fast Attack - 435 Nightwing Interceptor (145)
Nightwing Interceptor (145)
Nightwing Interceptor (145)
The core of the army is 10 Harlequins and 19 Concealed Guardians with Eldrad and Karandras attached. The fearless Guardian blob gets a 4+ re-rollable cover save thanks to Karandras, Fortune and Conceal. The Harlequins behind them get a 2+ re-rollable cover save thanks to Fortune. Together they make two annoying hard to kill units.
The Nightwings provide anti-tank and anti-air support. With a 5+ save and 2+ jink, they are also very annoying to kill! The two smaller Guardian squads hunker down in area terrain near objectives, and should probably go to ground any chance they get.
For the readers out there, what does your Harlequin themed army look like? Or, what Harlequin themed armies have you faced in the past?