Harlequins

**computertrucker** · 30th December 2011 21:33

So my fiancée might try out war gaming. So far she seems to like legion of everblight from hordes, dark elves from warhammer fantasy. The only thing she really seemed interested in 40k were the harlequins. I'm a huge warmahordes fan but the game is a little more complex rules wise. And I really haven't had a lot of interest in getting back into warhammer fantasy. Also I am just getting back into 40k. So i would love to have her get into it along with me.

So my question is this is it possible to do a mainly harlequin army? Are there any HQ choices that turn them into troop choices? Are they a viable choice?..are they competitive. Last thing I would want is for her to get into a game and lose all the time.

**Morr** · 30th December 2011 22:23

No HQ=troop choice, they are always going to be elites but if you wanted a pure Harlequin force it would be easy to proxy them as guardian storm or even better use the harlequin bikers as bikers for your troops and a few big groups of harlequins for your elites. You could easilly proxy a Troop master in place of an Autarch and to a large extent the rules would also make sense.

Competative? No but if your just starting it wont make much difference anyway and if its a themed army your after your going to be hard pressed to find a competative one. Personally I wouldnt worry abour competativeness too much unless your going to tournaments.

**warchitect** · 1st January 2012 20:50

Yup, if you go themed, your gonna lose a lot...happens to me.
if you go to a tournament, you need a "cheese" army, but people dont like playing those games,
usually amounts to no fun for your opponent.

They do have a old school complete "unofficial" harlequin codex...maybe you could check that out.

**Aeviaan** · 1st January 2012 21:14

There is an old harlequin dex, lots of fun, but 10 years old means that many points cost (25 per harlequin, 10 for kisses, etc) make it hard to work with. Easily do-able though. Check for it on scribd. Also, if you put 30 in elites, it'll be hard, but doable. Look up WayofSaimHann on youtube, he had a harlequin army for a while, and it looked like a lot of fun to play! Many people hate on fritz, but I think he is a cool guy, and a great way for a beginner to get into eldar.

**warchitect** · 2nd January 2012 02:26

Theres nothing to say that your eldar cant be painted in the harly fashion. So a normal army, with guardians and stuff, and instead of looking stupid in blue and yellow, are painted with checks and other harly patterns..etc...make up a craftworld where Harlequins are emulated in all aspects of warriors...

**Morr** · 2nd January 2012 22:14

Originally Posted by warchitect

Yup, if you go themed, your gonna lose a lot...happens to me.
if you go to a tournament, you need a "cheese" army, but people dont like playing those games,
usually amounts to no fun for your opponent.

They do have a old school complete "unofficial" harlequin codex...maybe you could check that out.

If you have a themed army your success on the field will depend entirely on the temperament and competancy of your opponent.
If you go to a tournament people will use what they consider to be the best or at least better builds for sure and often with little diversity although how fun these match's are often depends on both how you and your opponent play and your behaviour. After all Tournaments wouldnt be quite so popular if people didnt find them fun. Its horses for courses really.
There are many harlequin dex's on the internet, most of which are exceedingly overpowered/biased or restrictive dependant on the author. As a new player it might be best to use a GW certified codex with GW models and who knows the rest of the eldar army might hold some appeal.

**Novasry** · 2nd January 2012 22:18

Remember, Harlies can also be taken in a DE army, and Wyches would be a much better match up.

**Sybrite** · 3rd January 2012 01:49

Originally Posted by Novasry

Remember, Harlies can also be taken in a DE army, and Wyches would be a much better match up.

I have to agree with this, if you want to dress an army up in the guise of harlequins, DE is a much better codex as they have better CC units to fill out their troop choices
for regular eldar, I just don't see Dire Avengers, Defender guardians, ranger/pathfinders, even stormguardians pulling much beyond a costume act for a harlie theme. wyches are a much better fit

**computertrucker** · 5th January 2012 01:18

hmm well i know she has no interest in playing in tournaments.. at leastnot right now.. She will be a total newb to wargaming. Thanks for all the tips though. Right now i am still waiting for her make her mind up between WFB and 40k still.

If she goes WFB I will most likely pick up a new army along with her. I have an old Bretonnian (Knights knights knights) army. From what I hear you cant play them that way anymore due to the horde rules. So I might start collecting tomb kings or Vampire Counts while she does Dark Elves. Even though I am still keeping my fingers crossed she will decide to go with 40k.

**Aeviaan** · 5th January 2012 02:00

Brettonians are still fine, and calvary are still dangerous. Just not I'll-run-5-into-your-front-and-run-you-down dangerous. They are a finesse unit now, not something to bludgeon the enemy with.