Who’s got two thumbs and is pumped for the potential release of the Harlequin supplement? This guy!
Harlequins have always been one of my favorite aspects of the 40k lore and I love the aesthetic as well as how the models play on the tabletop, too (usually)! So, GW essentially telling us that they are coming out on the 30th through hints in the White Dwarf and their YouTube vide is very cool, indeed. I had played them back in 2nd and 4th and had nearly every model in the collection. I always loved the crazy mix of looks combining elements of the clown, to the dancer with Mohawks and a ninja mash-up in a single model!
Harlequins retell the fall of the Eldar through performance and are monsters in melee on the tabletop. The rumored changes to allow them to rend on the to hit roll, a la 4th ed, is nutso! Anyone who remembers that edition remembers 6 Harlies out of a Falcon being able to mince dang near anything they touched. Some of the other cool rumored gear is the ability to get a single Str6, Ap2, Instant Death on a 6 attack, and D3 HoW hits at strength 6, Fusion Pistols and an AP2 Fleshbane pistol in adition to Haywire. Very cool! We will see how it all pans out once we get the release of course, but I am excited for it.
The big part of this for me though, is the Solitaire coming back. Yes! He has been missing from the game for quite some time and is one of the all-time bad asses of the game. Among the Harlequins, he plays the role of Slaneesh and as such, is doomed to potentially be consumed by the Chaos God upon his or her death (Cageorch, the Harlequin God does try to save them at that critical moment!). Beyond that, the Solitaire has also always been a monster of damage dealing. The rumored rules sound pretty solid, with potentially 10, WS9, rending on the to hit roll attacks at crazy high initiative on a super fast model: this guy can rock the house. And while he is rumored to be T3, 3 wounds with EW, he will die in short order to small arms fire. You have to play him smart to keep him alive. Plus, his Blitz ability which is rumored to be a D6 of movement for the game turn (potentially 7D6″ of movement, ignoring terrain and intervening models, wow!) that is really cool. We’ll see though, this is all just rumors now.
What I really want to see is if we get Shadowseers, Mimes, and Death Jesters? They are super fun and have always played a big part of the story of the Harlequins, too. Plus, Jetbikes, maybe? A Harlequin Wraithlord? Some type of transport?
But the big question for me is what it always has been: how to reliably get them into combat? At T3, expensive, and with only a 5++, they die like dogs to small arms fire. You HAVE to have a way to deliver them or they won’t be worth a hoot, even if they do hit like a freight train. Previously, Veil of Tears made them awesome at running up the table on foot, but that was changed with the current rendition of the Shadowseer. You could toss them in a Dark Eldar Raider, but if that thing explodes, most of the Harlies inside are going to die an expensive death…and you know they will be a high target priority.
So, we’ll see. That is the riddle you need to solve for the Harlequins to make them not only cool and interesting but useful.
What are you all most excited about with Harlequins?
I really like the idea of a new(old) race/faction coming back.. love the fluff and the idea of a mostly assault army.
Everything about it has me happy 🙂
britch prease
Yeah, these guys will be MC killers in a big way if done right.
Fingers crossed here … 🙂
So you guys actually think this will be a whole new army? I think it’ll be more like a minidex alá Inquisition. Still awesome though! And there’s actually pictures out confirming all stats etc above! This looks like a really fun addition to the game though, and I guess they actually steal the role of Glasshammer from DE. ^^
It will be a faction unto itself I am sure, but, it won’t be a full army, I imagine. I am excited, regardless!
Talk Wargaming posted some leaked pics from the new WD:
http://www.talkwargaming.com/2015/01/leaks-new-plastic-harlequins-confirmed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Talkwargaming+%28TalkWargaming%29
Yeah, they look deadly on the offense, just need some defense to get to where they’re going.
Oh wow, super excited.
If you are going to make an army that only requires one plastic kit, please consider sisters next time around, 🙂
We’ve been hearing Sisters are actually done, just waiting for a release date.
We’ve been hearing that for ten years now.
They’ll arrive with the plastic thunderhawk. Promise.
The leaked image of the Troupe refers to a Starweaver Dedicated Transport so that *might* be the answer to how to get them into combat if it’s an assault vehicle.
Yeah, so long as it isn’t paper thin!
AV9, Open-Topped, Heavy
everyone knows double digit AV is cheese garbage
I want a heavy support unit of all death jesters lol
If they all can carry a Brightlance as in days past, that would be killer!
I’ve never been a huuuge fan of the clown aesthetic (as such, the Shadowseer and Deathjesters are my fav looking harlequin models till now)
But I love their lore and backstory, and their new models look sexy, especially the Solitaire, and upon seeing all his cool rules and stats, I can’t wait to get my hands on him – bringing an elfy assault to my dark eldar 😀 (where assault is currently taken up by non-elfy things like grotesques :P)
Hopefully the new shadowseer has something that can help protect the harlies better, or that this “starweaver” is a decent transport for them (quite excited to see what it looks like)
Same here. I hope they get some way of crossing the table. I’m excited to see the new vehicle, too!
If they flesh them out enough where you can play them as a stand alone force (Or even with minimal allies) I’ll be all over this release.
Played Harlies back in the ancient times.
I hope the transport (Maybe a flyer?) and Jetbikes get solid rules.
I’ve been itching to add a frail finesse army to the stable.
Great to see them back!! They were absolutely lethal way back when, particularly in the hands of good player. Maybe they’ll take another look at squats (loved the bikes, trikes, & thudd guns).
All the transports needs to be is open topped, able to outflank, able to assault on first turn deployed… it can be AV1 after that.
With the rules posted from the white dwarf, he looks like a better imperial assassin. Has to be by himself, but a ridiculous collection of rules and gear for 145 pts. 3++ save. eternal warrior, moves 12″ normally, strikes at I 10.
Yeah, looks boss mode, for sure.
I would love to see them get the dark eldar webway portal rules un masse. They are after all the masters of the webway…
The fact that mimes haven’t been mentioned is weird to me… They are such a big piece of the fluff. It seems like putting out mime minis and keeping the current harlequin minis would expand the army quicker, right? I’m mean who doesn’t want infiltrator assassin clowns!
Highwarlocks with a seer council could work too.
Haywire grenades on jetbikes would just tickle me pink.
And a d cannon wraithlord (now that’s I’m wish listing)
In short I hope they don’t just keep the codex to models they have. Or at least just put out a wraithlord face cover!
(one for the wraith knight too while you are at it :P)
I’ve given up on even trying to not shit my pants every time I look at these new models. Pulled out my copy of the 1989 Compendium last night and strolled down memory lane with that old iconic Harlequins list.
And then shit my pants again when I realized that some of that stuff is coming back!