I had a few practice squad v squad matches with my harlies against close to equal points of my girlfriends Sentinels of Terra Imperial Fists. Normally I mathhammer this stuff out but wanted to show my gf what the harlies were capable of.
Match 1: 7 harlies, 2 embrace, 3 kisses vs 10 tac marines, heavy bolter, flamer. Lost half the squad going in. They still made it and I think won the combat but I only had a couple of models left and was probably outnumbered 2-1.
Match 2: 9 harlies, 2 embrace, 3 kiss vs 10 Assault marines, vet serg w/ PW, flamer. This match went better for the harlies as the over watch wasn't as strong and I had more bodies. The harlies won this one.
Match 3: 10 harlies, 2 embrace, 3 kiss vs 5 assault termies w/ 3 hammer/shield. Termies charged. I did it this way to see worst case scenario. Without the extra attacks and other charge bonuses the harlies get Id' say this is probably a losing combat. It's a good thing they can leave combat.
My dice rolls were pretty ordinary these games. After several rounds of the different combats I only inflicted 3-4 wounds from the Caress. I think the Caress will only be effective when taken en mass rather than just the two that come in the box. Also my attacks w/ the kisses were pretty bad too often only hitting 1/3 times each combat however I think 4-6 kisses in each unit is enough to sway combats in to your favour. Being hit back hurt. Wyches are so much tougher compared to harlies in that regard.
I think the kisses are the better stand alone option. If the shadowseer has access to say Prescience then maybe caresses will shine more.
I also despite not having the solitaire model yet, have the rules for him in the White Dwarf so decided to see how how'd go.
Match 4: Solitaire vs SM Captain, Artificer, Relic blade
The solitaire was winning this combat but not by much. I managed to inflict 2 unsaved wounds on the turn I used Blitz. In subsequent turns it wasn't that impressive.
I did want to try the solitaire out vs the tac squad as I think that's where s/he'll shine against rank and file troops. However I got the impression the GF was over it so we stopped there.
I knew this army would play very much like my wych cult did. I do hope the harlies get a unit that can charge first to absorb the over watch. I think their bikes will be pretty handy for this.
Still until their codex and all models are released all this is kind of pointless - but fun.
@ Dread, I dont anticipate I'll be painting my harlies any time soon. Im trying to get as much of the Imperial Fists painted before going back to uni at the end of the month. Also working on my phantom titans base with a friend so I can get back to work on him. So painting the harlies is on the back burner :p