Topic: Newbie Harlequin player seeks advice

[Faeluchu]

Hey there,

I picked up the new Harlequin Codex as soon as it got out, since they're my favourite army lore-wise, and since after Christmas my one measly Troupe got bolstered by a Starweaver I've decided to finally get some work done and assemble all of them. While the vehicle itself poses no problems since it has no options at all, the Troupe, with a plethora of weapons to choose from, is a wholly different matter. After looking at what they can take I've boiled it down to:
Neuro disruptor: short range, nice AP, almost automatic wounding, useless against vehicles. Basically good for frying MEQs and TEQs, as it bypasses their armour. Not expensive
Fusion pistol: nice S, nice AP, very short range. Basically one-shot thing useful against anything, especially vehicles. Expensive
Harley embrace: The "I'm gonna charge you" weapon. Cheap
Harley kiss: Basically gives them one very good close-combat attack that is almost sure to wound with its high S and to bypass armour. Cheap
Harley caress: Bladestorm for Harlequins, except that it triggers on hit, not on wound. Not very expensive

Are there any options that are deemed just not worth the effort and too inefficient? Are there any must-have picks? My potential opponent pool is quite large, as I could potentially be paired with Tyranids, Space Marines of all sorts, Chaos, Tau, Orks, other Eldar or Necrons and I don't really want to magnetise all those arms just to switch loadouts between battles (although that might be a nifty idea...).

My thought process so far: with Harlequins I want to get them into close combat and fast, preferably while charging. While the ranged weapons sure are nice, they're relatively points-expensive and they might be a bit too effective - if I kill that first guy and fail to charge the whole unit it will hurt. Fusion pistol seems like the better bet of the two, since it can be used against anything, vehicles included, but it has extremely short range, so I'll basically have to move my guys almost into base-to-base contact to actually use it (hyperbole, I know, but it still kind of stands). Neuro disruptor, on the other hand, is a bit cheaper, has the same chance of killing non-vehicles and has a better range. I'm a bit tempted to take one of both just to be sure, but I also don't want to overkill it, since all Harlequin stuff is a bit expensive points-wise (at least when compared to a Guardian or a Dire Avenger ).
As far as melee goes I'm not sure about the embrace, as it only works on the initial turn and that only if I'm charging, otherwise it's useless; similarly the caress relying on getting 6s to hit, which with, what, 4 Attacks on charge can be a bit of a problem. The Kisses seem good and I see almost no reason not to outfit everyone with one. Maybe a caress for the Master just for the additional Attack and kisses for the rest? Again, overkill much?

The way I see it now, with a standard 6-player Troupe (well, I call it standard since that's the amount the Starweaver can take) I could potentially take one caress, three kisses, one fusion pistol and one neuro disruptor, which should give me a nice all-purpose troupe... but at a significantly higher cost than a full-10-man Avenger squad with an Exarch or a fully-outfitted Wave Serpent. Is that putting too many eggs in one basket or are simply Harlequin units like that: expensive? Seeing that the whole Masque should have only 3 Troupes it might be the latter...

Oh, also in the first few games I'll use my Harlequins as an Allied detachment to my Eldar, since right now my collection stands at 2 Troupes (one the pre-Codex Finecast ones, the other the new plastics), one Starweaver and a Shadowseer, so unless my gaming group decides on some sort of combat patrol tournament they're gonna be attached to their Craftworld brethren.

So, what to do? Go crazy and outfit them with everything I can get my hands on? Go conservative? Lose the next month or so magnetising everything, so I don't have to worry about it now? Any comments and criticisms, especially coming from battlefield experience, are more than welcome.

Cheers

[Grand Master Lomandalis]

My own experience with my Harlequins has lead me to the path that specialising a squad is the way to go.  The main reason is, as you pointed out, no weapon is spectacular on its own.  Having the Caress on a single model with 4 attacks is kind of underwhelming, but having the Caress on 6 models with 24 attacks is better.  Or you could go crazy like I did and bump them up to 10 models, where the Caress is affecting 41 attacks on the charge.  Also, don't knock the Embrace.  It may not seem like much, but it is a great weapon if you find yourself facing a hoard army like Orks or Tyranids.  The sheer number of attacks you can get from a small number of Harlequins can be staggering.

Now, I also looked closely at the pistol upgrades for the Troupes when I was building my list.  What I found is that, more often than not, they are not worth the points.  Yes, the Neural Disruptor looks cool, but Harlequins are made to be in combat.  If you are doing anything that will potentially endanger their chance of making a charge, it usually isn't worth it.  Their Shuriken Pistols are more than enough shooting for what they need.  As for the Fusion Pistol, it is one of the only ranged anti-tank weapons the clowns have.  However, with the low number of shots, you are probably looking to cause an explode result.  And if you are wanting to penetrate, it means you have to be really close to the vehicle.  That'll mean that if the vehicle does explode, there is a very good chance it is taking a good chunk of your squad with it as you will not have the protection from Veil of Tears to save you.  Leave it at home and let the rest of the army deal with tanks.

[Aoitora]

My clowns have only gone up against Imperial Fists and Necrons so my views on quins are slanted towards fighting tougher opponents.

First of all I agree with what GML said about the pistols. They are very expensive and shuriken weapons are pretty OP for a basic fire arm to begin with. I like taking haywire grenades on my troupe masters for close range anti-tank. Very reliable and zero chance of losing half your squad in the explosion.

For CC I like to outfit them about 66-75% with an upgraded CCW and leave the rest up the front to die first. My weapon of choice would be the kiss for its reliability. At times I wonder why I bother taking anything else when my caresses and embraces just bounce off my opponent.

At 1500 I run 2x 8 clowns with 5 kisses and 1x 8 of 5 caresses. I don't think sprinkling a weapon or two would be good enough and I do like to specialise my squads as well. If you did want to sprinkle however I'd go with a kiss.

I actually quite like the Storied Sword paired up with Embraces but you've got to keep in mind my main opponents here. It looks quite expensive on paper but if you instead just compare it to a normal power sword it's not so bad for what you get.

Btw I have magnetised all the CC arms and would recommend it. Never know what will change in future editions so it's good to future proof yourself.