On Harlequins and Fritz's Army

A few months ago, Fritz asked me to comment on Harlequins, given I was the only other person he's seen that uses them.  I didn't forget he asked, but I've waited for the appropriate time to address the question, so here we go.

Fritz said...Brent, I'd like to hear some of your thoughts on the Harlequins in your army. Nobody plays them anymore and opponent's don't seem to know what to expect- for that reason I've been getting in more games with my clowns, but it is still a WIP and fine tuning tactics. Last three tourneys I played in, with BOLS being the third out of everybody the only guy playing harlequins was you. Didn't see anybody else at BOLS, did you?

(Little shit-head broke some miniatures...  but I digress.)


No, I was the only Eldar player using Harlequins.  Given this question was on my mind, I looked around at various tournaments, including Hard Boyz, and there wasn't a unit to be found.


Fire Dragons is the short answer.  Any really good Eldar build will have at least two units of Fire Dragons, either in Wave Serpents or Falcons.  Often, all three elite slots have Fire Dragons in them; I won't touch on the reason why, as it is obvious.

In my opinion (born out by success on the table), Harlequins are still a great unit, but they have one huge fault: no dedicated transport.  They're strictly a foot unit.  Any decision to include them means you have to address the delivery system.  Walk or catch a ride?  Luckily they're fast, given terrain doesn't slow them down and they have fleet, not to mention the protection from shooting they get from Veil - but with 5th Edition trending toward mech, this is unpalatable to most people.  The Falcon is okay, but can get expensive; worse from the Harlequins perspective, there are only six spots in the ride so you can't max out the unit.

That said, this was done often enough it got a name, Clown Cars.  All well and good, but there is a reason we don't see 'em anymore.

To recap, taking Harlequins means you can't take Fire Dragons, so not only do you have to determine how Harlequins fit in the army you're putting together you also have to work out how you're going to destroy tanks.  Bright Lances are good, but not as good as Fusion Guns; they're also expensive.  Carry the excercise out and you find the simple decision to include the unit determines the entire composition and type of army you're running.

Fritz's army is a good example, from the post
http://saimhann.blogspot.com/2009/04/1750-eldar-harlequin-army.html

HQ: Eldrad
Elite: 10 Harlequins W/ 2 Fusion Pistols, Shadowseer, Death Jester, Kisses
Elite: 10 Harlequins W/ 2 Fusion Pistols, Shadowseer, Death Jester, Kisses
Elite: 10 Harlequins W/ 2 Fusion Pistols, Shadowseer, Death Jester, Kisses
Troops: 7 Rangers
Troops: 6 Rangers
Heavy Support: 1 Wraithlord W/ Flamers, Brightlance, Missile Launcher
Heavy Support: 1 Wraithlord W/ Flamers, Brightlance, Missile Launcher
Heavy Support: 1 Wraithlord W/ Flamers, Brightlance, Missile Launcher

Applying the logic I outlined, you'll see the entire army was built around Harlequins.  Obviously in this case he wanted to, but that's not the point, is it?  Fritz had to include multiple ways to destroy tanks, from the Fusion Pistols to the Brightlances and Missle Launchers it was a must-have.  He went further and included pinning as a tactic, in order to slow his opponent down and allow his Harlequins to choose the best assaults.

Are there other ways to build an army around three full-size units of Harlequins?  I've played around with a few ideas but didn't come up with anything particularly earth shattering.

Anyone got anything good?  The points was 1750.

Oh, and the comments are fixed - thanks for letting me know they were down.