Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Eldar Harlequins

Eldar Harlequins are back as an army in their own right with their own Codex, preview rules for many of their units can be found in White Dwarf issues. The Codex itself is available in digital or in print now.

Why Play a Harlequin Army

If you're an Eldar player for any stretch of time, you'll probably have the models. The previous Craftworld & Dark Eldar codex forced you to choose between Harlequins in Elites, of other units such as Incubi, Banshees, Trueborn, or Fire Dragons, so it became a difficult choice to take the jack-of-all-trades clowns over another unit with a more specialist role.

Now you can take an entire army of the psychedelic laughing trolls as its own force, or as an allied force to one of your own detachments.

Reasons the new Harlequins are awesome:

• They are fantastic in assault, though this has always been the case.
• They have army-wide access to loads of AP2 weaponry.
• The new Phantasmancy psychic discipline has some very good powers for both defense and offense.
• Army-wide Fear.
• Army-wide (except for Starweavers and Voidweavers) Furious Charge and Hit-and-Run.
• Everybody has an invuln save!
• Lots of easy access to Haywire.
• Your footsloggers ignore difficult terrain and don't face penalties for charging through cover.
• The look on your opponent's face when you Blitz your Solitaire 24" and bitch-slap his special snowflakes in melee.
• In certain detachments, the Harlies gain the ability to run and assault, starting on turn 2.
• You can go absolutely hog-wild when modeling and painting them, and it'll still fit with the fluff.

Reasons they are not awesome:

• Like all Eldar, they are squishy. A 5++ invuln is still only a 5+.
• Absolutely zero long-range support - their longest ranged weapons are 24".
• No HQ, which precludes them from playing in a lot of tournaments as a solo army.
• Bound armies are hit with some ridiculously heavy taxes.
• Voidweavers as mandatory Heavy Support choices is almost as silly as 3E HS Scourges.
• Starweavers only carry six clowns.
• Absolutely no real source of anti-flyer weaponry.
• They're expensive both points-wise and in IRL monies.
• The look on your opponent's face when you Blitz your Solitaire 6", only to have all of his attacks miss or bounce off a standard Tactical Squad.

Special Rules

Warlord Traits

Like the Inquisition codex, the Harlequins have their warlord traits broken up into several sub sections, the first three traits are generic while the remaining three depend upon your Troupe Leader's choice of Light/Dark/Twilight. Note that if you want a Death Jester or Shadowseer as your warlord, you may only roll a D3 (therefore excluding you from the three tables, but also drastically increasing the reliability with which you can predict what your warlord trait will be), but you can always roll on the BRB warlord traits if you want something else. Only "Troupe Master" the Troupe's "Sergeant" can roll for the higher traits. Solitaires get no Warlord Traits.

1. - Re-roll 1s to-hit and saving throws of 1

2. - Warlord receives a 4+ invulnerable

3. - Warlord and his/her unit may add 1" to any form of movement (move, run, charge, consolidate, fall back, etc)

Light

4. - Add FOUR to seize the initiative attempts

5. - Before deployment, D3 units can Deep Strike, Scout or Infiltrate (your choice, in any combination)

6. - After deployment and after scout moves, you may remove the Warlord and D3 units of your choice and redeploy them or put them into reserves.

Twilight

4. - You may add or subtract 2 from game end rolls if you want the game to go on a little longer or end sooner.

5. – Any to-wound roll in close combat of a six has instant death (Kisses on 5+ )

6. – Once per game instead of moving, the warlord and his unit may “leap” 24” in any direction, ignoring any intervening models or terrain, but cannot charge that turn

Darkness

4. - enemy units in base contact with the warlord's unit roll an additional D6 when taking Fear or Morale checks, and take the worst.

5. - At the end of the game, but before the winner is declared, the Warlord and his unit get one EXTRA turn exclusively to them, so they can move, shoot and assault as normal, or fight on if already engaged.

6. - If your warlord ever gets killed in a challenge, roll off with your opponent, if you win or tie, your opponent's challenging model (opposite model in challenge) gets removed as a casualty as well (no saves or comebacks)

New Psychic Discipline: Phantasmancy

Primaris. Veil of Tears - Warp Charge 1. You know it. You love it. You swear by it. Anyone who tries shooting at your psyker's squad has to roll 2d6x2. If they're not within a distance equal to the result, you won't get hit. Would be great if Shadowseers could take jetbikes, but it's still infinitely better than Night Fighting.

1. Dance of Shadows - Warp Charge 1. Grants Stealth & Shrouded to a unit within 18". It is better than Conceal because it can affect a target other than the Psyker; this becomes very impressive on allied Dark Eldar units (like Wyches) who are generally quite fragile anyway and need some protection against shooting. Cast this on a Venom or Starweaver for 2+ cover jink save, that lets you charge.
2. Peal of Discord - Warp Charge 1. A 9" nova that brings 2d6 S4 AP- Concussive hits. It seems to be good for keeping mobs at bay as prep for a charge.
   • Alternate Opinion: This one is pure, undiluted shit, since Concussive only takes effect on models that took damage from it. Most models have only one Wound to start with and most that have more won't give a shit about a couple S4 hits with no AP. And even if you use it simply for hurting hordes, just about every other Nova in the game does the job better.
     • Opinion the Third: While the attack seems small, it does auto hit all units within 9" and drops 2-12 hits (average 7) on each. While you won't wound with all those hits, think of all those saves you force on an enemy, and most enemies only need to roll a single 1 to be taken out. could technically kill air units as well, assuming S4 can glance / wound them.
     • Opinion goes Fourth: Works nice against MC with higher Initiative than Harlequins (namely Daemon Prince) since you need only 1 wound to make him I:1. Average 7 automatic hits, as per nova rules, wounding on 5+ so 2-3 wounds and armour save 3+ means that you can possibly deal 1 wound on average rolls (harder against DP of Tzeentch since he can re-roll 1, but if you're lucky).
3. Shards of Light - Warp Charge 1. 3d6 S3 AP- witchfire shots at 24" with Blind. Not fantastic since many armies have high enough stats to both tank the shots and pass the blind test, but very good for distracting Tau (most Tau suits have Black Sun Filter that gives them immunity to blind, though, so not so useful as it could seem. Retains his usefulness against fire warriors and pathfinders), Orks, or Necrons with low Initiative scores and foiling their plans to shoot or assault. Necrons in particular will hate you for this power, particularly everything with a Tesla weapon.
4. Fog of Dreams - Warp Charge 2. Forces a unit within 24" to only fire snap-shots and only hit in combat on a 6. Not quite as awesome as the Veil, but this one's useful for combat too, and unlike Shards of Light, it's a Malediction so you don't need to roll for it to hit them or worry about them passing the blind test. Causes a rules paradox when cast on Kharn. Yeah but he Denies on a 2+, so don't bother trying. This is AMAZINGLY powerful when used against some Uber-unit, like a Knight, Draigo with his Paladins, a Baneblade or even a Titan. Also kind of fun to cast on an enemy units with a psyker that casted invisibility, essentially reversing its effects and making the unit useless for that turn. Yes, you wouldn't be able to kill it, but it will also be unable to do shit.
5. Laugh of Sorrows - Warp Charge 2. A witchfire (range 24) with two ways to screw the enemy over - after hitting the target as normal, they must roll two separate Leadership tests. If the first one fails, they take a wound for every point they fail it by; if they pass the second one, they take a wound for every point they pass it on; in both cases, no armor or cover saves allowed. Quite frankly, this is very capable of being the most trolltastic power ever because it'll have a way to wound literally any enemy who can't deny it or get lucky with leadership tests, since high or low, your opponent's leadership values will catch him out. Remember, invulnerable saves and feel no pain both work against it.
6. Mirror of Minds - Warp Charge 2. Another violently trolltastic power; this one is a focused witchfire (range 24), but remember, 3 dice to cast means double sixes 8.33% of the time. After hitting, you and the enemy model (not unit) each roll a d6 and add your Leadership to the result; if you win or draw, they take a wound with no armor or cover saves allowed; they win and it's over. Sounds like Purge Soul from Sanctic, right? Well, it isn't; you get to do it again and again for each win you take until your enemy either wins or dies.

• Combo this with the Mask of Secrets and go hunting Monstrous Creatures.

Harlequin Masque Detachment

The Harlequins, of course, have their own detachment, which is probably for the best since they don't have any HQ choices to fill minimum slots for any other Battle-Forged FOCs.

The Masque requires 3 Troops, 2 Fast Attack and 1 Heavy Support as Compulsory choices (and no more of these types) and up to seven optional Elite slots for characters. You can now stock up on all your Phantasmancy powers.

For this, you get the mandatory WT re-roll and all Fleet units can run and assault within the same turn at turn 2. You are effectively the best assault army out there now.

Wargear

Melee Weapons

• Harlequin's Kiss - Done a little differently now, you roll one attack separately which is resolved at S6 AP2, and any 6s to-wound on this attack have Instant Death.
• Harlequin's Caress - A power glove (so bad) that does the old job of the Kiss, grants auto-wounding/glancing AP2 melee attacks on 6s to-hit. This synergizes well with your Troupe Master who has an extra attack and thus more chances to benefit.
• Harlequin's Embrace - D3 Hammer of Wrath attacks at S6. This combined with Hit and Run makes for some devastating charges.
  • Analysis - Going against hordes? Take Embraces for around 6 hits per model on the charge - just remember that it's the worst of the three when NOT charging. Going against MEQ, TEQ, Armor? Take Caresses for that sweet sweet AP2 better-than-rending. Going against lots of Monstrous Creatures? Kisses are your best friend. In all reality a good mix is a good way to go (not to mention the box only comes with 2 Caresses and 2 Embraces). Kisses are probably the most situational and arguably worst of the three, although an S6 AP2 attack isn't anything to sniff at; the Caress is almost certainly the most versatile.
    • Opinion - Keep in mind that Hammer of Wrath only triggers for models which get into base contact. This makes the Embrace even more situational, as it can be hard to get an entire squad of them into base contact, and if you just take a few and place them at the front of the unit, you risk losing them to Overwatch. The real choice is whether you want a Kiss or a Caress - the Caress does slightly more damage and can damage vehicles, but weighs in at an extra three points per model.
  • Modeling Note - Need more Embraces? Yank the needle off of a Harlequin's Kiss and add a bit of green stuff. Boom. Done. Some of the open-hand pieces, plus a little green-stuffery can make useful Caresses, too.
• Miststave - Unique to the Shadowseer, it grants +2 strength, Concussive, and Fleshbane. This means that, on the charge, a Shadowseer gets five (+1 for charging, +1 for two CCWs) S6 (+2 from Miststave, +1 from Furious Charge) Fleshbane and Concussive attacks at I7. Yes, it's that awesome. It has no AP value, unfortunately, but you're bound to cause at least one wound on all but TEQs. And that one time that you Falcon Pawnch their special snowflake to death in one round of close combat, before anything else happens, is pure gold.

Ranged Weapons

• Neuro Disruptor - AP2 Fleshbane pistol means people are going to die, especially when each player in a troupe can carry one; it costs a fair bit, but is still cheaper (and safer) than a plasma pistol in most other armies, although the plastic kit apparently only comes with the option for two. Watch out, though, because it does exactly zip to vehicles (while the shuriken pistol can at least glance AV10).
• Fusion Pistol - More expensive and shorter ranged, but good against vehicles. This has always been around Harlequins, and not much has changed with this weapon. Only take if you have no other means of tank-hunting. One thing to note - the melta range is 3" which is TERRIBLE if you cause a vehicle to explode in your T3 face. Great. You killed a vehicle. It exploded and killed three of your guys. The inhabitants of that vehicle shoot the rest of your guys to death. Get your anti tank from allies, skyweavers, or voidweaver, and give this a pass. ALT TAKE: hunting vehicles with this thing is silly. Your targets are MCs and TEQs, leave tank hunting to other choices. Still not very good, but dont immediately dismiss it just because it can't safely kill a Land Raider.

Wargear

• Hallucinogen Grenade Launcher - Is this...some apology for how crap the Dark Eldar grenades were? Well, here's the lowdown: If a unit's hit by it, they have to test for pinning. If they fail pining, they not only get pinned, but they also take a randomly assigned unsavable wound. Works amazingly with Mask of Secrets and the CW Eldar Hemlock or DE Armor of Misery for canceling out overwatch.

• Holofields - Now they do give a basic 5+ Invul.
• Mirage Launcher - For one turn, you get to up a vehicle's Invul to a 4+ against shooting attacks. Considering that they're all about as strong as paper-mache, it's a good thing they're here.

Enigmas of the Black Library

• Crescendo - Troupe Master and Shadowseer only. A Shuriken Pistol that can fire as many times as a model has attacks. Cheap, and baller ability thanks to how many chances you get to use Bladestorm.
• Cegorach's Rose - A master-crafted Harlequin's Kiss with Shred for a Solitaire or Troupe Master. Pretty useful.
  • While it may seem that this weapon is great for your Solitaire, never give it to him. Sure, that one S6 attack is hell on wheels thanks to it, but the Shred does not confer to the Rending attacks the Harlequin's Caress gives you.
    • It does, however, allow you to re-roll your Kiss attack if it misses, and there are situations where Shred is more useful than the Caress.
      • If you want re-rolls to hit, use a psyker! Then you can re-roll the to-hit rending Caresses attacks as well! Shred is wasted on 1 attack that can only cause one wound!
        • Shred on the kiss gives you another chance for an isntant death 6 against MC's and necron overlords. I think at this point its fair to say try it out and see if it works in your meta.
• Mask of Secrets - Grants a Shadowseer Fearless and enemies within 12" take -2 Leadership, which melds well with their innate Fear. Good with Mirror of Minds, but be careful with Laugh of Sorrows - for example, against an LD 10 unit, this will reduce their average number of wounds.
  • Since you can roll your Powers off of Telepathy, you can combo this one wonderfully with Psychic Scream. Ld test on 3D6 with a -2 penalty, taking Wounds that allow no Armour or Cover for the difference? Yes please.
    • Since it's written "Enemy models within 12...", and leadership is taken on the best possible value for any Model in the squad, be aware that Mask Of Secrets might do nothing when you can't cover the whole unit. It's still a steal for the points.
• Laughing God's Eye - Friendlies within 12" have Adamantium Will. It's handy to throw on a Shadowseer for bonus denying power.
• Starmist Raiment - Expensive, but it grants the user a 3+ Invulnerable save when you run until its next shooting phase. That's a good distraction if you know how to kite. The Masque detachment and a formation, starting from Turn 2, lets you run and then assault, which makes you extremely hard to hurt on the turn you charge.
• Storied Sword - Master-crafted frost sword apparently stolen from the Space Wolves (S+1, AP 3). Quite sadly, it's wayyyyy too expensive to justify. Also, only Troupe Masters can take it. Better off with a Caress or a Kiss or even Cegorach's Rose unless your meta is full of 3+ saves and really short on 2+. It could be handy for challenge-sniping Librarians, some Chaos Champions and maybe Captains who didn't take Artificer Armor, but it's very niche at best. Also perhaps helpful against Necrons but be aware that their characters usually have invulns too.
  • This artifact is actually pretty good. You're troupe master gets 5 attacks at strength 5 ap 3 which is nothing to sneeze at because usually harlies struggle wounding power armor marines but now you are wounding them on 3's which could take out most of a squad.

Army List

The army list is -expectedly- not very large, and mostly contains a single unit per slot.

Troops

Harlequin Troupe - A change up from what it used to be in the Craftworld codex, they now come in squads of 5-12 and the Troupe Master got a welcome boost of +1 WS, W & I turning him into a viable army warlord in his own right who can take from the relics list, he can also take a power sword, but you're probably better served giving him a kiss or caress to help him chew up 2+ save characters in challenges. Don't forget to take along haywire grenades - first time you have to deal with a Ghost Ark or a Land Raider, you'll be very glad you did. The rest of the unit is customisable as you would like, with any model being able to take any harlequin item combination. Like most units with the capability, beware the temptation to give everyone in the unit a special weapon of some sort, as they die in droves the moment any competent unit with guns look at them. At least 1 generic clown per special weapon is recommended... Remember, you want to cripple your opponent and win combat, but not by 10... or you'll be left exactly how a clown doesn't want to be found, with your pants down jerking off in the middle of a crowd. Stick your turn, hit and run out opponent's turn. That is how you stay alive. Flip belts and plasma grenades make terrain a non-problem, so stay deep in cover when not actually charging, and make aggressive use of psykic cover enhancement from Shadowseers or allied Spiritseers.

Dedicated Transport

Starweaver - Essentially a redone Venom, it has two Shuriken Cannons and can carry up to 6 clowns in here (sadly, no clown car physics are in effect). Being Open-Topped with AV 10 and 2 Hull Points, it's going to crumble at so much as a glance and flamers will incinerate its passengers, but it does have that 4++ for a turn and their basic Holofields. It also has Fear, which is kinda funny considering its frailty. If you're familiar with Venoms, the same rules apply - Alpha strike with the forces inside, if you have a Shadowseer elsewhere, use a good defensive power to make sure they live. You can only cast Witchfires from inside a Transport, so you can't cast defensive powers from inside a Starweaver, unfortunately, but a Shadow/Farseer outside can indeed toss some defensive assistance its way. Unlike a Venom, you can use the transport's S6 guns to crack open someone's METAL BAWKS then charge the dudes inside.

Elite

Solitaire - A guy who's been out of the game since the second edition (except for that house-rule codex GW released), and he's making up for lost time. A WS9, I10, A6, 3++, eternal warrior melee beast that is going to lay the pain on his opponents with his Kiss & Caress. Once per game he can "Blitz" which is rolling a number of dice equal to the turn number and moving that distance instead of the 12" he normally gets and does it over other models and terrain. The boost for doing this is bumping his attacks value to 10 in the following assault phase (basically 12 attacks once you count the charge and the 2CCW bonus). He's very fragile despite having a 3++ and Eternal Warrior, since he has only T3 and is forced to always go solo; he'll end up getting brought down by a turn of small arms fire if he's ever caught within range of the enemy guns. For some number crunching, even without considering special weapons fire, on average it will only take 6.75 bolter shots at BS4, 12 lasgun shots at BS3, or 7.2 pulse rifle shots at BS3, to knock off each of his wounds. So use that 12" of movement to keep him away from rapid fire ranges (or better still, completely out of sight) until you need him to tear up a high-value unit in melee.

• Normally, the Solitaire lacks a shooting attack, so don't forget the haywire grenades, in case some jammy bastard leaves something with an AV hanging around in range - the look on their face when you ping the last hull point off that Ghost Ark then massacre the whole squad (that they were sure was safe!) will be priceless.
• The Solitaire has both the Kiss & Caress in melee and this opens up a problem: due to the wording of the special rule on the Harlequin's Kiss weapon, "Kiss of Death", it would seems that the special attack was intended (RAI) to be used in conjunction with any other weapon you would end up using in melee. Sadly, going by a strict RAW interpretation, the wording of the rule doesn't matter, since a weapon's special rules only come into effect if you actually use the weapon (since weapon special rules require their usage), and once you have chosen which weapon to use for that Assault phase, there's no switching back. Keep in mind that the wording of "Kiss of Death" seems to indicate that the clear intention is to allow both to be used (RAI). Thus, if you play against a reasonable player he should probably let you use both the special rules at once, but until FAQ errata comes out to clear this up, beware of That guy.
  • Alternative opinion: the wording on Harlequin's Kiss is the same as on Harlequin's embrace, which gives the special rule to the model equipped with a weapon. It clearly means that you don't have to attack with the Kiss/Embrace to use their special rules. ..except that, even if it conferred the rule to the model equipped with the weapon, the entire Special Rule is not read unless the weapon is used, but nevertheless the RAI is very clear so you'd only need to start doing alternative-opinion rules-reading mental gymnastics if you play against someone with a serious case of Being That Guy.
• One last thing of note is that this guy is really not all that great at fighting anything but hordes. He is, essentially, Lelith Hesperax with Furious Charge but minus the ability to auto-ignore armor. Against TEQ and, honestly, MEQ, he's only going to be useful as a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX. His stats look amazing until you actually field him, only to watch your 145-150 point glass cannon assault rifle bounce harmlessly off of MEQ/TEQ armor and, in the worst-case scenario, get pummeled to death before he can Hit and Run. *Sigh* He's a very situational pick, and 145 points is a lot of points. Use him wisely. (E.g. not at all against MEQ armies.)
  • Alternative Opinion: Actually use him against anything and watch as 150 point model utterly destroys 500 point death stars. He can even taken on some of the best named characters in the game and come out victorious 75% of the time (Actually game tested and results proven)
  • Another Alternative Opinion: After extensive playtesting, the Solitaire is actually not all that effective at killing hordes of mooks. While he can do it in a pinch, a large number of return attacks is likely to kill him through simple attrition. However, the Solitaire is pretty much the ultimate Imperial Knight killer. The Harlequin's Caress means he auto-glances on 6s to-hit and he has enough melee attacks to make this happen fairly reliably, while the Knight will be hitting back only on 5s and should the Knight actually manage to land a hit then the Solitaire's 3++ and Eternal Warrior means he couldn't care less. Now, is he likely to kill an Imperial Knight or equivalent unit in one round? No - but while the Knight is busy flailing around ineffectually trying to squish the tiny ninja who is steadily ripping chunks out of it, it is not shooting or assaulting anything else, leaving the rest of your army free to do its thing. Don't forget to use Blitz, and Hit & Run on your opponent's turn so you can charge back in on yours to gain the extra attack. This also applies to Wraithknights, Riptides and pretty much any other big nasties you could care to throw the Solitaire at. Long story short, unless your opponent is incredibly lucky with their dice rolls, if you manage to charge a Solitaire into an Imperial Knight, then the Knight is dead - it simply doesn't know it yet.
• Do note - If he is chosen as warlord, he gets no warlord traits.
  • • Another Alternative opinion* take craftworld eldar as allies, bring a farseer and hope to roll fortune and doom, doom the enemy's warlord and then watch as your WS9 I10 10A blitzing assassin with re-rollable 3++ proceeds to hidden blade Archons, warbosses, overlords and dare I say it even primarchs (happened in my game).

Shadowseer - Returning with a power boost, they have tried to turn the Shadowseer into a close combat machine; they now have WS6, I7, A3, 2 Wounds, and an S+2 Fleshbane/Concussive Miststave which cannot be changed out for another weapon (not that you would want to anyway, because the Miststave is fucking baller). Unfortunately their BS is still four so they're not as accurate as they could be with those witchfires. Can now be upgraded to ML2 and take powers from Telepathy, Sanctic, and the new Phantasmancy discipline. Since you can have up to seven Seers in a single Masque, you can afford to mix it up a bit. Can take haywire grenades and probably should; you never know when you might need them.

• While at first it may sound counter-intuitive to generate his powers from Sanctic Daemonology, what with the Perils on any doubles and all, consider the following: What's the biggest problem Harlequins face? They're squishy. But if you manage to get Sanctuary, you have a 4++ with rerolls on 1 in a certain formation, which is certainly better than Veil of Tears will be under normal circumstances. If you get Purging Flames, they have a surprisingly strong Witchfire that, if necessary, can also be used to hurt Fliers that aren't AV12. Also, the army has close combat stuff coming out their ears - Hammerhand can only make this better.
• Alternate Opinion: If you think a 4++ is going to save you from even a modest volume of shooting, you are very, very mistaken. Seriously, Phantasmancy offers the chance at 3 defensive powers in Veil, Dance, and Fog, one of which you get as a lock and reduces incoming range to 14" on average. And, to boot, Dance gives you a 4+ cover save, which is almost as good as Sanctuary or Forewarning would be. There's more to the game than just raw stats... you need to play some fucking mind games with your opponent when they go to move and say shit like "Oh wow, getting that close to an elite close combat unit is pretty ballsy, hope you don't whiff" and watch them second guess themselves.

Death Jester - Also received a promotion, but unlike the Shadowseer gets WS/BS5. His Shrieker cannon still does its thing of exploding the dude who gets killed by it and showering his mates in deadly gore. But he has an awesome new rule called "Death is not Enough" which forces enemies who suffer at least one wound from his shooting to take a morale check, exactly as if they had suffered 25% losses, AND they take it at -2 Ld. If they fail, the player who owns the Death Jester may choose the direction they fall back to (at least for the first fall back move, they continue to fall back as normal in following turns). He also got precision shots for additional awesomeness! Keep in mind that his weapon is only AP5 (although it does still have Bladestorm), and that his entire kit revolves around that one shot a turn (this is not entirely true, and he is in fact far more versatile than this - see below). Don't waste it shooting at anything with a good armor save. Like the other two, he can take haywire grenades. Do so, so that you're not stuck derping the first time that blasted Predator refuses to expose its side armor, and so that you can actually hurt vehicles in melee.

• Do keep in mind that the Death Jester can, in fact, fire his weapon as a normal Shuriken Cannon, so if you're sure that one shot won't do the trick, you always have that same awesome 3-shot pseudo-rending cannon your Craftworld cousins enjoy so much. However, ultimately they are a one-trick pony that mostly requires support from a Shadowseer with the Mask of Secrets to be effective, otherwise it's just an expensive shuriken cannon unit upgrade for something that you want in close combat anyway...
• One fun tactic is to ally with Dark Eldar and put your Jesters in Raider gunboats. Model counts are considered way way before deployment, and independent characters may join during deployment (deployed together or placed in reserve together), so no shenanigans with dark lances or splinter cannons - but a blaster or shredder is completely legit. So you get that, a bunch of poisoned, twin-linked shooting (you did take splinter racks, right?), plus his Shrieker Cannon - which, as we're all aware, can function as both anti-infantry and anti-vehicle (if your rolls are good). All of this in an obscenely fast paper boat with either an anti-vehicle or anti-infantry deck gun. Cruise around the battlefield wherever he is needed, raining death and repositioning your enemy's dudes like a puppeteer on crank.

Fast Attack

Skyweaver Squad - Two-person jetbikes but nothing like a Vyper, you get 2-6 in a unit with a Shuriken Cannon each. They are expensive, but you get two wounds a piece and the ability to make their 4+ save invulnerable for a single turn (but they have 5++ the rest of the time as well) They get an item called "Star-Bolas" which is a one use S6 AP2 grenade, but you can exchange this for a Zephyrglaive which is an objectively better close combat item, giving them S+1 (S+2 with furious charge) AP2 on the charge and then counts as a power sword after that, this unit gets Hit & Run so you want them bouncing in and out of combat like proper Harlequins and peppering them with rending ninja stars over and over. Units of 2 with Haywire Cannons and Star-bolas can be effective (if expensive) transport hunters, and may sadly be the best option available to a mono-harlequin list. Well, unless you like vehicles blowing up in your face from fusion pistols (Hint: You are toughness 3 with 5++ saves. You don't.) Also bear in mind they are Eldar Jetbikes, so small units can do some jump-shoot-jump style shenanigans with sufficient line of sight blocking terrain.

Heavy Support

Voidweaver - A tax. Plain and simple. Most formations worth a damn need them so be prepared to throw your points away. This is the other option in the Starweaver dual kit, this vehicle fills several artillery based roles, since it can purchase a Prismatic Cannon, which is an extremely versatile weapon that can lance at a measly strength 7, knock chunks out of MEQ with an S5 AP3 small blast, or blow hordes up with an S3 AP4 large blast. It also has two Shuriken Cannons just like the Starweaver, but the second rear-facing gun may select a different target but only in the rear facing. The stock haywire cannon is kinda forgettable, though. It's an S4 AP4 Blast with Haywire, and that's all it can be. If you want Haywire Cannons, get them in Skyweavers.

• Alternate Opinion: The Main gun is turret mounted and can be spun to face any direction, so drive your Voidweavers backward. The armor is the same all around, so this gives you the option to fire the Prismatic/Haywire Cannon at one target, and the Shuriken Cannon at a 2nd, instead of being locked into firing your two normally front facing guns at the same target. This doesn't stop it from being a tax, but gives it better options than just driving it forward.

• Another Alternate Opinion: It's only a tax if you make it one. While there are other vehicles that are objectively better when it comes to killing things (Fire Prism, for example) there are few that are as versatile, cheap, and inconspicuous. People who see a Voidweaver will most likely have one of two reactions: either they know about them and, therefore, will write them off as an annoyance at best; or they won't know about them and, seeing the funky gun on its top, will devote a retarded amount of firepower in an effort to kill it. If scenario A occurs, proceed to blow the shit out of their MEQs and hordes with the Prismatic Cannon - and, if you're lucky, glance a vehicle a few times (don't forget about the underslung Shuriken Cannon). If you're really lucky, laugh like the Joker when you pop one of their scary tanks in one round of shooting. If it's scenario B, park it in cover and, if needed, pop Mirage Launchers; you now have a very humorous DISTRACTION (almost?) CARNIFEX that can do some (very good) damage and keep an enemy occupied for at least a turn, thereby allowing your clowns to get in raep range. Either way, you'll get your 80 points' worth out of it. Don't believe me? Give it a whirl. A tax, perhaps, but one that you can use to your advantage if you're smart.

Formations

• Cegorach's Revenge - 3 Troupes, 3 Shadowseers, 3 Death Jesters, 1 Solitaire, 2 units of Skyweavers, 1 Unit of Voidweavers. Beginning on turn two your fleet units can run and assault in the same turn, you get to re-roll 1s on your invuls, and if your Warlord is a part of the detachment he gets to re-roll his WT. This is awesome. You get a warlord trait re-roll and the majority of your army has some amazing special rules. Just take some unbound allied tank hunting units and go to town (CWE - Wraithguard or Dragons in Wave Serpents or Falcons; DE - Scourges w/ Haywire Blasters or Trueborn with Blasters).
  • Alternate Opinion: This is like the Masque Detachment but with even more restrictions. While Death Jesters and Solitaires are fluffy and funny to use they are not as competitive as Shadowseers, so you must consider if you prefer to re-roll 1s on your invuls (which actually makes the Solitaire a lot more worth) or have more Shadowseers who can defend your whole army more efficiently.

• The Serpent's Brood - 3 Troupes ride in Starweavers and join a Voidweaver and two Skyweaver packs. For this, the Troupe Master gets a WT re-roll if he's Warlord and if you use Hit & Run or consolidate, you can use the move to embark on your Starweaver so long as you get within 2" of them. This gives you some great protection against shooting and counter charges.
  • Do not actually expect your Starweavers to survive long enough to be able to take advantage of this, but you look like a pro if you pull it off.
  • It does allow you to leave combat after your initial charge combat on your turn, as a jinking AV10 transport is infinitely better than being caught up by shooting with only a 5++ to save you.

• Cast of Players - A Death Jester and Shadowseer permanently join a Troupe. For this, you get Crusader and you can share this with all Eldar/Dark Eldar within 6"- this includes your opponent's, if he has any. A quick and dirty way to get a few clowns into your Eldar/Dark Eldar army. Unfortunately, Troupe + Seer + Jester means at least 7 models, so no Starweavers for them, and honestly - Crusader isn't really that great in a unit that already has Fleet and should be in transports anyways.
  • Altenate Opinion - Crusader works excellently alongside Battle Focus or Rising Crescendo. 2D6, with re-rolls and picking the highest, allows Eldar infantry (and War Walkers, hilariously) to play the move-shoot-move game almost as well as Tau. It can also help Wraith units close the distance quickly, if you don't want to be That Guy and spam Wave Serpents.
    • This formation was clearly designed for any Eldar/Dark Eldar players who have a Harlequins unit lying around.

• Cegorach's Jest - A Troupe takes a Skyweaver and Voidweaver for Craftworld Cheese. After turn 2, your fleet units can now run and assault in the same turn. A little Formation with little bonuses, good only to be an allied Detachment.

• The Heroes' Path - One Death Jester, One Shadowseer and One Solitaire - Each become their own individual unit which can't be joined. For this, you get Infiltrate, Shrouded, and Stealth. You now have an easy way to deliver the Solitaire to anything he wants to murderize, an awesome save for a Deathjester in cover, and a bullet magnet of a Shadowseer.
  • For Optimal Trolling - Have the Jester and the Shadowseer travel together (as in just close to each other... obviously, they can't join each other due to formation limitations.) Put the Mask of Secrets on the Shadowseer. Shoot with Death Jester and hope to kills and force leadership at -4 to funnel towards the Solitaire. Follow up next shot with the Shadowseer to attempt to force the pinning test at -2 with the hallucinogen launcher. Charge with Solitaire with no Overwatch and engage trollface if you can actually pull this off.
  • Even more trolling potential - make either the Death Jester or Shadowseer your Warlord, and hope you get Luck of the Laughing God for your Warlord Trait. If you do, engage a Joker-worthy trollface as you now have a rerollable 2+ cover save!

• Faolchù's Blade - Two packs of Skyweavers and one Voidweaver. A cheap way for some mobile firepower, and they can re-roll Jink saves.
  • Finds a great place in a jetbike-heavy Eldar list, since they can hide between all your other bikes while providing CC-threats and fire support, respectively.
  • A very Harlequin-troll move as well is to take this formation with another Harlequin group with shadowseers, then put a shadowseer that knows Dance of Shadows within range of zephyrglaive skyweavers. A potential 2+ re-rollable jink-save on zephyrglaive bikes first turn means they can turbo boost behind your opponent with fantastic survivability for an easy 2nd turn assault of (for 4 bikes) 16 str6 ap2 attacks, decimating any TEQ unit before it touches you. If your opponent somehow ignores cover you still get the 4++ from mirage launchers for the turn.

• The Great Troupe (Warzone: Valedor): get 3+ units of Harlequins together and 3+ Dark Eldar Venoms OR Eldar Vypers (You can also take Starweavers too, since they are dedicated transports) and you've got an apocalypse formation that grants all of the Harlequins Crusader (so you can run even further and chase them down), Deep Strike, Preferred Enemy (Chaos) and ALL of their ranged weapons gain the Blind & Concussive qualities and if a unit fails their blind check on a roll of a six, they become "confused" and treat all of their melee weapons as Unwieldy for the rest of the game. As an added bonus to this already impressive formation one of your Troupe Masters becomes a Troupe Leader and gets the profile of a Phoenix Lord -1 S/T, badass.

Allies

Battle Brothers

• Dark Eldar: The Harlequins are a lot like the Dark Eldar, except with a little more staying power. The new Phantasmancy has some neat tricks to help the DE, such as Stealth and Shrouded giving some nice cover to some vulnerable units *cough*Wyches*cough*. Use the Harlequins the same way as your own units. Mask of Secrets and Armour of Misery will stack for a potential -4LD. If you manage to strangle some unit between the Armour and Mask, you can fuck them over even harder with a Death Jester and start drinking that jug of tears. Guess what Harlies lack? Ranged anti-armor. Guess what Dark Eldar have? Boatloads of anti-armor. Yes, all Harlies can take AV options, but are you really going to throw all your points into one ludicrously expensive, close-range basket? Use your brain. Scourges can glance vehicles to death in an instant, Ravagers can make short work of heavily armored vehicles, Razorwings can provide anti air and horde control. Reaver jetbikes with heat lances and cluster caltrops can peel open transports like oranges and are still useful when your units are engaged on combat as they can charge in like madmen. Something else of note is the DEldar's access to shitloads of assault transports - namely, Raiders that can carry ten models instead of six. Raiders that can deep strike wherever you need them.

• Eldar: Freeing yourself from the Craftworlders gives them a whole new dimension of maneuverability. Your general role should be running distraction with your Hit & Run while the Eldar get to be the gunline. Notable tricks involve grouping a Death Jester with some Dark Reapers or Guardians in Rapid-Fire range for Bladestorming cheese or putting a Shadowseer with Banshees so they can finally get something to protect them for delivery. The Hemlock synergizes well with Shadowseers with their pinning weapons and Mask of Secrets. Farseers on Jetbikes could travel with your Skyweavers (but watch the Mirage Launchers) and provide buffs plus some shooting support, while Windrider Jetbikes or Shining Spears provide harassment units that can keep up with your warp-speed dancing clowns. Wraithguard won't fit in Starweavers, unfortunately, but Fire Dragons will; so do that and have a pile of meltas, anywhere you might happen to need them, for all your vehicle- and MC-busting needs. Warp Spiders also fit in with the whole "stupid-fast, hit and fade" style. Spiritseers could provide interesting buffs to your Troupes, too, but note they aren't quite as mobile (and you can't use Battle Focus unless everyone has it). Consider them as leaders for Troupes in Starweavers, using their Runes of Battle to buff your dudes and debuff the enemies.

Tactics

Troupe Unit Composition - Troupes are great hard hitting infantry units that can be kitted to be excellent at killing anything they specialize against. The problem you are faced with is what you add to the unit. Shadowseers are a safe bet as they give you psyker access (though honestly CWE psykers are far better) and hit like bricks in CC. However, while Phantasmancy looks promising on paper remember - you will not be footslogging a unit of incredibly expensive Troupes across the map which means that that Shadowseer will be in a transport, which in turn means that it can only cast Witchfire attacks while embarked. This means that Telepathy is the way to go as by the time you disembark the Phantasmancy primaris power will be useless. Death Jesters have potential against hordes and anything with 5+ armor, but really suffer from one weapon syndrome. If you take them put them in units of scouts or as snipers and take potshots at hordes. Allies offer some interesting synergy. A DE Succubus w/ Armor of Misery to lower enemy leadership by an additional -2, stacking with the Harlequin Mask (-2), and a Deathjester make for some utterly hilarious horde killing.

Troupe Size - A Troupe of 5 with a Shadowseer and a mix of caresses and embraces will kill most of a 10 man unit of Tactical Marines. This is good. You do not want to kill the entire group because then you are open to shooting, the largest weakness of the Harlies - bullets. You want to stay in combat until the end of their combat, so you can hit and run your way out of them and charge again on your turn, proccing furious charge and your extra attack on the charge. A unit of ten has potential in a Raider, but only if thrown at something that has a lot of staying power. You do not want to let a lot of attacks come back at you, which makes the number of troupes you bring to a fight an interesting mathematical dilemma.

FOC Shenanigans and Army Balance - If you want to take a Bound army you are sadly, incredibly limited in what you have to take due to the lack of an HQ choice. Luckily there are a few good formations to choose from, and the Masque itself isn't half bad. The problem you are faced with is Anti-Armor/Air. Voidweavers and Skyweavers have potential, but if your Harlequins are going to get anything done by charging into that unit of Space Marines, the transport they are in had better be dead before they get there. This means you need a way to consistently murder the hell out of a choice few vehicles on turns one and two. Harlies don't have a way to do this. Your best bet is to take an allied detachment to cover their weaknesses. Dark Eldar offers Realspace Raiders for Scourge and Ravager spam, as well as Raiders for those big meaty units of Players. Eldar offers shenanigans for days, strong Psykers, and Wraithknights.

One of the sticky problems with using allies for anti-vehicle is one of speeds and ranges. Harlequins are fast. They're pretty quick even foot-slogging. That means that a lot of options will have difficulty keeping up. Good options to cover that problem are either high speeds and long ranges. High speeds suggest options like Eldar Shining Spears or DE Reavers, possibly Scourges or Warp Spiders, or either Blasterborn or Fire Dragons mounted in a Starweaver or Venom. Wraithguard in a Raider are a possible (wicked expensive) option, as well. Long range suggests other options - Fire Prisms or Tau Hammerheads (if you prefer to ally with Tau) have fantastic range; Wraithknights, Falcons, Wave Serpents, Ravagers and Vypers with Brightlances combine speed and range.

All in all, however, don't focus too much on getting that one-shot transport explosion - a transport glanced to death by shuriken cannons and haywire grenades is still dead. Don't forget that when you disembark, an attached IC can intentionally disembark out of coherency to be able to chuck an extra haywire 'nade - a good bet if you've got a Shadowseer, Succubus or Archon palling around with your Troupes. If the transport is AV10, your shuriken pistols might be able to put in the finishing shot, too.

Mono Harlequin Army Tactics - Really? You sure you want to do this? Alright, fine. Do stupid things you stupid person. Ok so - Basic concept goes like this - throw units of 5/6 Harlies in Starweavers with the occasional Shadowseer. Bring a Mask of Secrets on a Seer and take potshots with Death Jesters. Caresses are great because they are versatile and can glance vehicles to death, something you lack in spades. Voidweavers have meh but versatile damage, but you need them to take on armor, as the only other options are bikes with haywire cannons, and because their primary defense is jinking, well, at least you have pretty models and a free turn of 4++. The formation that gives you a reroll on your invulnerable saves is gold, as every unit in your army has one. Your next choice is taking formations and wargear to full the remainder of your points. Good night and good luck you magnificent psychotic clown faced bastard.

Allies Tactics Discussion - Hemlock Wraithfighter - With the ability of the Mask of Secrets and the Death Jester's inherent -2 to leadership from shooting, this opens up a rather unique question on the Hemlock Wraithfighter. While normally utterly shit, the Hemlock could, potentially, be utilized in a mostly Harlequin force to wreak havoc on the opponent's battle line and send units fleeing and being pinned all over the board between Terrify, Death Jesters, and hallucinogen launchers. Inviting player opinions on this subject.

• When trying to inflict a leadership war on the opponent, a Necron Deathbringer Flight can do similar things, but without wasting Warp Charges and toting guns you can actually use. It isn't fluffy and OEO is annoying, but it might be worth it when you simultaneously blow holes in the opponent's lines AND make it impossible for him to actually do anything about it.

Allied Jetbike Death Star - Take two Eldar CADs with two Jetbike Farseers each, all with singing spears. Put them with a squad of 4-6 Skyweavers with Zephyr Glaives. Give Runes of Fate to two of the Farseers, and telepathy to the other two. With Fortune/Invisibility/Both on the unit (and the possible Veil of Tears from a nearby Shadowseer), you have an impossibly hard to hit unit with terrifying psychic power and disgusting assault ability That will generally be more effective at killing than a standard Jetseer council. You will probably lose friends if you field this against them.

Leadership Bomb - A particular way to get rid of enemy deathstars and other scary infantry is as follows; take the Caste of Players formation; the Shadowseer gets the Mask of Secrets and an upgrade to Mastery 2. Then, in a Dark Eldar detachment, you get an Archon or Succubus with the Armour of Misery and a Webway Portal. Between the Mask and the Armour, anyone in 6" is now at a -4 leadership penalty. The Shadowseer rolls on Telepathy and gets Psychic Shriek. Psychic Shriek on a unit that's already at -4 leadership is pretty good, because on a target that's normally leadership 10, that's an average of 4 wounds, and a theoretical maximum of 12. Do keep in mind that Invulnerable Saves and Feel No Pain can be taken against Psychic Shriek, so this won't get rid of already tough units that have that.

Assassin Squad - Use means if your choice (hemlock wraithfighters, Dark eldar, ect) to reduce the ld of the target model to 0, then cast Mirror of minds on it. As there is no way for it to win the roll off, you will do a theoretically infinite amount of wounds, assuring the model's destruction. Note that while the sheer troll of this is immense, it is only really worthwhile on things like Tyranid Bio Titans or at least 2 Tau Supremacy Suits and even the their are much better ways to kill them available.