[washout]

Is this too mean? Would people hate playing against it? I have been wanting to play a Harlequin army since second edition first came out with them. I love the fluff and the look of the army.

The whole thing would be painted in a harlequin scheme (checkers stripes, stars), and the farseer would be the troupe master.

Farseer w/ guide, mind war, SS, jetbike
Troupe w. shadowseer x10
Troupe w. shadowseer x10
Troupe w. shadowseer x10
Jetbikes x12 w/ 4 cannons
Jetbikes x12 w/ 4 cannons
Falcon w/ lance, cannon, HF&SS
Wraithlord w/ bright lance, ML, 2 flamers
Wraithlord w/ bright lance, wraithsword, 2 flamers

Total 1994

 

[Lost Nemesis]

Maybe consider splitting up your Jetbike squads. As it is, they are only two (scoring) units and quite bulky at that. Maybe separate them into four squads of six, or something like that, to get some more scoring units (and more targets) in there. Also, the Falcon should not have a Brightlance; if you move over 6" (which you should always be doing), you can only fire one main weapon per turn, and that's usually going to be the Pulse Laser. I'd recommend swapping the Lance out for either a Starcannon or a Scatter Laser. If you can find the points, your Wraithlords would be best with a Bright Lance and ML on both of them; they aren't the greatest in CC (if they ever hit CC) and the Wraithsword isn't that big of a benefit.

 

[washout]

Thats fine, but misses my question. Would this army be overly powerful and make the average player not ever want to play against it?

 

[Lost Nemesis]

Thats fine, but misses my question. Would this army be overly powerful and make the average player not ever want to play against it?

I don't see why it would be. There is an overreliance on your Harlequins and on close combat; CC-themed armies like Orks or Tyranids will have a ball fighting this army, and while shooty armies might struggle with taking down three squads of Harlequins, it can be done. There isn't enough serious firepower (compared to other Eldar lists), so it really needs to hit CC to do enough damage to take a win. Personally, I wouldn't have an issue playing this army.

edit: I especially wouldn't fear the Harlequins, anyways, due to the lack of Kisses. No rending = not a gigantic threat.

 

[Mad Cat]

How avbout dropping most of the guardian jetbikes down to 2 units of three, then spending the points on 2-3 units of Shining spears. Now you have a very combat orientated army and it would be rather fast and on turn one the shadowseers protect the harleys while turbo boost protects the spears.

 

[washout]

I don't see why it would be. There is an overreliance on your Harlequins and on close combat; CC-themed armies like Orks or Tyranids will have a ball fighting this army, and while shooty armies might struggle with taking down three squads of Harlequins, it can be done. There isn't enough serious firepower (compared to other Eldar lists), so it really needs to hit CC to do enough damage to take a win. Personally, I wouldn't have an issue playing this army.

edit: I especially wouldn't fear the Harlequins, anyways, due to the lack of Kisses. No rending = not a gigantic threat.

I put it in the point value but forgot to mention that they all have kisses.

 

[Deorum]

Another benefit to chopping the Jetbikes up into smaller units is that many tournaments have a composition score, which virtually always favors many troops choices. By breaking those units up into smaller units, you would have more troops choices which would probably boost your comp score. Also, the rumors for 5th edition state that only troops choices will count as scoring units, so not only would breaking them up allow you a couple more scoring units right now, but in 5th you would effectively be doubling your scoring units by breaking them into units of 6 Jetbikes.

If the Farseer is planning to ride around with the Jetbikes, your Wraithlords are going to have some Wraithsight issues. You may want to remove the Jetbike, and just have him walk near the Wraithlords. They will be able to protect him from close combat as well. Perhaps in this case you could swap Mind War for Doom, and use the Jetbike points to upgrade the Wraithsword to either a Starcannon or a Missile Launcher.

Alternately, you could try Mad Cat's suggestion to bring some Shining Spears. In this case, you may prefer an Autarch on a Jetbike over a Farseer on a Jetbike to ride along with the Spears. In terms of just looks, an Autarch would also be more believable as a Troupe Master. In fact, you could just convert a Troupe Master model to ride a Jetbike and say he counts as an Autarch. The Troupe Master already comes in two pieces: the legs, and the torso. The Jetbike rider also comes in two pieces: the legs, and the torso. Just glue the normal rider's legs onto the Jetbike, and glue the Troupe Master's torso onto those legs. If you decide to give the Autarch a Power Weapon, no conversion of the arm is necessary, as the Troupe Master already comes equipped with a Power Weapon. You could then do whatever you wanted to with the other arm: leave it as is, cut it off and add a rider arm to hold onto the handle bars, put a fusion gun in it, whatever. Maybe use a little green stuff to smooth over the rider's legs to look light tights, add a loincloth, etc.

One final possibility is to remove the Wraithlords altogether (which would be a good idea if you decide to use the Autarch over the Farseer with some Shining Spears) and in place of them bring two more Falcons. You would need to clear out some more points to do this. One way would be to cut the Harlequin units down to 6 Harlequins each, and stick each unit in a Falcon. This would give you a very fast, mobile army that had a bit of firepower, as well as a rather mean force in close combat. Your anti-tank firepower would be fairly limited to rending, a fusion gun, pulse lasers, and the Spear's lances. Perhaps you could fit in a Vyper or two with Bright Lances. Maybe something like this:


Autarch with Jetbike, Fusion Gun, Power Weapon, Mandiblasters
6 Harlequins with SS and Kisses
6 Harlequins with SS and Kisses
6 Harlequins with SS and Kisses
6 Jetbikes with 2 Shuriken Cannons
6 Jetbikes with 2 Shuriken Cannons
6 Jetbikes with 2 Shuriken Cannons
6 Jetbikes with 2 Shuriken Cannons
4 Shining Spears, exarch with Star Lance, Withdraw, Skilled Riders
Vyper with Bright Lance
Falcon with Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stones, Holo Fields
Falcon with Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stones, Holo Fields
Falcon with Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stones, Holo Fields

At just a glance, that looks like roughly 2000 points to me. I hope I have given you some ideas.

 

[washout]

Now that list is mean as heck. I wouldn't play against it in a casual game. And I don't really play tournaments. I guess this really answers my question and I'll follow through with buying what I listed, and then add more stuff for a tournament army at a later date.

 

[Fuzzy Wumpus]

Autarch with Jetbike, Fusion Gun, Power Weapon, Mandiblasters

Why in the world would you take a Speartarch without a Laser Lance? Criminal, I say!

 

[Deorum]

Why in the world would you take a Speartarch without a Laser Lance? Criminal, I say!

Just for the sake of Harlequin fluffiness

Now that list is mean as heck. I wouldn't play against it in a casual game. And I don't really play tournaments. I guess this really answers my question and I'll follow through with buying what I listed, and then add more stuff for a tournament army at a later date.

Well Harlequins are one of the meanest units in the game. I suppose there are differences in what people seek in casual games. I suppose many people who like "casual" play would consider me a "power gamer" as if it were something bad. That said, most people who complain about "power gamers" misunderstand what it is that that particular opponent seeks from the game. I derive pleasure from figuring out my opponent's weaknesses and trying to exploit them, while trying to prevent him or her from exploiting mine. When I play baseball, I do not want the pitcher to lob balls into my strike zone so I can hit them out of the park; I want him to try to strike me out. When I play volleyball, I do not want my opponents to lob the ball over the net; I want him or her to try to spike it in such a manner that I cannot return it. And when I play 40k, I want my opponent to try his or her hardest to beat me. I do not delight in crushing my opponent who had no chance. I do delight in using my army in such a way that I am able to overcome any obstacle my opponent is capable of throwing at me. That usually includes taking units with the abilities to do so.

You asked for suggestions on a list against which people would like to play. To me, the more competative the list is, the more I would like to play against it. I apologize if it was not that for which you were looking. I was trying to provide an answer to your question based on my personal preferences.