Played another Harlequin game against Marines last night.
Apologies, there are no pictures due to poor lighting and playing on a ‘jungle mat’, which made the camouflaged units and bases very hard to see at all.
Mark’s Marines
425 Tacticals + SC + RB (BTS)
400 Terminators
250 Predator Destructors
250 Devastators
200 Land Speeders
200 Land Speeders
200 ThunderHawk
200 Bikes
150 Scouts
150 Scouts
150 Scouts
275 Warhound
150 Thunderbolts
Biel Tan + Harlequin allies
400 Aspects + Ex + Aut (3x SS, 3x DA, 2x FD)
300 Guardians + WraithLords
250 Storm Serpent
250 Falcons inc. Firestorms
150 Guardians
100 Rangers
200 Vampire
50 Gate
Harlequin Allies
550 Troupe + 5x Venom + Troupe leader + Shadowseer (BTS)
400 Mimic + Master Mime + Shadowseer
350 Mimic + Master Mime
We opposed Blitz markers ~60cm from one edge. As he was playing against webway forces, Mark placed both the Marine T&H markers in woods ~40cm either side of the BT Blitz. The BT T&H markers were placed 40cm either side of the Marine Blitz just beyond the centre line between three Built up areas. The Left Hand Marine T&H was converted into a Wraithgate.
Marines kept THawk + Bikes, TBolts and Terminators off table
BT kept the following off table
(Teleporting); 2x Mimes
(Webway); Guardians + WG, Harlequin troupe
(Airborne); Vampire + Guardians,
The Marines spread the rest of their army along the table edge behind two Garrisoned scout formations, with the Landspeeders on each flank. The Biel Tan castled the Storm Serpent, Falcons and Aspects behind a wood and a screen of garrisoned Rangers.
Turn #1
No Teleports
Initiative Biel Tan
- BT - As the TBolts were not on Cap, and having no other AA, after much soul searching the Biel Tan decided to air assault one of the flanking LS formations. The Guardians were placed behind the THawk, so only gained a BM for OW fire from nearby scouts. The Vampire died to MW hits for the loss of two LS, but then the remaining marines won the resolution by “1”, the remaining 7x guardians fleeing to nearby ruins
Marines - Landspeeder formation marshalls in place - BT - Rangers advance to the other side of the wood preparing an advanced screen
Marines - Scouts advance to central built up area (BUA), shooting the Rangers for no loss - BT - Falcons advance to the rear of the wood
Marines - Devs advance to right hand BUA, shooting the Rangers for no loss - BT - Aspects advance into wood between Rangers and Falcons, in assault range of central BUA.
Marines – Warhound doubles to front of L.H. wood (near the ‘gate’) shooting the Falcons, killing two and breaking them. They stay put - BT – Guardians+WG assault the WH out of the gate, wiping it for no loss
Marines – Tbolts air assault the Storm Serpent destroying it in one pass
- BT – Harlequins cautiously double out of the ‘Gate and move to the wood, flanking aspects and rangers, in range of left and central BUA.
Marines – move Predators forwards into RH gap between BUA, Shooting the Rangers, killing one and breaking them.
Marines – air assault broken Falcons with THawk + Bikes, Falcons are wiped out for no loss. The nearby Broken Rangers lose a stand.
Marines - move LS behind LH BUA and place remaining formations on OW.
End of turn, Guardians and Rangers fail to rally
Turn #2
Teleports – Marines force BT to go first.
- Mimes arrive in RH BUA near Devs
- Terminators arrive on RH T&H marker in wood, no BMs
- Mimes + Shadowseer arrive on edge of woods between Mimes and Termies
Initiative Biel Tan (breathing a sigh of relief)
- BT – Mimes+SS assault the Termies. SS enthrals the chaplain and two others leaving the Master Mime and another Mime in combat with the final terminator, which is duly chopped down for no loss (having survived 4x FS hits!).
The Devs gain a BM for supporting a lost assault, the Mimes are repositioned with the SS in range of the Devs.
BT – Retain, the second Mime formation assaults the Devs. SS enthrals a Rhino. Mimes kill two Devs and the other Rhino for no loss, placing a BM on the Preds for supporting a lost assault. The remaining devs mount up and withdraw to the table edge, while the Mimes occupy their position contesting a T&H marker
BT – Retain, the Aspects assault the Marine bikes to their rear, wiping them out for the loss of a Scorpion.
Marines – Scouts evacuate the central BUA, moving behind the Predators - BT – Harlequin troupe assaults the Predators with the venoms ahead of the troupe. Kills 1 predator for no loss, breaking the Predators which join the Devs on the table edge.
The Harlequin troupe retires in their vehicles towards the RH Marine T&H objective controlled by the Mimes.
Marines – Double the LS from LH BUA to shoot the Mimes in RH BUA, inflicting a BM - BT – advances the Guardians + WG into central BUA to control LH BT T&H objective
Marines – 2nd Scouts assault the Mimes in central BUA (who cannot fight back). This goes two rounds before the Mimes are wiped out.
Marines – THawk lands to recover Broken Terminators, shooting the Mimes, killing both the Master Mime and SS. The Broken Mimes retire around the Marine T&H objective
Marines – Tbolts air assault the Troupe, inflicting a BM
Marines – weakened LS moves up to LH BUA, other stuff stays on OW
End of Turn
BT - Guardians and Rangers remain broken, Troupe removes BMs, Mimes recover
Marines - Predators, Terminators and Devs all recover
Turn#3
Initiative Marines
- Marines – weakened LS double and place a BM on the Troupe
Marines – Retain and engage the troupe with the LS, going B-B with two, letting the Troupe leader and two players disembark. Two MW hits are scored, killing venoms and occupants, and the formation is wiped out in the subsequent resolution.
BT – concede with 3 active formations against 11 and no hope of avoiding at least 2-0 defeat.
Aftermath and thoughts
We both thought this Biel Tan list looked reasonably formidable on paper, with significant opportunities to use both teleporting and webway, while the air assault was also a potential threat. In hindsight, perhaps the Aspects would have done better in the Vampire, but I was very wary of the TBots on CAP which have a better than 50% chance of bringing it down.
Teleporting in on turn#1 was a definite prospect, with the possibility of reinforcing this with the two formations out of the Storm Serpent and the air assault, though the Storm Serpent was unlikely to survive for long. This would have meant advancing everything else (except the Rangers on Blitz duty) to control / contest the centrally placed objectives, which in turn would probably still have left these weaker formations in positions where they could easily be picked off.
As it was I elected to hang back and wait for the Marines to advance which they eventually did, but at the cost of the Falcons, Storm Serpent and Rangers which only served to deepen the activation disadvantage.
The final assault on the troupe by the two formations of LandSpeeders was a stroke of genius because it left only skimmers as a potential target which the Mimes could not counter-assault, rather than the more obvious airborne Terminator assault that the troupe could have defeated more easily.
At the moment, the Harlequins is a really fun list to use and apparently fun to play against, but they are very hard to play well. Here for example, the usual Eldar list builds become even more challenging because 1300 points or 43% of the list is used up on three allied formations. Obviously this becomes less of an issue at higher army values.
The Shadowseer is working as intended, cutting down the effective size of enemy formations and helping to win otherwise uneven assaults. However he is also proving to be a slight liability (as intended), since he leaves some of the enemy formation alive, and in a mobile enemy like the Marines, these remnants can recover relatively easily and then go on to contest / control objectives.
Also the Mimes do seem remarkably vulnerable and are often a one-hit wonder; once they have assaulted something, they almost invariably die to enemy shooting or counter-assaults. So evidently they need to be heavily supported by friends who can provide cover or supporting fire.
