I've now played 6 games of 8th edition (2 wins against guard, 2 losses against Grey Knights, one win against Dark Angles and a win against an Alpha Legion list with 40 berserkers, so 4-0-2 so far) and I'm beginning to get the hang of it. Llike most people, I'm impressed. It's simple and streamlined, but still sufficiently complex to be entertaining. The only thing I miss are vehicle facings and firing arcs. Firing arcs in particular added more depth to the game, and helped to reign in flyers (which are of course way more powerful in 8th).
But overall, I'm loving it!
And, I have a new army. While marines are still strong, (my Raven Guard in particular) Genestealer Cult is a bit rubbish (unless you want to take hundreds of genestealers) so I've decided to start a new army for 8th edition - Harlequins. Mostly for the models, which are amazing, and the painting, which is challenging, but also because I suspect they are a lot more powerful than is immediately obvious. They are certainly not the easiest army to play, but I suspect will reward "smart" play, once I get the hang of them.
I say Harlequins, but I'll be taking along some Eldar or Dark Eldar allies. I'm toying with 2 builds at the moment, one with 3 Ravagers as fire support, and the other with 2 Hemlocks. I've played Ravagers in the 6 games so far. The Hemlocks are still in their shrink wrap. I've prioritised painting the Harlies first as I have a Team Tournament coming up next weekend in which I can't use Eldar (another team member is using them). I'll move onto the Hemlocks once I finish the Ravagers - almost there!
So far I've enjoyed the Harlequins. They are are pretty fast, and reasonably deadly in assault, if somewhat fragile. However, one of the things I wasn't expecting was how deadly they are with Fusion Pistol "drive buys" from Starweavers.
The list I'm working with is
Shadowseer
Troupe Master, Fusion Pistol, Caress
Rroupe Master, Fusion Pistol, Caress
Troupe, 5 Players, 3 Fusion Pistols, 4 Embraces
Troupe, 5 Players, 3 Fusion Pistols, 4 Embraces
Troupe, 5 Players, 3 Fusion Pistols, 4 Embraces
Troupe, 5 Players, 3 Fusion Pistols, 4 Embraces
Skyweavers x 3, 2 Zephyer Glaves
Solitare
Starwweaver
Starwweaver
Starwweaver
Starwweaver
Ravager, 3 Dark Lances
Ravager, 3 Disintegrators
Ravager, 3 Disintegrators
The Troupes and Starweavers are working well. The Ravagers are amazing - really impressed with them. I cant make up my mind between disintegrators or dark lances. I'm trying both at the moment, but dont think I've got it right.
The 2 units that haven't shone so far are the Shadowseer and the Solitare. However, they're still in the list as I suspect I need to get better at playing them. The key with the Shadowseer is I suspect the power that allows one unit to move twice. Using this to get a Starweaver full of fusions pistols snuggling up to a big scary thing might be useful. Also, I think the power which forces your opponent to subtract 1 from their to wound rolls might be more powerful than I've given it credit for. It doesn't work on Vehicles (sadly), but only on infantry.
The Solitarie is a scalpel. I think (hope) that his role might be to snipe out characters. When he blitzes he moves 12" plus 3d6 - so on average 22"-23", and he can still charge. The crucial thing however, is he ignores intervening terrain and models. The plan then would be to get him close enough to blitz over bubble wrap and charge the characters hiding behind them. It's worked once so far, jumping over some guardsmen and killing their commissar, but I've not played it well enough yet to make it happen consistently.
Which brings me to skyweavers. It took me a while to work out what to do with them. In fact I almost cut them from my list as they seemed a little pointless. However, in the last game I played it dawned on me. They are great at closing down shooting units.
They are blisteringly fast - 16" move, with a guaranteed 6" advance after which they can still charge. So, on average, a 27" charge? However, combine that with the Shadowseers power to have them move twice, and very little is safe from a first turn charge. The idea is top get them up against a bunch of shooty units forcing them to fall back next turn (or ideally locking them in place so they can't fall back). It limits the return fire, giving your troupe's a breathing space to get there and murder stuff.
All very well if you get first turn, what about if you go second? Well, they're T4 with 3 wounds each, so not terribly tough. However, they have -1 to hit becasue of their mirage launchers, and -1 to wound if within 6" of the Shadowseer. Death Star they're not, but they are tolerably survivable.
So, these are my thoughts to date. I would welcome any feedback from other Harlequin players.
I have a 4 game team tournament next weekend, and a couple of practise games this week and next. Some brief battle reports incoming.