Another Ettin 40K League has wrapped up and I’m happy to report that, for once, I wrote a list that took me to the top. At the start of 9th edition I got into Warhammer 40K and immediately fell in love with the idea of Harlequin’s. They’ve always been an army that aesthetically looked great to me and when I found out how tricksie and strategically they played, I was hooked. I quickly adopted the “Clowns in Boats” archetype and took to playtesting. I discovered they’re the type of army that you have to lose with in practice over and over again before you finally get a grasp on what engagements are beneficial for you.
Fast forward to our Winter League that began in December 2021. I’ve played enough of the Harlequin’s Soaring Spite list to now realize the speed and killing power of 9th edition Codices usually leave me in the dust or have me playing a harder game than I wish to play. I then decided to try and lean into something 8th edition books do better than 9th: souping a “buddy” faction into my army to help me in areas where I struggle. I looked into and experimented with Harlequin’s + Drukhari, knowing full well that Drukhari loses their Power from Pain chart when you add another detachment of any other elf army.
Needless to say, this didn’t pay off. Not for lack of trying, but the Dataslate points changes for Drukhari just made those fast punchy units too expensive and non-cohesive for the build I was looking at. So I shifted to the only other elf-compliant faction I could: Craftworlds. Craftworlds offer one of the best shooting builds you could lean into. They have staying power in your backfield while the quick and deadly Harlequins play the primary. After picking up the Craftworld units I needed and meticulously building lists, I settled on this list for our Warhammer winter league:
++ Spearhead Detachment -3CP (Aeldari - Craftworlds) [41 PL, 786pts, -3CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Craftworld Attribute
. Custom Craftworld: Expert Crafters, Masterful Shots
Detachment Command Cost [-3CP]
+ HQ +
Farseer [6 PL, 120pts]: 0. Smite, 1. Guide, 2. Doom, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear
Warlock Skyrunner [4 PL, 70pts]: 0. Smite, 4. Protect/Jinx, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear
+ Fast Attack +
Shining Spears [5 PL, 110pts]
. 2x Shining Spear: 2x Laser Lance, 2x Twin Shuriken Catapult
. Shining Spear Exarch: Star Lance
. . Exarch Power: Skilled Rider
Shining Spears [5 PL, 110pts]
. 2x Shining Spear: 2x Laser Lance, 2x Twin Shuriken Catapult
. Shining Spear Exarch: Star Lance
. . Exarch Power: Skilled Rider
+ Heavy Support +
Dark Reapers [5 PL, 106pts]
. 2x Dark Reaper: 2x Reaper Launcher
. Dark Reaper Exarch: Tempest Launcher
. . Exarch Power: Rain of Death
Night Spinner [8 PL, 135pts]: Twin Shuriken Catapult
Night Spinner [8 PL, 135pts]: Twin Shuriken Catapult
++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Aeldari - Harlequins) [61 PL, 1,214pts, 11CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Gametype: Matched
Masque Form: The Soaring Spite: Serpent's Blood
+ HQ +
Shadowseer [6 PL, 115pts]: Shards of Light, Shuriken Pistol, Veil of Illusion, Webway Dance
Troupe Master [4 PL, 70pts, -1CP]: Choreographer of War, Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade, Soaring Spite: Skystrider, Stratagem: Pivotal Role, The Twilight Fang, Twilight's Grasp, Warlord
+ Troops +
Troupe [5 PL, 107pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Caress
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Caress
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
Troupe [5 PL, 107pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Caress
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Caress
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
Troupe [5 PL, 110pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
Troupe [5 PL, 110pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
+ Fast Attack +
Skyweavers [15 PL, 275pts]
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
+ Dedicated Transport +
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
++ Total: [102 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++
Let’s break down what makes this list tick and how it play’s the primary and secondary game. First off we have the Craftworld’s Spearhead, a nasty concoction of buffs, debuffs, and weight of dice. I took the custom Craftworld trait’s Masterful Shots & Expert Crafters. Masterful Shots helps chew through benefits to opponents' cover, meaning even your zero AP wounds have more of a chance of getting through the opponents armor. Next we have Expert Crafters, giving you a single re-roll to hit & to wound whenever a unit shoots or fights. These combine to make the shooting just a bit more effective and deadly.
I always make sure when building a list to consider what secondary objectives I’ll be picking more often than not. This list aids itself to choices like Retrieve Octarius Data, Stranglehold, Engage on all Fronts & To the Last. To the Last and Stranglehold were traditionally my every game go-to’s, with my To the Last units being the 2 Nightspinner in the Craftworld’s detachment & the single unit of Harlequin Skyweaver bikes. The Nightspinner are mortar platforms, usually sitting deep in my deployment zone and peppering enemy units. My traditional trick to keeping the Skyweavers alive was to auto advance them 6”, shoot without penalty because of the Soaring Spite Masque Form, charging with them, then paying 2 CP for “The Curtain Falls” stratagem, which enables me to make a full move away before my opponent can fight.
My only loss of the league ended up being Thousand Sons on Battle Lines. Had it been any other mission I would have felt more comfortable about my chances. But my TSons opponent was able to dog pile Objective Secured bodies over and over into the midboard while I struggled to maintain any amount of Primary score. There’s not much I’d change about how I played this particular game, it seemed like an uphill climb on a pretty awfully written and layed out mission.
There are units that performed and some that let me down. First off we’ll talk about the biggest singers of the list, the Farseer comboed with the Dark Reapers / Nightspinner. The Farseer in my list notably casts 2 powers almost every turn: Doom & Guide, and does so extremely reliably. On turns where you just need one of these casts to go off the Farseer has the innate ability to re-roll one or both die on 1 cast / deny the witch test per turn. This makes something like Guide (re-rolls to hit for an Asuryani unit) reliable every turn. The Farseer takes the mortar potential of the Dark Reaper’s Tempest Launcher & the Nightspinners Doomweaver to astronomical heights and ensures that you get that extra bump in efficiency that you need to take care of almost any threat.
The other superstar in the list is the Troupe Master. If you don’t know about this scalpel unit you absolutely should. First off, he’s souped up with an extra pivotal role, the Skystrider Warlord Trait & The Twilight Fang relic. What this all combines to do is allows him to disembark after a transport has moved, give a 6” aura of full re-rolls to wound to all <Masque> units, Charge, hit on 2’s with an additional attack equal to the current battle round, and always wound on 2’s against a non-vehicle / non-monster unit. Not to mention that after he has fought you have a 1 CP stratagem called Skystride that allows you to move back onto the nearest Transport within 6” instead of consolidating, giving him an extra layer of protection. If used right he really dials your shooting up to 11 with the wound re-rolls & then cleans up whatever is left.
What didn’t work for me in this list was the Shining Spears & the Farseer not being on a Skyrunner. The Shining Spears just didn’t fulfill any valuable role in most of my games and oftentimes were a throwaway unit or died too quickly for my liking. The Farseer really needs mobility to be at its most effective. Doom only has an 18” range and you really need to be able to zoom in and make sure your Night Spinners get the re-rolls to wound from Doom. Lastly the Dark Reapers were fine but never overtly impressive. My anti-tank is already present in the list as-is and the Tempest Launcher was good but never great.
So where does the list go from here? I definitely wanted another Troupe Master, more Troupes, and the Farseer on a Skyrunner. After tinkering around in BattleScribe here’s my updated Elf Soup list:
++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Aeldari - Harlequins) [74 PL, 1,475pts, 10CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Gametype: Matched
Masque Form: The Soaring Spite: Serpent's Blood
+ Stratagems +
Enigmas of the Black Library (1 Relic) [-1CP]
+ HQ +
Shadowseer [6 PL, 120pts]: Neuro Disruptor, Shards of Light, Twilight Pathways, Veil of Illusion
Troupe Master [4 PL, 70pts, -1CP]: Choreographer of War, Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade, Soaring Spite: Skystrider, Stratagem: Pivotal Role, The Twilight Fang, Twilight's Grasp, Warlord
Troupe Master [4 PL, 75pts]: Choreographer of War, Domino Shroud, Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
+ Troops +
Troupe [5 PL, 110pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
Troupe [5 PL, 110pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
Troupe [5 PL, 110pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
Troupe [5 PL, 110pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
Troupe [5 PL, 95pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade
+ Fast Attack +
Skyweavers [15 PL, 275pts]
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
. Skyweaver: Haywire Cannon, Zephyrglaive
+ Dedicated Transport +
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
++ Patrol Detachment -2CP (Aeldari - Craftworlds) [29 PL, 525pts, -2CP] ++
+ Configuration +
Craftworld Attribute
. Custom Craftworld: Expert Crafters, Masterful Shots
Detachment Command Cost [-2CP]
+ HQ +
Farseer Skyrunner [7 PL, 135pts]: 0. Smite, 1. Guide, 2. Doom, Shuriken Pistol, Witchblade
Warlock Skyrunner [4 PL, 65pts]: 0. Smite, 4. Protect/Jinx, Shuriken Pistol, Witchblade
+ Troops +
Dire Avengers [2 PL, 55pts]
. 4x Dire Avenger: 4x Avenger Shuriken Catapult, 4x Plasma Grenades
. Dire Avenger Exarch: Avenger Shuriken Catapult
. . Exarch Power: Bladestorm
+ Heavy Support +
Night Spinner [8 PL, 135pts]: Twin Shuriken Catapult
Night Spinner [8 PL, 135pts]: Twin Shuriken Catapult
++ Total: [103 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++
By switching some things around I was able to add 1 more Troupe Master for more wound re-rolls, buy the Farseer a bike to zoom around on, add a unit of Dire Avengers for more secondary play (as well as helping me buy a Patrol detachment and eliminate my Spearhead), AND add a whole unit of Troupes and a transport for them to zoom around in. I’m IN LOVE with this new list and can’t wait to continue to tweak it and play around with some of my matchups.
