Playing Around with Harlequins

By ddunkelmeister, in Deathwatch Gamemasters

So, I've been bitten by a flamboyantly-dressed bug, and I've developed a hankering for everyone's favorite psychotic space clowns. My first attempt:

Harlequin Trouper

WS 60

BS 45

S 32

T 33

Ag 55

Per 42

Int 38

WP 42

Fel 47

Movement: 5/10/15/20 Wounds: 18

Skills:

Acrobatics (Ag) +20, Awareness (Per), Charm (Fel), Climb (S), Concealment (Ag), Contortionist (Ag) +10, Deceive (Fel) +10, Dodge (Ag) +20, Forbidden Lore (Black Library) (Int), Navigation (Webway) (Int), Performer (Dancer) (Fel) +10, Pilot (Personal) (Ag), Scrutiny (Per), Search (Per), Silent Move (Ag), Sleight of Hand (Ag), Speak Language (Eldar, Low Gothic).

Talents:
Ambidextrous, Blademaster, Catfall, Combat Master, Counter Attack, Disarm, Double Team, Exotic Weapon Training (Eldar), Furious Assault, Hard Target, Hatred (Chaos), Leap Up, Lightning Reflexes, Melee Weapon Training (Universal), Preternatural Speed, Rapid Reaction, Sprint, Step Aside, Swift Attack, Talented (Dodge), Two-Weapon Wielder (Ballistic, Melee), Wall of Steel.

Traits: Fear (1) , Unnatural Agility (x2)

Armour: Holo-Suit (All None) [RT].

Weapons: Chainsword (1d10+5 R; Pen 2; Balanced, Tearing) or Harlequin's Kiss (1d10+8 R; Pen 10; Tearing), Shuriken Pistol (20m; S/3/5; 1d10+2 R; Pen 4; Clip 40; Reload 2 Full).

Gear: 2 clips for shuriken pistol, dathedi holomask, flip-belt, 1 haywire grenade, 2 tanglefoot grenades.

Dathedi Holomask: Also known as the Mask of Fear, this is a small holographic device worn as a mask. It projects daemonic visages and scenes of death onto the mask and has a short-range psychic amplifier which increases enemies' sensitivity to fear and despair. It grants the bearer Fear (1).

And there you have it. I can't decide whether to make these guys Troops or Elites. As the supreme close-combat experts of the Eldar, I would lean towards the Elite category. However, these stats don't seem to fit that concept. On the one hand, this guy is gonna bounce off a PC unless he's packing the Harlequin's Kiss. On the other hand, a Horde with Harlequin's Kisses is downright disgusting.

Comments and Criticism are more than welcome. Have at it, gentlemen (and gentlewomen)!

EDIT: Doh! Wrong sub-forum.

I like him, though I'd bump his Ag to 60. These guys are meant to be ultra-fast, and certainly faster than Marines.

Also he's missing a Skill - Trade (Interior Decorator). He needs that.

BYE

i'd go elite , and also add fusion pistols (think melta pistols) back them up with a shadow seer and a death jester and you have a nasty encounter

a horde of harles is just wrong on so many levels

Hardrainfalling said:

a horde of harles is just wrong on so many levels

What's wrong with a few un-dodgable 3d10+8 Pen 10, Tearing, attacks per round then...?

I have used Harliquins and Death Jesters in my campaign, More as Elite encounters. I gave harliquins the dance of death ability, basicly they can dodge(and if successfull) can counter attack any and all attacks made against it within melee range, including ballistic attacks made against it with pistols. RT core has Harliquins kiss weapon stats.

The main alterations I'd make are as follows:

Increase Strength, Toughness and Agility by +10 each ("...their acrobatic feats, strength and endurance exceed the abilities of even other Eldar" - Codex Eldar (1994)), add Assassin's Strike, Crushing Blow, Crippling Strike and Lightning Attack Talents, increase Unnatural Agility to x3 (as already noted, they're ridiculously agile even by Eldar standards), and a couple of special rules all their own:

The Keenest Blades: Harlequins are lethally precise combatants, able to strike telling wounds with matchless grace and startling certainty as they leap and dance around and above their foes. All melee attacks from a Harlequin count as having the Razor-Sharp Quality.

The Dance of Death : When in battle, a Harlequin remains in almost constant motion, their bodies moving almost too quickly to follow and their deadly motion leading them from foe to foe. When using the Assassin's Strike Talent, a Harlequin may attempt to move after every attack, rather than being limited to only one such move per round.

I'd be inclined to tweak the stats of the Chainsword as well - it isn't a normal human Chainsword, afterall, but one of Eldar manufacture and sufficient quality to be carried by a Harlequin - I'd suggest 1d10+3 R; Pen 4; Balanced, Tearing, increased by the wielder's SB, etc to 1d10+9 R.