Hello all!

So it’s been about a month now that we’ve had time to digest and play some with our shiny new Codex, and i figured i’d put up a discussion topic talking about what i believe to be the net-winners and net-losers of the Harlequin Codex. Now to clarify this, i will be measuring this comparison based on whether or not an entry has changed from the Index, and how impactful the change was on the current 40k landscape as whole. This WILL NOT be mentioning units, gear, rules, etc that “could have been” or things that do not exist. So things like Mimes, Virtuosos, etc are for a different discussion. Additionally, i won’t be touching on Relics, Masque Forms, Warlord Traits, or Stratagems, as since we didn’t have any of them before- well something is better than nothing. With that in mind, let’s first start by discussing the entries that i believe to be winners of the Codex!

WINNERS!

First and most obvious; the Death Jester. Man oh man, did this little sadist of ours gets an overhaul, and i for one couldn’t be happier. By receiving another points decrease dropping it down to 45ppm from the 60ppm post-Chapter Approved, and the 75ppm from the Index- this guy is finally in a margain worth taking. On top of that, his Shrieker variant of his weapon received an intrinsic AP of -1 which is all it really needed to be worth shooting. In addition to all this, they received a relic specific for them in the form of Curtainfall, as well as stratagems that benefits them immensely in “An Example Made” amd “Shrieking Doom”. Thanks to this guy, we now see Vanguard detachments popping up all over Harlequin armies, and i myself find myself more frequently taking them than not.

Next, the Shadowseer! Our favorite (…and only) psyker got a nice little boost with the codex, and with the buff to her psychic-ness, as well as her points decrease, she’s much more attractive an option now. Pre-codex, she was 134pts, for 2 casts with 1 power, with a 4++ and a decent (but by no means game-breaking) aura debuff. She was literally a “strictly worse” Farseer, even AFTER the Farseer got nerfed in the Big FAQ. Now, she’s 125pts, and knows 2 powers, pulling them both from our updated Phantasmancy discipline with some nifty tricks. I still rarely find myself ever wanting more than 2 Shadowseers, but that’s still a massive improvement from pre-codex where i was struggling to justify the one.

Now, let’s talk about the Haywire Cannons! These things got the Disintegrator Cannon treatment from the Drukhari dex and wen’t from being a lackluster alternative, to a specialist pick overnight. Being able to churn out mortal wounds on vehicles was always an attractive ability, but previously being a heavy weapon mounted an GottaGoFast.list was a deal breaker. Now they have been bumped up to assault, and with an Assault D6 profile to boot! now a squad of 6 bikes can throw some SERIOUS mortal wounds that will completely bypass armor and invulns alike, and can only be shrugged off by FNPs. This takes a lot of pressure off your Players to be kamikaze armor-killers, and frees up our only troop choice to do something other than smush their faces against a Land Raider. Let’s not forget that if you’re feeling extra spicy, drop these bad boys in a Dreaming Shadow detachment, pop “An Example Made” on them, and watch all your shots explode to deal MORE mortal wounds!

Last, i’m personally a huge fan to the 2ppm discount applied to our Troupe Players. While they’re still the same dorky clowns that we’ve grown to love, making them cheaper was very welcome. Now our Troupes are going to be 10 points cheaper for a squad of 5, and that is very necessary when we start talking about our “Losers” coming up next. Considering this is our only troop choice, and the backbone of our entire composition, any and all buffs applied to this unit is going to be greatly welcomed in pushing this army forward in the game.

With that being said, there are 4 entries in our Codex that i would like to talk about that DID not receive some much needed love, or in most cases actually for nerfed in some way from their Index versions. Now remember that this by no means that these entries are unplayable, but this is merely meant to balancing faux pas that while some justified, will sting when stacked side by side with either their previous versions, or the rest of the Codex.

LOSERS!!

First, the obvious one… the elephant in the room.. the Neuro Disruptor. I honestly currently have a hard time understanding the justification for this gun. It has a weaker Str when trying to tackle Bikes, Beasts, Monsters, or even just Infantry, it has WORSE AP than the fusion, it has WORSE damage than a fusion, and it is specially designed to not work on Vehicles.. the things you want AP for. The worst part is it costs 1pt MORE than a fusion. Just.. Why? The only thing it has going for it is the 12″ range as compared to the fusions 6″ range, but even then it’s still only a single shot. I just don’t get it. GW please.. the bit is so cool looking.. make it usable?

Second is the Troupe Master. Now don’t get me wrong, this guy is still good and is an auto include of at least 1 in virtually any list; but the 9ppm increase it received will balance out the discount given to the Players as mentioned above. I can’t wholeheartedly complain about this as the unit it still good, still has a fantastic stat line, and is worth the points, but it certainly does sting to see when compared to his Index self. The laughing God giveth, The Laughing God taketh away.

Next, The Harlequins Embrace had its gap sufficiently shortened with this book. Now again, that doesn’t mean this option is bad. But with both the Kiss and Caress costing us only 7ppm compared to the Embrace’s 6ppm, you need to ask yourself what you’re saving that 1 points for, and is that item you’re buying with all those accrued 1pt savings worth it when compared to dropping a single melee weapon, or fusion from your Troupe. Now that gap has been shortened with even the Kiss being 7ppm to help with TEQs and other Gangs. I still find myself bringing the Embrace more often than not, as i’m a sucker for AP and old habits die hard, but that S5 is getting harder and harder to pass up.

Finally we get to our last loser, and it’s with a heavy heart that i need to lay into the Starweaver a little bit. Now again, i feel the need to specify: this does NOT mean the Starweaver is underperforming, or in any sense of the word- Bad. HOWEVER. This model got absolutely no adjustments from the Index version, and is still sitting at a whopping 99ppm including its pair of shuriken cannons. Now when we recognize this as the only transport we have, the fact its open top with a 4++ and a -1 to hit in shooting, it’s honestly not a half bad deal. However, when we stack it up against the other transports in the Aeldari arsenal, we start to see just how much 99pts is worth. a Venom from the Drukhari Dex, will cost you a measly 65pts including its pair of twin shuriken rifles. The Venom also has a -1, with open topped shooting potential, and has a 5++ as compared to the 4++ of the Starweaver. is the extra +1 to the invuln worth the additional 34pts? that’s a hard sell in my book. Even compared to the Wave Serpent- a T7, 13W transport that although isn’t open topped, is only 129pts; 30pts more than the Starweaver for a statline that is superior to the Starweaver in almost all regards. It feels sorta bittersweet to know that one of the cornerstones of our Codex is also our most expendable unit, and sadly will cost us 99pts each.

Thank you all for reading! I know this write up was a little shorter than usual, but i wanted to get this out and open up the discussion. Do you feel differently? Was anything else in your opinion a clear winner or loser? Be sure to open up and talk about it! Thank you again!

As Always,

Batty