New Warhammer 40k detachments are speeding our way, and this time amidst the blurred shapes, there's an unmistakable glimpse of diamond patterned fabric, and pointy elf ears. It's a new detachment for the Aeldari, specifically for their trickster-clown cultist offshoot, the Harlequins.
Of course, the Harlequins do already have their own dedicated detachment in the codex - Ghosts of the Webway - which has a heavy focus on movement and evasion, helping these tricksters avoid getting pinned down in fights they can't win, and on the other side of the coin, get into fights they can.
But the new version, Serpent's Brood, is - in a word - better. It has a particular focus on vehicles, encouraging you to use Starweavers to bring infantry to the fight, Skyweaver jet bikes that can zip around causing trouble, and more deadly Voidweavers for real firepower.
That this detachment is an upgrade becomes immediately apparent from its detachment rules. Both Harlequin detachments have rules that allow to function as your main army, giving your troupe troops battleline and letting you take more Harlequin characters.
Ghosts of the Webway let your units move through enemy models on a charge, which is useful for avoiding chaff and getting to juicier targets, but ultimately incredibly niche.
Serpent's Brood, meanwhile, puts sustained hits 1 on your Harlequin vehicles, and gives their infantry the ability on the turn they disembark. With every crit roll of six counting as two hits, your whole fighting force suddenly has much bigger balls in its glass cannon.
The enhancements include some neat little buffs. It's not necessarily a major upgrade over what Ghosts offered, but there's some cool stuff like being able to give a Death Jester two of its abilities at a time to absolutely delete characters.
The stratagems have the best goodies though. Fangs of the Brood lets a troupe take all three of their dance with death abilities instead of just one, making them much stronger in melee. You'll want to scream up with a transport, unload a troupe onto an enemy and have them hack and slash away immediately to get the bonus of this stratagem combined with the sustained wounds ability.
The rest are all movement focused, ensuring you're the nippiest thing on the field. With Weaver's Coils, a jet bike can move or fall back after fighting, while Venomous Wrath lets any unit do the same after shooting.
With Weaving Stride, an infantry can move after an enemy comes too close, and Skyward Lunge lets something get off the field, allowing for tactical redeployment later. Finally, Striking Stride lets any Harlequins unit advance and charge, ensuring nothing is beyond your reach.
It's not the most offensive set of abilities, but it turns the Harlequins into the speedster force you'd expect them to be. And the base detachment rule provides combat power aplenty, giving your units the extra oomph they'll need to handle tougher opponents. Overall, this detachment is a massive Christmas - sorry, Grotmas - treat for Harlequin players, and could be the excuse Aeldari fans need to try them out on the table.
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