Bad TheoryHammer: Void-Troupe Dancers (First Impressions)

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 Bad TheoryHammer:  Void-Troupe Dancers


(Image Credit:  GW)

To begin with, I'm going to have to apologize for those of you who saw the Solitaire and got all excited.  No, they're not in this Kill Team.  Sorry, but I needed to find a picture for the header and, well, there really isn't much to go on right now.  If this got you all verklempt, my apologies.

The Void-Troupe (otherwise known as Bespoke Harlequins) have been spoiled for... a few hours.  I am using information from GHD and Kill Team University for this writeup.  Keep in mind, this is purely hypothetical, because NOBODY knows what's going to happen here.

Oh, and to give credit to Glass Half Dead, here's a link directly to his YouTube coverage of the spoilers.

Also, a link to Kill Team University on Discord.

So, my initial reaction?  Wow.  I didn't think Harlequins really needed a buff, but man, did they (mostly) get one.  There's a lot of neat things in here that, well, you're going to want to play around with if you like Killer Klowns from Outer Space.  They aren't really my style anymore, but I can totally appreciate how someone might like them.

With bespoke teams, I like to go into a bit of "what was gained versus what was lost."  In this case, I genuinely believe almost everything was gain.

Gains:
  • Death Jester and Shadowseer.  Both are pretty darned neat.
  • Saedath (more on that VERY shortly)
  • Between Colors is potentially amazing for your Fusion Pistol and Neuro Disruptor.
  • More ploys, more options in general.
  • Everyone just plain has the FLY keyword.
Losses:
  • Um, you don't have Flip Belts any longer?
  • Saedath does require a small amount of commitment to get done.
  • Some of the Bespoke Tac Ops will require a bit of work to accomplish.
  • You can no longer take two Fusion Pistols or Neuro Disruptors.  One of each (and this includes the Leader, so you know).
  • Prismatic Blur got turned into two separate ploys (and the melee one got nerfed).
Before we get into the Operatives (there aren't many, go figure), let's talk about Saedath.

Special Rules:  Saedath

Effectively, at the beginning of the game, you choose what sort of "play" you're putting on in this battle and then you select the "star" of the show, which can be anyone.  You also have to keep a tally.  The first time each of your operatives meets the requirements of the allegory, you gain a tally mark.  If it is the "star," gain another one.  Your "star" gets a special little buff that makes it a bit easier for them to fulfill the requirements.

When you get 4+ tally marks, suddenly everyone in your Kill Team become stars.  This is important for other things--the Lead Player can sort of flip the script in the middle of the play and change up the allegory, giving everyone a better bonus as needed.  This can only be done once, so it's (in my completely Bad opinion) to choose an allegory that you can rack up tally marks in quickly and then switching to something that lets you put the hurt on your opponents.

Again, completely Bad idea, so tell me if I'm wrong, but I think Comedy is one of the easiest to score because Void-Dancers still get The Curtain Falls (and that is really really strong).  Sure, your Lead isn't going to get much of a benefit from 1 AP Fall Back when you're using TCF, but you can quickly get three Operatives to charge, fight, and Fall Forward (who says you have to go backwards?) to get your four marks and then switch to say, Odyssey or Epic perhaps for extra charge movement or the ability to hang in combat and do some more damage.  Or Melodrama if you aren't having movement issues and want to boost up your better pistols and the Death Jester.  I don't know.  We will see what comes up.  Like I said, this is just first impressions!

Operatives

Lead Player (and Players)


(Image Credit:  GW)

I'm lumping these two together because of ease of images and because you're going to have to take them both regardless.  Also, as sort of a nice thing (sort of), at least you only REALLY need one box of Players plus the two "Agents" (I'm using the Wyrmblade terms here) to make a Kill Team.  Still more expensive than Compedium Harlies, but it's kind of neat.

So, the Leader, as mentioned, has the ability to flip the script in the middle of the game.  This is great if you want to have an easy-to-score Allegory and then change it to one with a better bonus.  Also, he's a better fighter in general.  This might make him a good choice for one of the fancy pistols, but in my opinion, you're more likely to want him to get stuck in with a power weapon and do some damage and then run away.

As far as the other weapons, I think it's really going to depend on who you are up against (magnetize, people!).  Kisses are great for fishing for crits against GEQs.  Blade is a great general-purpose weapon, but does nothing fancy.  I'm not a huge fan of the Caress because you're going to probably want to hit and run with TCF as much as possible.  Embrace, well, Brutal is nice.

Take one of each pistol and then season with weapons to your murderous clown heart's content.

Shadowseer


(Image Credit:  GW)

This guy is sneaky.  He's not nearly as good of a fighter in general compared to other players (but he does have an extra wound, at least), but he brings psychic trickery into the game.  To begin with, the Hallucinogen Grenade can be amazing when tossed into a bunch of people hiding behind cover.  It's a bit swingy, sure.

I wouldn't bother giving this clown a Neuro Disruptor because they have better uses of their APL.  Instead, I would look at their Psychic Actions.

Veil of Tears can be used to keep the Shadowseer safe while they go around doing Mission Actions or whatnot.  Not a bad idea in general and it keeps things properly safe.

Fog of Dreams can completely nerf an opponent's plans by making their critical activation...  not come at the critical time.  It will take some good play to work out, but it's really strong when it works.

Mirror of Minds is strange.  It can be one of the most devastating attacks in the game (6 MW?  Really?), but it will often be less.  Still, it's not a bad way of finishing off someone who is wounded.

Death Jester


(Image Credit:  GW)

Can you believe this guy is sold out online in the US?  Really, right as new Harlequin rules are coming out?

Seriously, there's not a lot to say about him.  He is a meh melee model with a REALLY strong, albeit Heavy, weapon, and Fly.  The equipment that removes Heavy just means he can get out of combat and then shoot with the "flamer" profile, I guess?  Someone explain that to me.

Note:  The Shrieker has a flamer profile (meaning it gets Torrent for 1 more AP for shooting).  That's freaking amazing when it comes up.  This thing will shred hordes if they group up.  Also, the gun makes people injured even if they aren't injured, so it's a good way of dealing with guys who haven't activated yet.

Ploys

I'm not going too deep into here yet.  Let's look at the changes.

Prismatic Blur is now two Ploys:  Prismatic Blur (shooting only) and Cegorach's Jest (melee-only).  Cegorach's Jest also requires you to roll equal to or under the opponent's WS to force a parry, so it is a pretty strict nerf against most opponents.

Ruthless Derision could be useful, but I don't see it as that much of a thing.  Perhaps if you got charged and survived you can fight, TCF, and then shoot to finish off your opponent.

Capricious Role is nice if you want to go from opponent to opponent, I suppose.  I'm far more likely to just use The Curtain Falls, but that's me.

Archetypes (and Tac Ops)

I think Void-Dancers can do pretty well with Seek and Destroy, especially with their own Tac Ops.

Mythic Play should be an easy 2 VP unless your opponent nukes your Lead Player early on.  Getting 6 tally marks is pretty simple.

Hero's Path is potentially pretty strong, but it has a risk involved.  If you make a murderblender, chances are your opponent is going to try like heck to bring them down, you know?

Grand Act is...  Interesting.  It's really strong, but it's some work to get off and you have to dedicate yourself to it.  It's neat thematically, but I'm not sure if I would dedicate myself to getting it to work.  Maybe someone else can do it!

Equipment

Here's the one place where I think Void-Dancers are somewhat lacking.  I don't mean this in a bad way per se, just they don't get me all super-excited about their stuff.  It all seems a little too expensive to me.

Toxin Rounds are really only ever going to be taken for the Cannon and that's 4 EP right there.  Add the Support Grip and suddenly you're spending half your EP on the Death Jester (and I don't quite understand the point of the Grip, so feel free to educate me--this is first impressions!).

Both the Monofilament types seem like they cost 1 EP too much to me, but I reserve the right to be wrong.  Getting extra crits is always good and if you're using Kisses to fish for crits against GEQ, at least you will hit for 4 damage if you flub.

Sample Roster

Lead Player (Power Weapon, Shuriken Pistol)
Death Jester
Shadowseer
Player (Fusion Pistol, Blade)
Player (Neuro Disruptor, Blade)
3x Player (Kiss)
3x Player (Embrace)
3x Player (Caress)
3x Player (Blade)
Player (Fusion Pistol, Kiss)
Player (Neuro Disruptor, Kiss)
Player (Fusion Pistol, Caress)

This is admittedly a bit biased based on the current "horde" meta.  It allows for a team of all Blades (you can swap out the Blades on the first two Players if you want for something else) or all Kisses (for going up against GEQ hordes).  If your local meta is different, feel free to mix it up.

Also, magnets, how do they work?

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