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Hi All,

Hoping to get some help choosing the right army to start with. I'm new to 40k but have played Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar in the past.

Being an old High Elf player, I really like Craftworld Eldar, despite some of the models being old. I also find myself drawn to Harlequins, due to the lore and potential "unified charge" playstyle. I was also lucky enough to pick up the most recent White Dwarf at my FLGS, that featured Ynnari - which looked to promise a cool combination of both. After watching some battle reports, flipping through the codexes etc, I have a few questions that I hope could be answered here.

1) What are the game play benefits of a unified Ynnari army vs an army with a craftworld detachment and a harlequin detachment? It seemed to me like the Ynnari rules were skewed toward enhancing close combat, but not much else.

2) How important is creating a core battalion detachment? I don't see a problem doing it with harlequins, but I'm thinking of doing an Iyanden list with only vanguard detachments. Are the stratagems that important? and if so do the Ynnari suffer because they don't have as many?

3) How do the different special characters compare to each other? I only ask because if I go Ynnari I would not get access to (for example) Eldrad or a Solitaire?

Creatively I like the idea of both a unified color scheme (under Ynnari) and doing an alliance of say Frozen Stars and Iyanden - so my main tipping point is how each faction would differ/play on the tabletop. They don't need to be super competitive either, just fun to play and able to hold their own in most matchups.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Hey bud I'm part of the playtest squad for GW and was involved extensively with Ynnari and can tell you they are very good, especially with Harlequins. But just be warned, Ynnari are challenging to play but can be incredible when coordinated properly and Harlequins are also VERY challenging (But also very, very good) to play as well and really take a lot of getting used to

1. The benefits of playing Ynnari are they give you a relentless, highly accurate melee army with access to a lot of re-roll wounds. The other benefit is their psychic powers are very good. The Word of the Phoenix in particular is amazing on Wraithblades/Guard but also Skyweaver Jetbikes (with Haywire, always take Haywire) as you are bringing back 50pt models on a 5+ (or 4+ with Yvraine). Harlequins hitting on 2's re-rolling 1's when the Visarch is nearby is amazing. Plus re-rolling wounds with a Troupe Master, stratagem or psychic ability is phenomenal.

2. The core battalion is IMPERATIVE. Ynnari stratagems are very expensive, but likewise essential to getting the army to work (re-roll wounds, lightening fast reactions which is totally imperative etc.)

3. Yvraine is really good. She is like a Drukhari Succubus and a Farseer combined for the cost of Eldrad. The Visarch is middle of the road... but his re-roll wounds to ALL Ynnari units in combat is tactically EXCELLENT. He's a must! The Yncarne is also really good, but you have to master teleporting her. She can teleport unlimited times per turn, so if she gets into combat kills something, your opponent activates a fight elsewhere on the battlefield (or one of your units kills something) she can instantly teleport away without your opponent getting a chance to fight back. Also remember she can heroically intervene. Also a Harlequin Troupe Master with the Hungering Blade is insane.

I would not bother with Frozen Stars... if you want to take Harlequins I think the multiple routes to re-roll wounds, hitting 2's in combat, fighting first (which is absolutley MASSIVE!) if far preferable.

Iyanden is also a challenging build but one that I really like. I think a huge unit of Wraithblades with axes+shields, protect+quicken+fortune is amazing and is my current project. But again... Iyanden is very challenging... so Ynnari, Iyanden, and Harlequins are all difficult to master armies but not impossible.

On my podcast I did a big Ynnari group discussion with Lawrence Baker (from Tabletop Tactics) and Wes from D6 Evolution all about Ynnari... so if you want a bit more in-depth break down do check it out!

http://splintermind.libsyn.com/episode-64-ynnari-tactics-with-the-spider-and-the-big-faq-with-wes-from-d6-evolution

Thanks for the input! Gonna give the podcast a listen for sure.

Sounds like I just need to start with Ynnari to give a bunch of units a try, and then if I find that I'm liking the Wraith stuff the best, go ahead and focus on those. I feel like it'll give me the largest canvas to work with - so to speak.