So I've been putting off finishing my Red Corsairs (well, and moving, which is kinda time consuming), but they should be done soon (maybe this weekend). Which is good, because I'm going to a one day tournament the 17th, and then the NOVA open the 30th, 31st, and 1st. This will be my first major event and I'm really excited for the experience. I've got a board ready, foam ready, and I plan to enjoy myself. I'm not overly concerned about competitive standing (I just want to play with a high level crowd, see fully painted armies on themed boards, etc), but I have been tweaking my list a little. Whereas before I was setting my lineup, I am sticking with my list:
Nurgle Lord on Bike
Sorcerer ML3
Herald of Tzeentch
3x 5 plague marines, power weapon, rhino, 2 specials (2 plasma 1 melta)
cultists
Pink Horrors
2 Heldrakes
5 Bikers
Havocs, 4 Autocannons, rhino
Aegis with Quadgun
Now, with my lineup set, I'm tinkering with options. I usually put a lot of gift of mutation in my lists, and frankly thats because I love the idea of uber powered champions getting increasingly buffed throughout the game. Realistically though, this is 40-50 points of overspending per list, and that can be important for getting optimal results, especially in a competitive setting. To pay myself back for this deviation I'm planning to build a list after NOVA that's gift of mutation spam, with 2 Dark Apostles, Possessed, etc.
Now, I'm seriously thinking about buffing my Herald of Tzeentch. For 25 points I can make Tzeentch's Firestorm S6 for a whole unit. For another 25 I can give him a second power to use for Firestorm. He can prescience his unit and shoot the quadgun + T/L firestorm from his squad at fliers, which is scary to the lighter armored varieties. This gives that squad a little more threat, which I like because its insanely durable with a rerollable 2+ cover save when going to ground. If I really want to get crazy I add another 1-2 Horrors to the squad so they can roll an extra D6 until they get gunned down, putting even more threat on them. I'm not gonna do this though since I don't plan to buy 2 more lol. Paired with the Havoc squad, who can also receive prescience and shoot at whatever needs to die, and a squad of cultists to squat a second objective, I am definitely maximizing the benefit of the aegis line. The Rhino for the Havocs sits in back with these squads and is used to protect the Cultists (although I'll probably reserve them in many situations), or act as mobile LOS blocking terrain.
My other big option is to give my Lord a power fist, upping my Sorcerer from aura of dark glory to sigil of corruption, and maybe taking some melta bombs or blight grenades on the lord with the last 15 points. Or, I could take the burning brand on the Lord and give the Sorcerer sigil.
All are 50 points. All seem worthwhile. If I had the models I'd probably add 2 Bikers and a Pink Horror, buffing my big fast unit's survivability and adding a bit of output/threat to the horrors. Sadly that won't work, so I'm left choosing between:
Add the locus and a mastery level for 50
Add a power fist to my Lord, upgrade Sorcerer to sigil of corruption, buy some grenades
Add the burning brand, upgrade Sorcerer to sigil
What do you think ID readers?