1850 DE/Grotesquerie (Been away for a while)

Been away from the game since spring due to school but I'll have some time off over the winter and I'm looking to get a few good games in.  The guys I play with tend to run some pretty competitive lists, and I've missed a few of the latest codex releases (along with a pile of White Dwarf Stuff apparently).  This is my first attempt since being back at running pure DE, I played around with Eldar plus 2 big grot units but I can't bring myself to be an Eldar player (yuk).  I had been running an entirely Foot-slogging DE/E army, but with the new book I thought I'd change it up a bit.  I think this has the makings of a strong list, but I'm a little out of it in terms of what people are running these days.  It's got a few tricks, and I've never used 3 fliers so I'm interested to see how that goes (couldn't resist with how cheap they are now).  Thoughts on the list?

Archon, Shadowfield, Agonizer, Haywires, Armor of Misery, Phantasm Launcher, Webway Portal - 205
Haemie, Scissorhand, Hexrifle - 90 (Grotesquerie)
4 Grots, Aberration upgrade, Scissorhand, Raider - 215 (Grotesquerie)
4 Grots, Aberration upgrade, Scissorhand - 160 (Grotesquerie)
5 Warriors, Venom, Extra Cannon - 105
5 Warriors, Venom, Extra Cannon - 105
5 Warriors, Venom, Extra Cannon - 105
20 Warriors, Sybarite upgrade, Haywires - 175
Razorwing, Dark Lances, 2 Shatterfields - 150
Razorwing, Dark Lances, 2 Shatterfields - 150
Razorwing, Splinter Cannon - 140
Ravager, 3 Dark Lances - 125
Ravager, 3 Dark Lances - 125

Bugs_N_Orks wrote:

Archon, Shadowfield, Agonizer, Haywires, Armor of Misery, Phantasm Launcher, Webway Portal - 205

I actively dislike this, because he costs an arm and a leg and is still just an AP 3 power weapon.
Have you considered the Succubus? You can hand her the Armor, lose the Shadowfield and PGL, give her the Glaive and Haywires (though I wouldn't bother with Haywire) and she's an AP2 beatstick still helping the leadership effect while being better in assault

Bugs_N_Orks wrote:

Haemie, Scissorhand, Hexrifle - 90 (Grotesquerie)

The Hexrifle is a bit of a joke, and will he really be shooting much anyway? I would tend to suggest just a scissorhand, or maybe an Aggie. He's really just along for the show with an assault unit, let him get in some swings and call it a day methinks.

Bugs_N_Orks wrote:

4 Grots, Aberration upgrade, Scissorhand, Raider - 215 (Grotesquerie)
4 Grots, Aberration upgrade, Scissorhand - 160 (Grotesquerie)

I like these builds and consider it the optimal Grot build.

Bugs_N_Orks wrote:

5 Warriors, Venom, Extra Cannon - 105
5 Warriors, Venom, Extra Cannon - 105
5 Warriors, Venom, Extra Cannon - 105

I find the lack of Blasters disturbing as it really limits the units - all those saved points from the Archon could go here very easily to get some Blasters.

Bugs_N_Orks wrote:

20 Warriors, Sybarite upgrade, Haywires - 175

Are these guys just objective campers or something? They seem to have little point. I'd at least invest in some lances or something so they are adding some pew-pew action to the war effort. Personally I never run big blob DE like this, so I usually find it lacking and slow, but I do think they deserve a few bigger guns to add to their damage output and threat.

Bugs_N_Orks wrote:

Razorwing, Dark Lances, 2 Shatterfields - 150
Razorwing, Dark Lances, 2 Shatterfields - 150
Razorwing, Splinter Cannon - 140

I'm neutral on Shatterfields as I feel Monoscythes do fine, but they're okay.
I see little purpose to a splinter cannon upgrade unless you see a lot of FMCs - just fire missiles and Dissies and float in the splinter rifle if needed at the end.

Bugs_N_Orks wrote:

Ravager, 3 Dark Lances - 125
Ravager, 3 Dark Lances - 125

I approve.

Overall a not shabby list. I would say the big concerns to my eye are the expensive and fragile and questionably useful HQ, and the Warriors lacking Blasters. The other stuff is just some opinions, but I think useful and TAC minded warriors are very useful, and I see no need to burn too many points on a DE HQ.

I have to agree with Thor. Also, where is the Archon going? If with the 20 warriors I'd suggest going with a haemonculous instead of the Archon since he boosts PfP and they would have at least 5+ fnp out of the gate. Give the blob 2 blasters and the syberite I blast pistol/haywire grenades. If the Archon is meant to go with the Grotesques then I agree with Thor. Go with a succubus.

Well the Haemie usually goes with the Warrior blob to make them Fearless and give FNP faster (the Coven PFP chart meshes very nicely with the Codex one) so the rifle at least lets him put his BS5 to some use (and might do something comical every now and then), in a ruin/cover they're pretty annoying to get rid of since most things that ID them or ignore cover will be shooting other stuff the first couple turns, and later on there will (hopefully) be less of it. Sometimes the Archon will join them to DS somewhere annoying (like behind a unit to get around tanky characters), and sometimes he'll hop in with one of the Grot squads and DS them instead (sometimes with the raider squad to extend his armor aura, sometimes with the foot squad). I wanted to try out the Freakish Spectacle, Armor of Misery combo, DS near a couple units then force checks at -3 from my other shooting (and I figured I'd throw in a Phantasm to see how it does). The Haemie is probably my Warlord since the Archon will always be sticking his neck out. The Shatterfields I've liked since 5th, that extra point of S is well worth it when it comes to dinging vehicles, and the third Razorwing is primarily there for some added anti-FMC (there be Daemons and Nids aplenty in these parts) I agree about the lack of blasters in the warriors squads, I'd rather have them, but points...

I suppose I could cut the more gimmicky stuff and get something like:

Succubus, Glaive, Haywire, WWP - 135
Haemie, Mindphase, Syndric's Sump - 85 (Grotesquerie)
4 Grots, Aberration upgrade, Scissorhand, Raider - 215 (Grotesquerie)
4 Grots, Aberration upgrade, Scissorhand - 160 (Grotesquerie)
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, Extra Cannon - 120
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, Extra Cannon - 120
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, Extra Cannon - 120
20 Warriors, 2 Blasters, Sybarite upgrade, Haywires - 205
Razorwing, Dark Lances, 2 Shatterfields - 150
Razorwing, Dark Lances, 2 Shatterfields - 150
Razorwing, Splinter Cannon, 2 Necrotoxin - 140
Ravager, 3 Dark Lances - 125
Ravager, 3 Dark Lances - 125

But I'll probably test both out to see what fits my style better.