Considering a Court instead of a Scalpel Squad

I have a 2000pt list that I'm looking to drop to 1850. The primary item that I'm looking at removing is a Scalpel Squadron formation and a few odd upgrades throughout the list in order to trim the points. I'm considering replacing it with a Court of the Archon contain 4 Sslyths and 1 Medusea (maybe a 3:2 ratio).

For the ~165pts I have to play with, do you think that a Court would be a good way to fill such or do you think a different option would be better?


Here's an overview of the rest of the list:
- Succubus (glaive, AoM)
- 2x 5 Warriors in Venoms (1 blaster/squad)
- Razorwing Fighter (2 Lances, Spliter Cannon, 4 Monoscythes)
- 2x 5 Scourge (4 Haywire/squad)
- Dark Artisan (WWP, Panacea Perverted, Scissorhand)
- Grotesquerie
- - Urien
- - 2x4 Grots in Raiders (1 Aberration w/ Scissorhand per unit, Dissies on Raiders)

That's a lot of Coven units.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the court. But the Medusae in particular. Take three or four and they just delete every enemy unit they get close to.

165 points happens to be the perfect amount with which to get 4 Medusae in a Venom.

I really like Coven units. While they have their weaknesses, I view them as some of our strongest units in the book personally. The Grotesquerie destroys anything it touches (provided it doesn't have a 2+ save) and the Dark Artisan is a huge bullet sponge. I treat it like a marine player treats a dreadnought in a drop pod, drop it in front and let your opponent have to deal with it.

The Scalpel Squadron has been more gimmicky or at least tactical for me in a way to provide an unknown turn 1 deployment for my opponent to have to consider and think about. I view it more as 2 more venoms that come in turn 1 mostly where I need them and rarely fret over the D3 first blood points. It's the main reason why I'm dropping them - i can get venoms elsewhere and find a potentially more potent use for the points.

I'm not 100% sold on Haywire Scourge still - feeling blasters may be more tactically versatile; however, less dependent on vehicle removal.

Overall though it sounds like a Medusae bomb is going to be better than having a Sslyth heavy version of the Court. I'll have to pick up some and try things out in the near future. Thanks!

You have a lot of reserves, did you think about a aegis/bastion for reserve manipulation, maybe manned by mandrakes (risky) or a cronos (usefull but slow, more than 165 points) or maybe an allied autarch with banshee mask and one squad windriders?

As @miral said an autarch that could join ur grotesquerie could help you with reserve rolls and scat bikes are scat bikes.

Finally got my computer fixed so i can reply.

As for the amount of reserves, it is a risk but thankfully one that hasn't bit me too hard so far. The nice thing is that everything is optional with the exception of my Razorwing and Scalpel squadron currently (of which one is a guaranteed first turn entry).

I have dabbled with some reserve manipulation and if I was going to do any of those options, I would grab an Imperial Bunker with Coms relay. It's cheaper than a bastion and has some added benefits when it comes to it's firepoints. But overall, it's a waste of points as I haven't really needed it and having a fortification of sorts removes my maneuverability since it locks a unit down to use it.

The Autarch works well and is probably the best option for consistent reserve manipulation for DE in my opinion as it's ever present and comes with additional troops for grabbing objectives and such. Again though, I don't feel like it's necessary for my army.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I like Sslyth more than Medusae for the T5. But then I suppose high T isn't such a priority in this kind of survivable list. I do the same with the Artisan, it's beginning to make me feel bad.

For survivability, speed, anti tank, cheap wounds and in combination with Urien I recently tried two squads of six reavers with 2 CCs each and a Cronos.
They have at least a 3+/5+ in turn one (Urien and Cronos), they have speed and are so very durable (plus optional night fight or +1T with drugs)! My opponents regularly vomit when shooting one unit after another and nothing really happens.
Of course you have to deploy and move in coherency for the first few turns. But most of the time it really pays off and with two seperate units you really are flexible and plan ahead.
Also, they kill stuff from time to time. Maybe an alternative for the DA?