Escalation 500 point cult list.

So my local store is starting an escalation league. I'd been juggling on finishing my Iron Warriors, OR starting a wych cult. I was totally excited until I read the rules. They really boiled my goose on this on. Read this:

All players start with 500 points
Starting armies must consist of 1 HQ and 2 troops
Up to 1 elite choice must be taken
Only vehicles will be dedicated transport.
Can't buy any upgrades on any units
No models in your army may have more than two wounds. Exception HQ, troops, swarms
No vehicle may have AV value with greater than 12.
No flyers
No fortifications.

So 1 HQ and two troops I can do easy that's fine. I can fit in an elite choice. Dedicated transports are boss. No grotesques, oh the indignity. Here's where I'm struggling. No upgrades.

Not sure why the TO thought this was a good idea. That means if I'm bringing wyches I have to take raiders where before I was going to bring to haywire wych squads on venoms. Even kabalites are kind of garbage here because they can't do anything to say a rhino. And one waveserpent which looks to be legal is going to wipe out my army which can total probably 3 lances. Okay anyway I'm done with the tangent here's the list.

1 archite - not bad really. probably has the best standard equipment of all out non special hqs

5xwyches on raider w lance
5xwyches on raider w lance
5xwyches on raider w lance
5xwyches on venom 1 splinter cannon.

Not the list I want to play but limiting myself to cult units I feel this is the best I can do to be honest. What with the restrictions in place.

Luckily I found a loophole in the rules. I it says I can take assault grenades and says nothing of whether I can buy an upgrade or now. This was the list I brought on Sunday.

Succubus
haywire grenades

5xwyches
5xhaywire
Venom

5xwyches
5xhaywire
Venom

9xBloodbrides
9xhaywire grenades
Raider w/ Lance

I made the list on the fly so now that I'm looking at it, Not sure if I can justify 43 points of haywire grenades. I have this list for two weeks now I think and I can't make any changes so some advice on how to use it would be appreciated.

I played on sunday, 1 loss one draw.

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1st game was Blood Angels. Failed to seize. No nightfighting.

BA player moved reclusiarch with death company up the board into cover. Left tac squad entrenched in ruins and hid rhino in cover.

My turn. Flatouted next to death company (out of LOS). Moved one venom up shot death company. Flatouted other venom next to rhino.

Next turn, death company boltered venom to death failed charge. Assault squad disembarks from rhino failed to melta venom down, but heavy bolter makes the venom explode killing two wyches. Enchrenched squad shoots at wyches failing to kill any.

Next turn moved raider 12" toward enchrenched squad lanced rhino and wiffed fired snapshots at death company wiffed. Moved wyches toward deathcompany shot. Moved wyches toward rhino throwing grenade, and wiffed. Assaulted deathcompany with wyches tied combat. Assaulted rhino with three wyches did 1 hullpoint.

Next turn. Assault squad kills 2 wyches attacking rhino. Enchrenched unit fires at raider and nothing, heavy bolter fires at raider destroying the lance. Death company wins combat by one and sweeping advances my wyches. ....

Next turn I disembark by bloodbrides and HQ next to the enchrenched unit (they're on an objective by the way. and charge up the building making it. Succubus gets challenged. I accept. I do zerio wounds to the seargent even though I have furious charge. He does two to the succubus. The bloodbrides kill one marine, the marines kill zero bloodbrides. I lose combat by one. Fail my morale check and get away.

Next turn my bloodbrides basically get shot up and assaulted by death company. I decline the challenge. I'm not tabled but I concede. The game is lost.
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Lessons learned, Until the game opens up, I can't accept challenges with my HQ to anything with high armor. The succubus totally disappointed me but it wasn't his fault. If he had a power lance he would have killed the seargent well before he got attacked back. Would have won the combat by 2 and not have failed a morale check. Six WS8 S5 AP3 attacks is a whole lot better than S4 ap -.
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Second game. Necrons. HQ Imokhtep. 5x immortals x2 and 5x deathmark. Nightfighting. Relic.

First turn. He does nothing. Just sits there. Doesn't hit anything with lightning.

My turn I move my venoms up toward his immortals. Fire both at the unit killing one. Move raider into ruins toward Imokteph. Immobilized.

Second turn. His lightning makes a venom explode. First blood. 1 wych dies. Immortals fire into other venom and do nothing. Other immortals fire into wyches killing 1.

Second turn I disembark wyches and bloodbrides. Venom shoots at immortals in front of wyches. Killing zero. Wyches fire and assualt killing one immortal and losing one wych. Bloodbrides fire into imokhtep doing one wound, assault through cover. Lose 2 to overwatch. Decline challenge with succubus. Kill Imokhtep. Can only consolidate 1 inch.

Death marks come in. Immortals and death marks obliterate my bloodbride unit. leaving only 1 bloodbride and the succubus. Pass morale though. Wyches kill an immortal and lose a wych.

My turn I assault the Immortals the wyches are fighting just to get them into some combat and way from the death marks.Shoot at his deathmark with venom killing zero. Move three wyches pinned from explosion toward the relic. I kill an immortal and lose another wych.

Next turn he glances my venom to death. And kills the wyches heading toward the relic with his deathmarks. Wyches succubus and bloodbrides stay in combat.

Of course during my next turn I win combat. giving him a free turn to shoot at me.

Immortals kill the wyches, deathmarks kill the last bloodbride, and do two wounds to the succubus. Immortals are now holding the objective.

All I have left on the board is my succubus with one wound, so with reckless abandon I charge the immortals on the relic, and make it.

Game ends. I have slay the warlord he has first blood.
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Lesson learned. I mean this one here is pretty common sense bu you want your wyches in combat. All the time. Forever. You start wishing they could fight themselves just so they can't be shot at. You feel like a total badass because you just made you opponent run and cry like a baby, consolidate one inch and get shot to death. The other thing is I need to Coordinate attacks better. Overwhelm them with numbers as opposed to splitting my units up on separate tasks. Also while the splinter mind drugs are nice after having them for two games I almost wanted something else to make my girls more killy. It was only majorly boss in the bloodbride +succubus set up

Anyway if you guys can give me some tips with this list, not what to change, because as of now I'm stuck with it, but more on suggestions how to play it, I'd appreciate it. Though I'm open to ideas when it opens up to 750 points. I know there's at least one tau and eldar player, there's a nid army too, hey, even a another dark eldar, and I'll probably play the ultramarine player next week. Who brought flippin terminators, that's a whole other issue. I mean I'd say the answer to terminators is venoms, but does anyone else find it hard it is to remember an un-upgraded venom does not have two splinter cannons?