Power from Paint: Wych way to go?

Time to burst forth from the Web Way once more my fellow Archons!  The Incubi are now done bar the bases, and I've played a Mayhem practice game against a new Chaos list. After a shaky start the Dizzy and Splinter Cannons of the Kabal of the Sand Viper emerged victorious over the Black Legion!  

My Incubi ultimately weren't needed for combat, but I really appreciated having the option of a dedicated assault unit in the list. In fact I'm considering Wyches (and more on that later in the post).

It was interesting to see some of the new Chaos units in use: 

• Venomcrawlers are pretty strong but seem reliant on various buffs to be truly effective
• The Gatling Cannons are only 24" range; that can be exploited by the mobility Dark Eldar have available to them
• Havoks are really good; move and shoot without penalty; a shoot twice stratagem (Endless Cacophony), and +1 to wound via Veterans of the Long War. Spiky Dark Reapers anyone?
• Abaddon is a beast, but ultimately a bit expensive for Mayhem's 1250 format. He finished the game camping an objective whilst the rest of the Black Legion got zapped and poisoned around him! Full chapter master type re-rolls and a bonus Command Points are good though!
• The threat of the Black Legion stratagem to deny ObSec is intriguing; could be good for Mayhem on the Gambit mission.

-x-

As I mentioned earlier, the Incubi didn't really see action, although having a match fit assault unit on turn 5 ready to bust up the remaining Black Legion characters if the shooting failed was a good back up. An extra Dizzy Cannon on their Raider was also very useful during the course of the game.

(On a side note, the Incubi are looking pretty good with their paint jobs complete. There are hints of the Flash Gordon Red Guards here, although that wasn't intended!)

I have concerns about running the Incubi:

• Fragility; with only T3 and a 3+ save they can't take a punch!
• They don't benefit from my Archon re-roll bubbles which makes them more susceptible to whiffing!

So I've been thinking about alternatives, and my musings have led me back to Wyches! I painted and played Wyches in my first ever Dark Eldar list (5th Ed I think, when they could all throw Haywire Grenades, happy days), then they were benched on account of being awful during 6th and 7th. 

Wyches have been significantly buffed in the 8th Ed Codex although I've been sceptical about using them (that 6 up save and that Overwatch :P ). I'm more confident about delivering them into assault than the early days of 8th Ed, and they have some tricks that Incubi can't pull off:

• 4+ Invulnerable Saves. Important in these days of high AP attacks
• Snaring Infantry in assault; good for stopping stuff from falling back.
• Buckets of attacks (particularly if you use Cult of Strife)

Cult of Strife is a good pick for the Obsession, as I fancy using the Blood Dancer/Triptych Whip Succubus who is a beast for a measly 54 points:

• 9 attacks (4 base, +1 Obsession, +1 Combat Drugs, +3 Relic)
• Hit on 2s, re-roll 1s. Ideally assaulting on turn 3, or turn 2 with Architects of Pain active
• 6+ to hit (so 5s or 6s if the conditions noted above are met) count as 3 hits
• Wound on 4s with -2 AP

That's a lot of damage potential (15 hits on average). Oh and there's a Fight twice stratagem as the cherry on top!

Lots to think about and list submission is a week away. I've got one more practice game scheduled before then (and some time to paint a new Succubus) ...

Thanks for reading, and stop by again soon. Who will win out? Ming's Men or the Wyches?