I was reading over some guys demons list and he made some interesting pointers about Soul Grinders that really has me re-thinking what's taking up my heavy supports slots. So let's compare arguably the best Walker unit in the game to one of the poorer Monstrous Creatures.
Soul Grinder: This guy costs out at the price of an Ironclad and is pretty comparable stats wise to him as well only you could say he comes with his own built-in drop pod. AV 13 is pretty much out of reach for missile launchers and the like, so his biggest fear is the meltagun and the occasional lascannon. The way meltaguns work vs Grinder is usually a win win for you. A grinder at worst costs 160pts, a tactical squad being about the same, more with transport and upgrades. There is only a 2/3 chance they will pop you with that gun. Being within 6" of a Grinder means that unit will die, Grinders can easily pop transports and eat through them with ease. Even if the Grinder dies, they will probably be within assault range of some other unit which will mop them up with equal ease in the assault phase. The other biggest boon is that this guy is crazy quick for something that strong with fleet, and doesn't ever get bogged down with Shaken or Stirred results.
Run naked he's got what basically amounts to heavy flamer Maw Cannon profile and an assault 6 bolter, not great but able to mow through light infantry with ease. He has access to two additional Maw Cannon shots, Tongue and Phlegm. Tongue being an S10 AP1 gun could easily handle armor, but it's shots at BS 3 meaning that in a 6 turn game you'll only average 3 shots. While you might think that something like Tongue might be necessary in an army that struggle against tanks consider this: Phlegm still boasts a decent S8 that can still pop most armor and its a blast weapon so with the higher numbers of models on the table these days and all the bunching that occurs you're still likely to hit something even if you "miss". On the plus side it helps demons deal with hordes, which even for being the elite assault in 40k still poses a problem for most demons players. Really the only armor values that should make a demon player sweet are AV14 and then your first priority become locking your Grinder into assault with that Land Raider rather than trying to shoot at it.
Demon Prince: Starting out with a base cost of 80pts he comes with nothing but his less than awesome profile. In order to come close to the mobility that the Grinder has he can buy wings, for 60pts??? Without some kind of additional protection he can easily die to light arms fire and this comes in three forms: Iron Hide which is just power armor, Mark of Nurgle giving him T6 or Mark of Tzeentch giving 4++. Ideally he needs a combination of the two already making his cost on par with a Soul Grinder.
Without a Mark of Tzeentch he can't do a thing to a tank except beating it with his sword in assault . With a Mark of Tzeentch you can buy bolt, but the price is so steep and its still only S8 even if it is BS 5 and AP1. Sure you can buy Gaze and Breath but those come in pretty pricey too. Assault wise you can beef him up, Unholy Might can get you up to S6, Cloud of Flies gives you grenades, and Noxious Touch will let you wound anything on a 2+ which can be scary. He edges out the Grinder vs infantry but against vehicles S6+2D6 isn't as reliable as S10 attacks. To even come close to the versatility of the Grinder, the Prince will cost out several points more.
Fateweaver of course will keep your Demon Princes alive if you can land them near him and stay within his 6" circle of awesomeness. IMOP the Grinder is definitely more killy, but it really comes down to which do you trust more, 4 T5 or T6 wounds or the same armor your totting on your Predator? So long as you play them right Grinders won't pop into dust the moment you set them down on the table like most people tend to think. Just give them a chance, besides they are far better looking than those Nurgle Princes. What do you all think?