I guess we've reached a conclusion. Give them another ST Bio-Weapon, reduce their points cost by 30 points, make them work without Synapse. In addition, you can't see them unless you roll 4+ on a D6 when targeting it for shooting or assaulting. Any shooting or attacking at the Lictor suffers a -1 To Hit penalty. When using the Hit-and-Run, any enemy models in the line take a single automatic hit from the Lictor. Non-walker/skimmer vehicles cannot target it at all due to their slowness, but can otherwise hit it indirectly.
You can take 1-6 lictors, counting as a single elite choice (they retain their other rules).
Adding tons of special case modifiers and rules for one specific model is a great way to overcomplicate the game over time, especially if it become the norm for "fixing" units. The Universal Special Rules exist so that even special units only need a few clarifications on their abilities. The lictor already has a fair few paragraphs devoted to its special characteristics already, no need to muddy the waters further!
I would say either boost its stats, make armor save invulnerable (like a dodge save that many other units have), give it more attacks, relax its deep strike requirements, lower its cost, etc. Anything that will not make it a unit with more special rules than it needs. Also, while its not an
awesome unit that should always be taken, they do have their place sometimes. Surprising that out-of-the-way guard heavy weapons team is priceless. :)That said, a lot of times its difficult to actually find a good target like this, which is likely the only way the lictor will make back his points and or notably assist in covering some other part of the army (because points aren't the only thing that matters). A lot of times, any terrain he would consider useful to show up in is full of enemies by the time he is able to be placed, leaving only relatively useless pieces of terrain on the nid board side for him to use.
TBH I'm not really sure why he scatters at all. They'd be much scarier if they could choose any terrain piece as normal, but could be placed anywhere there's room including BTB contact with the enemy.
I can't say they'd be overpowered. They'd just be good and actually compete with the other Elite choices, as well as truly sowing confusion and terror. Let's hope GW reads it and decides to implement quick fixes!
first of all, I don't think its a good idea to make
everything comparable. Lictors are specialists and should remain such. There's no way they will ever compete with a dakkafex in a main battle role, and they shouldn't! They should be made effective in their given role, even if that role is limited. As it stands, they are lacking even in this.
GW isn't reading, and even if they were, there isn't going to be a fix.
If your friends want to, houserule something for fun. I just may with a friend of mine who's lictor sees little action.