I'm fairly new at constructing BL lists, but a couple of things stick out: those upgrades really add up. Using 'bare bones' or only mechanized retinues help. Also, raptors are fairly cheap, and not taking the full amount of termies in a formation may help. But yes, the formations will be weaker. The forlorn hope is your go-to formation for scouts, so if you need something screened, they're it. So, they are not useless at all, although I put rhinos with them unless they're dropping. Lastly, not using daemons is definitely an option, and defilers as a separate formation could be useful.

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Let us playtest like the Greeks of old... You know the ones I mean

As a guide, you could always look at the army lists used in the UK tournaments. Every army used is listed from 2008 (and possibly earlier). Follow the links to each competition and then to the relevant army list.

Up to this year (2011) they followed the original E:A lists, but there may now be some minor points variations following the extended debates on the lists