Intrepid Adventurer wrote:a captain, a sorceress, two units of 18 Corsairs, some CoKs, unit of Black Guard, some DRs, RBXs and a bolt thrower.
Sure it'd be a viable list.
You did not mentions how many pts you were aiming at.
I assume you start around 1000pts and progressively you will add around 1000 or 2000 pts a year.
In the wish list you give, be aware the sorceress is a mere scroll caddy unless you're playing very small games.
You will have trouble to overcome usual magic defense unless you take roughly 1 sorceress per 500pts.
The captain, is it Lokhir or a regular one?
Lokhir seems to me a good bargain when starting a corsair army up to 1500pts:
he is worth his pts and the pts/€ makes it a good investment.
Rather than among the frenzied corsair, I see him well with the BG.
For a regular master, it could be nice footed or on a steed in Corsairs or BG but I would rather have an assassin.
You can take many assassins: they fit the fluff (p.61 of the army book) and they are really, really good inside any footed unit.
Alternatively, the Master on CO could well go with the COK. It fits less the corsair warband fluff, however.
Corsairs units have a reputation to be good but not overwhelmy cheesy.
The two obvious banneer are the SSS for frenziness and the murder one for AP. The captain would rather go with the AP one. Both are good to have in 18 strong units.
As I mention previously, handbow corsairs are really fun and fluffy in a small unit of 10: you rush forward in front of you main line (protecting them from shooting and avoiding unwanted frenziness charges), you tease the enemy, they charge you stand and shoot, if you loose combat, you don't care for such a small unit.
MXB are an excellent unit. Do not hesitate to give them all a shield. However, keep the unit 10 strong with just musician. 2 such units are excellent.
Then they are easy to place, they shoot as much as they can, their shield makes them more resilient to shooting and in the end of the game, they are able to participate efficiently in melees as supporting unit.
The RBT is nice. Make it a pair and it becomes outstanding.
DR are really, really useful. So are harpies (you did not mention them). You'll never have too many of either.
COK and/or BG?
Both may be too many.
If the bulk of your army is made of corsairs, then COK and BG are not going to be the big central unit.
BG being footed will keep the same pace than everybody else. 10 "naked" BG are a small unit that will draw attention and allow the corsairs to win the game.
20 BG fully equipped make the big, central unit and the corsairs become a mere complement.
COK has a very different rythm than the rest of the army. Sometimes they get stupid and slow down, most of the time they are slightly quicker. Usually they are 5 or 6 wide, i.e. wider than a 5-front infantry unit, but much less deep.
In melee, they are able to win on their own, especially if fitted with Hydra banneer.
However, they are very expansive.
Overall, it seem that you must make some choices.
If the bulk of your army is a pair of big corsair units (as I understand), then you need to field many small unit around them to complement and protect them.
Those smaller units could be as you choose:
- quick DR and/or harpies, to chase opponent's machines and hamper their movement
- missile shooters MXB and RBT
- RHB corsairs for teasing
- BG and COK for a mini-hammer
- 2/3 sorceresses and 2/3 assassins to enhance your units.
I'd advise you to take a bit of all of these, to vary from one game to the next and see what fits you best.
When your army will grow bigger (>2k), you will probably augment the non-corsair part of it. Then the corsairs will remain a good complement to whatever you have as bulk.