I have two lists I'm thinking of building for 500pts. Just wanted to hear any thoughts you might have. What your experiences have been with smaller games etc.

And anything I should keep an eye out for which would cause me trouble. I'm thinking neither list has any way of handling ethereal creatures. But are they really going to be that common at this small points range? I could always swap the spearmen standard for the fire attack one.

sorceress /w tome of furion + ironcurse icon
less than 25%

25x spearmen /w musician + standard + gleaming pennant
over 25%

5x shades
5x cold one knights
less than 50%

gleaming pennant will give the spearmen a chance to re-roll first leadership based test, does this also apply to the first failed break test as it is a leadership based test? Ironcurse icon seems cheap for a 6+ward save against machines.

OR

sorceress /w tome of furion
less than 25%

13x corsairs /w standard + musician + SSS
more than 25%

5x shades
5x cold one knights
less than 50%

any thoughts?

Well for 500 points both lists are good. Maybe go with the spears one since if you take shadow magic on the sorc, you can be confident of them being a nasty unit especially since you have 25 of them. I would not worry about ethereals in 500 points, most players probably would not run any in such a small game and gleaming pennant would include a break test.
Cheers,
-Ave

Iam also looking for a 500pt list. I like the first but would droppin the cold ones and adding a bolt thrower and buffing the sorc be viable or do you need the second combat unit?

Well bolt throwers are ok but the sorc as it is, is still good for 500 points (especially since your opponent might not even have magic at this points level) The cold ones are going to be great since it means he can handle certain units of heavy infantry that the spears would really struggle against without relying on magic.
Cheers,
-Ave

Last time I played the game which was ages ago bolt throwers where either a hit or miss with multiple ranks st-6 shot, or multiple strength 4 ap shots. And where always over rated.

We only ever got 2-3 turns to shoot before combat hit. So the big st-6 shot couldn't hit Hydra or dragons cuz its to small points for them. There were no deep 4+ ranks of elite units at this level. The most being 7x2 chaos warriors.

So where as a bolt thrower by itself couldn't do significant damage to wipe out a unit in 3 turns. A unit of cold ones with 5x hatred are-6 attacks adding to combat resolution and denying models lost from their 2+ save can potentially add more.

That plus the 1250 list that Ave helped me out with has that same unit with a flaming attack banner to help them lay the smack down on things like the abomination.

BTW thanks for your help on both lists ave

Fishy