Yep, they can be great or terrible, depending on the match up, but since they're fairly cheap, you can usually take a good gamble on them.
Their biggest advantage is that they can autohit everything in a 6" radius- jamming units literally just melt away, and DEF means nothing to them. Their downsides are that they have extremely poor defensive stats and range on their attack (Yes, they can spray, but it's hardly worth it with their poor RAT) and they don't have gunfighter (so they can't attack at all if engaged in combat), so often they'll just be wiped out or tied up without much gain against a canny opponent.
They are at their best when paired with a caster with "excarnate", as that allows you to put a new Bilethrall far forward of the rest of the unit, which can then get right into the middle of the enemy army early on, and a well placed bile bomb which can be fairly devastating against an infantry heavy opponent. That's why you'll often see them in Lich Lord Asphyxious lists, as he can excarnate before teleporting away easily.
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