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In the games I have played LatD I have taken to loving my zombies / plague mutants.  They are very slow and provide a 15 ablative wounds for my daemon vessel all with armor 4+.  This means they are exceptional at eating assault armies while keeping the daemonvessel in good shape until I think they have brought the champion close enough.

Against shooting armies they are limited because they are slow and ap 4 and lower is not uncommon.  What about a squad + boss of leaping mutants (count as cavalry) as ablative wounds lead by my daemonvessel?   Its 208 points for a hidden str 6 powerfist and icon that can easily see turn 2 assault that would give 15 ablative wounds to a running daemon vessel.  The daemonvessel and retinue would be something like 275 points. 

275 points to carry a bloodthirster, bloodletters and furies accross the table and into the lines of the enemy.   275 points that equal 4 Str 8 powerweapon hits, 4 str 6 powerfist hits all with a toughness of 4 and a save of 5+ on most of the models.

I have seen daemon bombs with raptors work, what about the the running 12 point model approach?  I could raise the price a little with daemonic chains and just keep them in combat as long as possible while the daemons come in. 

In my experience, leaping mutants work very effectively so long as they fit into the larger army. As a one-trick pony, they're pretty expensive. But as part of a larger battle plan, they get very dangerous.
At T4 they're tough to wound, though bolters and other ap4 firepower will take them down without armor saves. They're safest in combat, of course.

Generally speaking, survivability for the leapers hinges on either
1) deploying them carefully, hugging cover as you advance, etc. (which will sometimes hinder, but not usually cripple, delivery of the demon vessel), and getting that charge that slingshots them across the table. (Otherwise, relying on a fleet role for the extra speed element is pretty dicey.)
or (much more effective) 2) presenting them in the context of multiple threats (e.g., a second, bloated mutant mob working its way up the middle while the leapers swarm a flank; or allied chaos marines that can't be ignored, such as possessed or chosen; or a big scary bunch of chaos spawn). Fielding a unit of chaos hounds in conjunction with the leapers has also worked for me. Anything to divide incoming fire as the mutants make their move.

One drawback to the leaping vessel tactic is that when the demon pops, the mutants lose the benefit of the champion' s leadership unless they stay in the same combats -- which might tie down the demon in places you don't want him. (Otherwise, the leapers' leadership plummets to direly low levels, and this is a pretty expensive unit to write off and/or hand to your opponents -- 200 points plus, most likely.)

I was actually working toward option 1 and 2. Leadership 8 which is not as good as 10 but not ld 6 or 7 with the traitors. I would include a boss and was considering chains on the champ so I could control the daemon a bit more.

Zombies, basilisks, traitors with heavy weapons and CSM are what I will keep advancing or firing to keep the attention split. In earlier lists I had chaos spawn and they did spook my opponents enough to get them to fire lascannons at them.   Maybe its time they enter the list again.