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I'm not a huge fan of how the Court of the Archon currently works. While the 8e version was a bit slapdash, the 9e return to the 7e version just feels bizarre; it's a big blobby jumble of totally different models. I love the concept, though; characterful "retinue" units are a huge favourite of mine, and have been ever since the Inquisitorial Retinue rules back in 3e, and it really suits the "decadent pirates/gang" flavour of the Drukhari.

I also really liked the old "character customization" aspect of the old Inquisitorial Retinue rules; each of an Inquisitor's Acolytes reflected part of their approach and skills, so if you had a Warrior in the Inquisitor's Retinue, that Inquisitor had +1WS to represent their martial focus, while if you had a Sage, that Inquisitor had +1BS to represent their preference to hang back and analyze the situation, and if you had a Familiar, that Inquisitor had +1 Initiative to represent their psychic prowess and supernatural awareness.

After bashing my head away at this, I've come up with two alternative reworks for the Court of the Archon concept. Note that I'd actually want to decouple this from the Archon specifically, however; I don't see any reason why a Succubus wouldn't add an Ur-Ghul to her arena-beasts, or a Haemonculus wouldn't hire a Lhamaean to test her poisons. The two versions are as follows:

Retinue of Heroes:

Return the Sslyth, Medusae, Lhamaean, etc, to being individual Elite CHARACTERS, with potent support abilities.

Add a bunch of new Elite support CHARACTERS like the Corsair Baron, Dracon Hierarch, Nostroxyte Assistant, Arena Syren, Nephilite Envoi, Kontrach Nightblade, etc.

These can all be taken normally in the Elite slot, much like the various GSC, DG, or SOB Elite CHARACTERS.

However, you can also take them as a "Court", in which case they're tied to a specific Archon/Succubus/Haemonculus (up to 4 each). They don't occupy a slot, but they must be deployed together, and they get various "act like a unit" benefits while within 3" of their boss.

On top of their normal "support CHARACTER" abilities, these models each have a permanent buff they offer their boss when taken as part of a Court, to reflect that character's focus and personality. If your Archon hired an Arena Syren to entertain them with prizefights, they have +1WS to represent being a fight maniac. If your Archon keeps a Medusae around to feed off their stolen dreams, they have +1Ld and a +Ld aura to represent their drunken charisma.

If these are going to be straightforward stat boosts, the Archon/Succubus/Haemonculus gets a stat nerf and points drop; they start weaker and cheaper, and you use their Court to customize them up to full power. Otherwise, they can be less straightforward bonuses, and the stats remain the same.

MASTER ARCHON etc also lets you take a bigger Court (for more buffs) or is basically replaced entirely by the way a Court lets you "upgrade" a character.

Kill Team:

Sslyth become a separate 1-6 unit choice, Ur-Ghuls become a separate 1-10 unit choice with a non-CHARACTER statline and BEAST rules, Medusae and Lhamaeans return to being minor CHARACTERS.

The "Court" is an actual unit of 1-10 models, made up of 1 HQ slot and models from almost every other DRUKHARI INFANTRY/BEASTS/BIKER unit.

To do this, it borrows heavily from the KILL TEAM rules for Death Watch; each COURT unit includes 1 Archon/Succubus/Haemonculus, and can add up to 9 copies of specific other models from different datasheets (e.g. 1 Kabalite Warrior; 1 Incubus; 1 Ur-Ghul; 1 Scourge, etc), which keep their usual wargear options and abilities.

The different COURT configurations are what "customize" your Archon/Succubus/Haemonculus. Each offers different benefits and different model options/limits, representing what that "boss" is interested in or skilled at, e.g. a COURT OF THE THESPIAN can include Harlequin Players and gives Flip-Belts, and a COURT OF THE HUNTER must include at least 1 BEAST but gives a combat/charge buff and allows BEASTS on Transports.

These rules replace the MASTER ARCHON etc rules, with specific unit bonuses from each COURT replacing Trueborn/Bloodbrides/Haemoxytes (e.g. COURT OF THE ARISTOCRAT gives +1BS and ignore to-hit penalties), and the CHARACTER bonuses replacing special abilities like Splintered Mind.

Some units, mostly individual characters, have special benefits on their datasheet when included in a COURT, e.g. Lhamaean poison buffs.

Personally, I feel like the kill team style is preferable, especially since it doesn't involve creating a half dozen extra support characters, and also doesn't involve tracking the buffs from 4 different support characters. 1 buff based on your one, customizable bodyguard unit would be much simpler to handle in game. Making the HQ model part of the unit is probably a bad idea, especially with how the shadowfield works (20 bolters? yeah that can go on armour. Plasma hits? I'll take that on the 2++). Keeping it functioning closer to how it works now-you have an HQ working as a normal character and a unit of court shadowing them like command squads generally work.