That is a great point, EvilandChaos. I also think people are looking at it in a vacuum when they worry about making the cost per unit too cheap. There are list building and tabletop performance issues that come with having such an expensive formation.
First, the formations activation itself is worth something. Second, piling more units into one formation incurs an opportunity cost if nothing else that makes the units less valuable as the formation grows past some optimum size and crowds out other activations.
We can at least try to quantify the cost of an activation when we figure out per-unit cost.
(Cue some out-there theory with a lot of assumptions)
A number that I see thrown around as the cost of a "naked" activation (the activation alone, with no units) is 50 points. If no one has ever done a poll on what people would pay for a naked activation, someone should. Anyway.
If we accept that 200 pts is a fair price for a Normal Warband and 50 pts is a fair price for the activation alone, that means 150 pts for the actual units. We can use that to figure out prices for the Big and Uge versions:
Big Warband: 350 pts (2x150 for units, 50 for activation, equal to the current price of 350 325)
Uge Warband: 500 pts (3x150 for units, 50 for activation, equal to the current price of 500)
Comparing our theoretical cost to the real cost, the Uge Warband costs the same per-unit as the Normal Warband,
but the Big Warband has a 25 pt discount. Per unit cost for the actual list price using this method is:
Normal: 15 per ( (200 pts - 50 pts)/10 units )
Big: 13.75 15 per ( (325350 pts - 50 pts)/20 units )
Uge: 15 per ( (500 pts - 50 pts)/30 units )
Big Warbands get run often enough and no one is complaining they are overpowered. A 25 pt drop on the Uge Warband would still be a higher per unit cost than a Big Warband. I think this supports giving the Uge Warband a 50 pt drop over what it is now. That gives new per unit costs of:
Normal: 15 per ( (200 pts - 50 pts)/10 units )
Big: 13.75 per ( (325 pts - 50 pts)/20 units )
Uge: 13.33 per ( (450 pts - 50 pts)/30 units )
Feel free to quibble with the exact numbers but I think the concept is sound. I would heavily test that price before I changed Mob Rule or even adjusted Battlewagon costs.Edit because I had the wrong price for the Big Warband. If you take 50 points as the cost of an activation, there is essentially no discount for the Big and Uge Warbands. This makes them less attractive as they being crowding out other activations with essentially no discount for what you're buying. Yes, Mob Rule makes Orks stronger with increased numbers, but IMO that doesn't outweigh the big impact it has on your list when you sink 500 points into slow vulnerable infantry.