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Just curious how many dakkaites dished out the $40's for Army builder and use it regularly?

I did about 2 years ago ... I use it all the tiem for 40k, whfb, and ocassionally for wrmachine hordes tournamets where a written list is necessary. Helps for the random game of necromunda as well.

Meph

I use it constantly for army list creation & tweaking, as well as friendly games. (For tournaments, I recreate the list in a spreadsheet - I prefer a "cleaner" presentation in such situations.)

I dished out the money, but it was cheaper than $40 when I did it...

Yeah it use to be cheaper but I never picked it up. $40 is, sadly, cheaper than buying 2 codex sooo can't complain to much. The only problem is...I just purchased it and the link to download it is not currently working. Yippie

I tried it when I started 40K. Then rediscovered my childhood talents with reading and counting. Then the price tag scared me.

Seriously though, I got to the point fairly quickly where I could get what I needed onto an army list very quickly, much more quickly than fiddling around with Army Builder. That may change when I get a second army going, but I'm doubtful. I'm one of those folks who likes books. I've friends who run that sort of thing on laptops and PDA's and the like, but those tend to be their preferred reading mediums anyway. Makes it a little different.

I personally love it. It is not that I don't have basic math skills (2+2=5 right?? Or in the TFG clatagory 2+2=1) but it saves me so much time and effort. This is comming from the guy who did not actively play from 3rd-4th Editions and have no clue what points item x costs of the top of my head.

I used Army Builder when I was getting into 40k years back (IG army structure can be confusing to the neophyte), but now I find it easier to just scratch some numbers down on paper.

If I ever needed something "professionall" looking, i'd just print out a spread sheet.

Yup. I got it.

I use it all the time.

My main problem with paper and pencil is I like to be able to see all my options in front of me, as I have trouble getting past certain roadblocks when I'm writing out a list.

To me, army builder or the equivalent is invaluable because of how much of a visual person I am. I can crank out a functioning list in 5 minutes with it, where as it's closer to 20 without it.

And, I'm a lazy person who often times heads out to the shop with 10 minutes or so to spare before everyone else arrives, so it saves time and helps lessen some of my mental quirks.

I paid for it... what, must be nearly 4 years ago at this point, and use it for 40k. BFG, and every now and then, Epic.

For me, hand-writing lists is an exercise in pure tedium. I'm an inverterate fiddler, and not only does repeatedly swapping out and adjusting units on paper quickly make a huge mess, but it's all too easy to start compounding numerical errors.

Yep I am pretty spot on w/ my written list but have faced to many opponents that have numbers and vague words written near those numbers...that does NOT equal a army list, lol. If someone pulls out a nice written up list that is clear and concise, or something like AB, I know I don't have to worry about tom foolary w/ the list

i had army builder as a crack for a bit and found I really liked so i bought it.

Nope. I just have 1 army list (written in Notepad) that I use all the time.

This post isn't about anything. No sirree-bob. Nothing at all.

Edited by user because Kilkrazy is a rules cabbage.

Too bad for them that's the old version that's no longer supported. Hope they have fun writing their own datafiles.

And as for me personally, I've used Army Builder since version 1.4D.

I use Army Builder. Mostly because I can switch things up and move things around and play with things to get them just right.
I also do a fair amount of pen n paper list building, then at some point put it in AB to tweak things.
It gets really easy when you get unit configs you really like and know the point costs on the top of your head and can throw the meat of your amry together in a couple seconds.

$40?

Art's Game Store has it CHEAP... and Neal price-matched for me.

Somewhere in the area of $30.


Me loves it.

Eric

Dakka disapproves the use of pirated software.

Please don't direct users towards torrent sites.

I use it all the time. I think, once, long ago, I even paid for it...

I use it on and off.

It's easy enough to use, and gives a relatively clean layout. When I was a TO for my club's tourney, it was helpful in sorting the valid lists from invalid lists (over-limit or 'questionable' selections)- but only in combination with the codex.

Yes, I paid for it (a cd copy, actually), but it is installed on two computers. I'm learning enough about the files to be able to edit/write them myself if it comes to that, though.

I also use it because I'm simply too lazy these days to rewrite the excel macro that does the same thing for me.

yeah,
I paid for it.
I use it every game! it's that good!

Panic...

i dished out $25. w/ free shipping.
got it off a popular auction site...

I have a copy. I actually got a free license because I wrote one of the Ork lists for a while. Before that I bought a copy of AB 2.0, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Seriously, it's one of the most useful programs on my computer right now, and I use it for everything.

* It does the math right every time.
* The data files are checked and rechecked, and updated quickly, so they're often more accurate than my memory or understanding of the rules.
* The application produces a lovely print out, which is much easier to read than my handwritting.
* It produces a custom cheat sheet for all the wargear that I'm using.
* People accept AB lists MUCH quicker than your average person's chicken scratch list.
* Saves me tons of time fiddling with things. I like to make a new list for each game.
* I don't own a copy of Excel or Word.

Never used it. Though I'm sure I'd at least try it if it were free.

I used to use MS Excel for 40k. If I start playing again, I'll use OpenOffice. These days, I avoid the MS suite whenever I can.

For WM/H, I used to use Armies of Immoren. Now I use Tabletop Commander. Both are free and updated often.

lord_blackfang wrote:Nope. I just have 1 army list (written in Notepad) that I use all the time.

That's a case where AB offers no benefits, since if you have a small list that doesn't change, there's no need to have a convenient list builder to help you with it. Of course, for people with multiple armies of varying points, in multiple systems, that's where AB shines, and options like Excel just aren't worth the time.

I've had it (and paid for it) for years. I twiddle with lists all the time, especially Nid biomorphs, wargear etc. I play at widely varying point levels (from 500 to 2000 and everything in between) and have 3 different 40k armies to which I'm constantly (if slowly) adding painted minis. Also I tend to procrastinate and have to whip up a list in about 10 minutes the evening of a game. It's well worth $40 a year to not need to copy/paste in Excel, and/or update files manually when a new codex comes out.

The AB guys do a great job of updating their data files. And they have a good bug-reporting system in place. I have only two complaints, and they're both minor:

1) often my old lists are invalidated by an update; it would be more convenient to upload my 1500 pt Tyranid list from last fall and just add a few units, than have to remake it from the beginning. But since it only takes a few minutes to re-make it, it's not a big deal.

2) speaking of nids, it would be nice if the weapon stats (Str, # shots) could be calculated and printed under each unit. But I realize that nids are the only race in 40k that don't have fixed Str and # shots for their weapons, so it's excusable that they didn't put in a module just for them.

I would even use AB for Warmachine stuff, if Armies of Immoren wasn't free (and wasn't better for WM stuff).

Strangelooper wrote:
The guys that get no money what so ever for doing all the real work do a great job of updating their data files.

I would not use AB on grounds that the people that make it what it is with the data files never get anything for it because LoneWolf was greedy in the beginning.

JokerGod wrote:

Strangelooper wrote:
The guys that get no money what so ever for doing all the real work do a great job of updating their data files.

I would not use AB on grounds that the people that make it what it is with the data files never get anything for it because LoneWolf was greedy in the beginning.

And they did it knowing there would be no compensation. If they object to it, they shouldn't
do it.

It's Jokergod; he's just posting to try and get somebody internet raging, not because he has an actual opinion.