Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've recently downloaded Battlescribe, an app for building army lists. So far, I haven't come across a single points value that's wrong and i've been using lists made with this app for some time now.

A friend asked me about it and he downloaded it for himself.
That night he came on skype and angrily said that almost none of his points values were right.

As an example he gave a pathfinder team for which the Rail rifle option costs 26 points.

Is there anyone else that uses this app? What are your experiences?

The lists are user generated, so they're exactly as accurate as the person who built them. The odds are that there is more than one Tau list out there, and the points values may well be correct in other version. Worst case scenario your friend can edit the file himself and correct the errors.

If software creators include the data with list building programs then GW's get twitchy.

If you didn't write the game system/catalogue/roster yourself, it's as accurate as the person who wrote it.

Battlescribe has been around while, is your friend sure his Tau library is for the current Codex?

Also, as a noob to writing files myself on BS, it's not too hard to learn and go and correct the errors yourself.

EDIT: lol, left the window open too long.

I uninstalled BS after making some Dark Eldar and Tau lists because they were not valid, and in some cases did not even include the options for the codex.

I would only use it because it makes a nice orderly looking army list for the rules, then I would go through and total up everything with pen(cil)/paper and make sure its proper.

an Nice site is epicroster.com

and theres some site I forget which lets you save your lists online, I think it was hq-builder.com? can't recall. Out of all the list building programs I have seen those two were the most accurate to the actual codex.

I have the Tau data file and use it quite regularly and I have found no difference in points

tell your friend that's the cost of a pathfinder with a rail rifle he just needs to reduce the squad number with the marker light.

PastelAvenger wrote:
I have the Tau data file and use it quite regularly and I have found no difference in points

tell your friend that's the cost of a pathfinder with a rail rifle he just needs to reduce the squad number with the marker light.

This is likely the problem, it's something that even I didn't realise at first with army roster programs that any unit that has the option to upgrade to a character or special weapon often inculdes the cost of the basic unit aswell. EG. Nob upgrade for a boyz squad is 16 points, 6 for the boy and 10 for the upgrade.

I've found Battlescribe files to be incredibly accurate with problems only showing up the first few weeks after a new codex has been released which is to be expected. It's also important to make sure you always have the latest files. The files are updated by the community in people's spare time so a little effort on your own part is required. And as someone has already mentioned, editing points values in battle scribe is really easy it's only when you start creating wargear and restrictions that things become complicated.

I use battlescribe a hell of a lot and it is normally spot on.

As said before the Pathfinder issue is that it adds the base cost of a pathfinder and the weapon.

Different data files made by different people are often made in different "styles" - e.g. some might make the pathfinder options "combined" (pathfinder cost + weapon cost), while others split them out where the weapon cost is a separate upgrade to the pathfinder cost.

Still, there can be bugs (in the app or data files) and it's always good to report any issues you might find. You can report bugs in the app from the main BattleScribe website, but often it's just a mistype in the data file.

To that end: http://battlescribedata.appspot.com

That site provides a way for you to report bugs in data files and even submit your own fixes if you want. The guys making the data there are amazing and their response times getting updated data out there are great. Of course if they don't know there's a problem, they don't know to fix it!

One final thing, even I advocate double checking your list with the codex, at least for competitive/pick up games against people you don't know. At the end of the day, any army list app adds an additional layer between you and the "official" codex/book. When you're creating a data file and entering literally hundreds of points values, stat lines etc, mistakes are easy to make!

I found that the points costs are usually correct but there are more issues when wargear is included. For example orks right now have to have at least one Slugga boy in their boy Squad because who ever wrote their section decided instead of making a one click button to upgrade to shootas he would make it on a per model basis. Not allowing Slugga boy counter to go below 1.

I use it all the time. I even bought Army Builder and still use BS most of the time since I have it in a USB key and can use it on any desktop. I alos use it on My phone, my iPad and my Android tables. So, anytime I want to do list building, I can.

This source presented above is the one I use and is usually spot on. http://battlescribedata.appspot.com

Whenever there are errors, I just load up the data file editor and make the fixes I need to do. (Like adding Dozer blades for space marines predators.)

The thing to remember about list builders is that there are lots of versions of the rules.
You've often got to dig through for 'marker' units to work out what version you're on a the time, like looking for Tempestus Scions to make sure you're looking at a AM list, not IG. Or, Warlocks or Techmarines being non-HQ units.

It is about as correct as Wikipedia is. So take what you see in Battlescribe files with a healthy dose of "This is not 100% truthfact 100% of the time."

Tell your friend to file bug reports and I'll fix it.

@TS: The railgun is 26 points because it's a pathfinder with a Rail Rifle.
Some people prefer to add weapons whereas others prefer to add a model with that weapon.
So in short: The 26 points are correct, he just needs to remove a basic Pathfinder.

DontEatRawHagis wrote:
I found that the points costs are usually correct but there are more issues when wargear is included. For example orks right now have to have at least one Slugga boy in their boy Squad because who ever wrote their section decided instead of making a one click button to upgrade to shootas he would make it on a per model basis. Not allowing Slugga boy counter to go below 1.

I think it's useless to talk about bugs like that because everyone can use a different repository.
The one that Jonskovich and I are talking about don't have this issue.

 Jonskichov wrote:
The guys making the data there are amazing and their response times getting updated data out there are great. Of course if they don't know there's a problem, they don't know to fix it!

*blushes*

But I have to agree.
Battlescribe itself is 99.99% correct.
There can be mistakes in the files you download, so I would advice you to use the automatic update.
Just go to manage data and insert this link: http://battlescribedata.appspot.com/repos/wh40k/index.bsi

Most issues get addressed within days, though it might take some time before all those fixes get released to the public.
I personally work a lot on Blood Angels and Necrons and I can fix most things within a day or two.
Don't forget that the most important part of fixing stuff is feedback! People cannot fix if they don't know it's broken.

@KangodoMade #Fistbump

I personally love BattleScribe. I use it for 40k and X wing.

My only system complaint is that error messages usually don't fit in the window so it takes me longer to figure out why I can't have a certain character or weapon.

Other "bugs" or things that bug me are

On the Ork list (yes even the newest one) somehow if you build and modify the same list too much the math can get of on the total points usually on the high side. To fix this I erase everything on the list and start fresh.

Please add the mortis dreadnaught to the DA file.

Battlescribe is for the most part correct. It is perfectly serviceable for list-building, though you might want to double-check your list before a tournament.

(Though the Terminator Captain entry from the battlescribedata.appspot.com Space Marine repository is STILL wrong - someone keeps reverting or rejecting the changes I submit).

yep never had a problem with it. you just need to check the kinds of things others have said, iv always had it spot on. and the printouts for it are niiice

I use BattleScribe to compose lists, but I always always always double check everything with the codex before playing the list. I would recommend that everyone who uses BattleScribe do the same. I've seen far to many errors over the years to fully trust the data files. Not to mention it's super easy to mod the data files and make a 2000pt. army look as though it only costs 1850pt. (or even less depending on how ballsy of a cheat you are).

I use it for casual playing, but in a tournament I'd run the list through excel and print it from there (especially since current datafiles have a few issues and I haven't found time to correct myself)

Doublechecking is always a smart idea.
But I would trust Battlescribe-generated lists faster than handwritten ones.
My opponents might be great gamers, but sometimes people forget that points changes or they fail at math.

 DanielBeaver wrote:
(Though the Terminator Captain entry from the battlescribedata.appspot.com Space Marine repository is STILL wrong - someone keeps reverting or rejecting the changes I submit).

Maybe it'd be best to leave some feedback?
I can do it if you can tell me what the issue is.

It has more to do with some validation errors (I believe it still blocks Vulkan from taking a command squad) as well as the inability to indicate which weapon on sergeants is master crafted for Salamanders.

Oh, and not identifying the type of Combi-weapon

EDIT: corrected honour guard to command squad