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After recently downloading the BattleScribe app, one which lets you create a wh40k roster, i noticed it supplies stats and special rules for the units. This made me wonder if this could theoretically replace the need for army codexes in many scenarios. Thoughts?

Probably.

I don't know why an army roster program needs to list that stuff anyways.

Its a handy reference sheet but shouldn't be used to replace the actual rules. The army builder programs have mistakes and short hands that inaccurately represent the rules.

 JustaerinAtTheWall wrote:
After recently downloading the BattleScribe app, one which lets you create a wh40k roster, i noticed it supplies stats and special rules for the units. This made me wonder if this could theoretically replace the need for army codexes in many scenarios. Thoughts?

Nope. They're not always right and don't always include everything that you need to know.

Ok, that's to be expected. The occasional misinterpreted rule will happen. But would it manage as a substitute for a small skirmish to test an army to see if I like it?

 JustaerinAtTheWall wrote:
Ok, that's to be expected. The occasional misinterpreted rule will happen. But would it manage as a substitute for a small skirmish to test an army to see if I like it?

I have used it for that on multiple occasions and for that it works well. I wouldn't do it if playing against a stranger, but among friends I think its will do that very well.

Yeah I find it works well and for army building is much better organized than a codex.

That being said I'd read the codex first to get an overview before using Battlescribe.

Well it certainly can't replace the codex or make them obsolete, but once you've read the codex and you know what does what, then you can likely rely just on the program.

For reference mid-game it's not bad when you want to remember who has what special gear and what everyone's stats are, but it's not perfect, not everything is there, and the specifics are sometimes wrong. (Also: Always double check your points before going to a tournament if anything feels off. The models are usually costed correctly, but sometimes the app bugs out and you are charged nothing for various gear.)

Sure, why not. Books don't help much - people still make a ton of mistakes.

I tried it a few weeks ago. The very first unit I put in (Dark Angel Company Grand Master) was miscosted by 5pts. Haven't used it since. Google sheets all the way.

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I tried it a few weeks ago. The very first unit I put in (Dark Angel Company Grand Master) was miscosted by 5pts. Haven't used it since. Google sheets all the way.

Dunno if it's still the case, but Ork Boyz mobs in Battlescribe used to make you pay the points for the Boy you upgrade to a Nob in the box you tick to add a Nob, but didn't count the Nob as a model, rather as an upgrade, so you could have a 20-strong mob of Boyz (including Nob) and it would tell you you couldn't take 2 Big Shootas or Rokkit Launchas because it thought your squad only had 19 models. This technically also let you make 31-strong Boyz mobs.

Battlescribe gets so much wrong.

I completely appreciate the things that they are doing, and what they are trying to work towards, but its a big job.

Lots of the Space Wolf rules are wrong, I just write my lists the old fashioned way with a pen and paper.

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I tried it a few weeks ago. The very first unit I put in (Dark Angel Company Grand Master) was miscosted by 5pts. Haven't used it since. Google sheets all the way.

Get onto the list builders and tell them about it. It'll take 10 minutes, and gets you (and us) a better Battlescribe.

 Skinnereal wrote:

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I tried it a few weeks ago. The very first unit I put in (Dark Angel Company Grand Master) was miscosted by 5pts. Haven't used it since. Google sheets all the way.

Get onto the list builders and tell them about it. It'll take 10 minutes, and gets you (and us) a better Battlescribe.

I'm listening... DA, IK, and AdMech are my babies.

 Skinnereal wrote:

 Ginjitzu wrote:
I tried it a few weeks ago. The very first unit I put in (Dark Angel Company Grand Master) was miscosted by 5pts. Haven't used it since. Google sheets all the way.

Get onto the list builders and tell them about it. It'll take 10 minutes, and gets you (and us) a better Battlescribe.

I suppose I should. When I first heard the idea, I was intrigued, not only by the convenience but also as an alternative to GWs overpriced books. Seriously, for all the talk people do regarding their models, for me it's the prices of those books that are really ridiculous. I mean, €40 for a softback codex? Really? Anyway, I looked into Battlescribe & even considered becoming a contributor, but in the end, I just got really lazy and found something else to occupy myself with. As it is, I'm very new to the hobby anyway, but if I find myself getting more into it, I'll consider revisiting Battlescribe.

 JustaerinAtTheWall wrote:
After recently downloading the BattleScribe app, one which lets you create a wh40k roster, i noticed it supplies stats and special rules for the units. This made me wonder if this could theoretically replace the need for army codexes in many scenarios. Thoughts?

Theoretically, yes, it could.

In practice, not really.

Main problem being that trying to find all your rules can be a bit of a mess unless you take a lot of time to properly reformat it. Most battlescribe rosters don't have the full list of rules you need either, just most of them.

Also, many list builders will have certain inaccuracies, or straight up wrong, entries. For example, the IG platoon entry in battlescribe will let you take more than 5 infantry squads. Usually it'll pop up a little icon saying that "hey, you can't do this" but not always. Without a codex, you'd have no way of knowing that you had screwed it up.


That being said, I love battlescribe and use it all the time, but I only do so because when I make a list I either have the codex on hand to double check or just have the codex memorized in the case of the IG. Mainly I just use it as a quick way to double check my math and save trees.

It can't replace a codex. When there is a question on how a rule works, you will need to show your codex to the person. Showing Battlescribe doesn't count.

As was said before, too many errors in it. I would have to prove to you how a rule works, and me showing Battlescribe is not legal because the person who made the data (or what ever it's called) either in most cases could have made a mistake or even wanted to cheat and changed a stat or rules.

Showing the actual codex be it paper format or the iPad/ ebook version is the only way to prove something that can't be debated.

What is next, a photoshop, oops sorry I mean photo copy of the rules you will show next?

Davor wrote:
...What is next, a photoshop, oops sorry I mean photo copy of the rules you will show next?

After my efforts to make my homemade Inquisition book look a bit more like a real one I can attest to the fact that this is easier than it sounds. (The Windows snipping tool is helpful.)

It is negating my use of excel or pen and paper. It is however nowhere close to a codex. Codexes are to enjoy and to bring to battles so that your opponent can look into them. They however are a poor army building tool this is where battle scribe etc comes in.

Battlescribe is a great resource for scratching up lists on the fly. But always, ALWAYS verify from the boom when you actually want to run said list, or even buy the models for it.

Anecdotally, I had a wild time trying to get a chaplain in terminator armour in battlescribe. Opened multiple defects on their Github that would result in fixes that broke chaplain even further, or got overwritten by a broader fix to terminator armour in general that broke it again.

As you become familiar with your codex you'll notice problems with how the battlescribe data handles things, always pencil it out by hand to verify.

The less said about the 'fortification detachment' the better.