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OK, I just got eight edition (rulebook on the way, but two codex in hand), and am confused about a few things:

1. Wargear options. E.g., the imperial guard infantry squads can take wargear from the Heavy Weapons List and the Special Weapons List. I've looked everywhere. At the end of the book (p126+) there are lists for Ranged Weapons, Melee Weapons, and Other Wargear. Later on (p143) there is a list with points values only for Ranged Weapons. What and where are "Heavy Weapons" and "Special" lists?

2. When building my list, I go back and forth from the stats pages (e.g., infantry squad on p93) and the points values (p142-3). With all the units, and all their details... This gets pretty tedious pretty quickly... How do you do this? Do you write everything down? Kings of War has army builder software that tells you everything (stats and special abilities), but I know GW is a bit more cagey about releasing codex-specific details. Surely there's some user-friendly way to build lists?

Sorry for the newbie questions, there's a lot to take in here!

Heavy and Special weapon point costs are in the Ranged Weapon list. Before the Datasheet section of the codex there's a page that says something like "Astra Militarum Heavy Weapons" that should give you the list of which weapons its referring to.

A lot of people use Battlescribe to build their lists and calculate the points.

 LunarSol wrote:
A lot of people use Battlescribe to build their lists and calculate the points.

But they probably shouldn't, since Battlescribe has a number of errors and is not a substitute for the rules.

There are a couple online options for list building apps.
GW's is pretty basic and user friendly-ish - only does power ratings and such, doesn't get really specific on wargear.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/combat-roster/

 LunarSol wrote:
Heavy and Special weapon point costs are in the Ranged Weapon list. Before the Datasheet section of the codex there's a page that says something like "Astra Militarum Heavy Weapons" that should give you the list of which weapons its referring to.

...

Thanks very much all for the quick replies... But I cannot find this - I must be blind. Could someone send the page numbers for the 8th edition Heavy and Special lists? This is crazymaking... lol

I think the cover page where your army rules begins may have a couple of boxed inserts with headings like "Heavy Weapon List" or "Special Weapon List".

These are likely before the data slate section of the book, and is probably referenced heavily by the data slates. Look for them as inserts/tables and not as a bold-faced prefaced paragraph.

 pancakeonions wrote:

 LunarSol wrote:
Heavy and Special weapon point costs are in the Ranged Weapon list. Before the Datasheet section of the codex there's a page that says something like "Astra Militarum Heavy Weapons" that should give you the list of which weapons its referring to.

...

Thanks very much all for the quick replies... But I cannot find this - I must be blind. Could someone send the page numbers for the 8th edition Heavy and Special lists? This is crazymaking... lol

If for reference we have the first data sheet, Creed, on page 87, the 'Astra Militarum Wargear Lists' is two pages earlier on page 85.

 Octopoid wrote:

 LunarSol wrote:
A lot of people use Battlescribe to build their lists and calculate the points.

But they probably shouldn't, since Battlescribe has a number of errors and is not a substitute for the rules.

Your options are have the software that may be inaccurate or have confidence that you and your opponent can navigate your respective codexes and not be just as inaccurate

In my local meta the software is the safer bet because humans around here can’t add.

Battlescribe is great for making lists. 99% of the time it's right, particularly for established codexes like Astra Militarum

However you should always check your codex - read and re-read it to understand what's possible.

In case nobody has mentioned it, there are a few points changes since the codex was published - in the book Chapter Approved 2017

I wouldn't buy it as it will be replaced in a couple of months. If you need, I (or someone) could post the points changes.

Ignore the haters, Battlescribe is an amazing tool and right most of the time.

No it's not a rules resource. Yes occasionally there are errors (more so for recent releases). But you should absolutely get it, it will make your life significantly easier. Just make sure to use the codex and FAQs for rules, especially anything that comes up that might not make sense.

+1 for battles tube. Easy to navigate, usually right, and extremely helpful. You can save lists, make drafts etc.

Stux wrote:
Ignore the haters, Battlescribe is an amazing tool and right most of the time.

No it's not a rules resource. Yes occasionally there are errors (more so for recent releases). But you should absolutely get it, it will make your life significantly easier. Just make sure to use the codex and FAQs for rules, especially anything that comes up that might not make sense.

It's good tool but it's not replacement for actual rules. Again it has errors. If you rely on battlescribe without knowing rules yourself you will a) end up with illegal armies b) play them correctly.

Oh and no haters in this thread so...Your comment sounds more like "ugh somebody pointed out flaw in BS! DEFEND!"

Not really, but whenever Battlescribe is mentioned, someone feels the need to launch in saying it's full of errors. In reality the errors tend to be quickly spotted and fixed by its pretty dedicated community of volunteers.

Octopoid didn't point out a flaw in Battlescribe, he pointed out that theoretically there might be a flaw in Battlescribe.

Biggest suggestion for battle scribe: update your stupid data regularly.

The most problems I see people having with Battlescribe is that their data is months out of date and all of those "errors" have been corrected (and half of those errors are due to a FAQ or adjustment more than a bad data push from the community).

That all said, it won't replace a codex. The codex has stratagems, traits, full in-print wordings, etc. Battlescribe will easily get you to 90% on the table, without spending 2 hours hand-wringing through a large sheet of paper with an untold number of computational errors because you can't math good at 3am (not that I've ever had that experience...).