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I refuse to buy any printed books as long as digital copies of the same publication exist. I have gotten used to being able to buy digital versions of 40K rulebooks as soon as the physical books become available. This happened as recently as with the last PA book, Pariah just a few weeks ago.. However, this doesn't seem to be the case with the 9th edition rulebook nor the CA2020?!

Anyone know what's up? Is GW sudeenly going to abandon releasing digital versions of their books? Or some other reason for them to delay the digital releases? (piracy concerns? IMO not offering the digital versions encourage piracy way more)

I'd love to start playing 9th but will not buy a physical book unless I absolutely have to. And no, the app (which is still not even available for iOS) will not be an adequate substitute for a proper digital book file which I can bookmark, splitscreen and annotate as I please.

TIA for any insight on this topic!

The rumour is it'll only be available as part of their app

beast_gts wrote:
The rumour is it'll only be available as part of their app

I was afraid that might be the case. Sounds like a very stupid move to me. Why abandon a stable, reliable method of offering the content digitally to a new paradigm that is full of unknowns and, by the sound of the initial reports, issues?

Maybe I need to switch 100% to just playing Kill Team.. bummed tbh

So Black Library (formerly known as Warhammer Digital?) FINALLY replied to my inquiry regarding new digital rulebooks for 40K:

"Thank you for your email and please accept our apologies for the delay in replying to it.

At this current time there have been no announcements as to when there would be a digital release of the books you inquired about, beyond them being in the new 40K App.

Any announcements about this would be made via the Warhammer Community web site and until anything appears on there we do not have any further information.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused."

So it's not looking too good... but maybe there is still hope

That is a bit disappointing, the app is close to unusable on ipad right now. :(

Karol wrote:
I mean it would be crazy if each day you would have to carry 6-7 notebookes, 6-7 class books, 3-4 exercise book and then your training stuff.

That's why lockers in schools exist, dude.

 Platuan4th wrote:

Karol wrote:
I mean it would be crazy if each day you would have to carry 6-7 notebookes, 6-7 class books, 3-4 exercise book and then your training stuff.

That's why lockers in schools exist, dude.

In Europe, most schools don't have large lockers for every student like US schools do. If you are lucky your school has locker for your sports wear, but many don't even have that. You are expected to bring all books in your bag. When I went to school in Germany, carrying multiple folders, notebooks, textbooks and exercise books everywhere in my bag was normal. I hated it twice as much after returning from the US where you could just toss all your stuff into your locker and leave everything you didn't need for homework at school.

 Jidmah wrote:

 Platuan4th wrote:

Karol wrote:
I mean it would be crazy if each day you would have to carry 6-7 notebookes, 6-7 class books, 3-4 exercise book and then your training stuff.

That's why lockers in schools exist, dude.

In Europe, most schools don't have large lockers for every student like US schools do. If you are lucky your school has locker for your sports wear, but many don't even have that. You are expected to bring all books in your bag. When I went to school in Germany, carrying multiple folders, notebooks, textbooks and exercise books everywhere in my bag was normal. I hated it twice as much after returning from the US where you could just toss all your stuff into your locker and leave everything you didn't need for homework at school.

Used to. In the areas around here, school lockers have been removed completely and backpacks have to be clear so the contents can be seen. Though, even back in the 80's, schools didn't have enough lockers for all students. In the ones I went to, Seniors got priority and the rest of the student body got to fight over what was left. Whoever put their lock on it first, got it.

On topic, these days though I have hard copies, in game I use electronic versions for everything. I'm done with the days of lugging around 30 lb. backpacks and if a company won't provide me an electronic copy, I'll find or make my own.

I've tried to make do with the current digital content on offer (40k app and the core rules pdf), but am constantly running into a wall trying to do simple tasks such as list building. Seems like the 40K app only lists the base cost of models, I can't find the points costs of any weapon upgrades anywhere??

Also having a hard time trying to reference game size related CPs and the various detachments available for list building in 9th edition. AFAIK this data isnt available on either of the two digital resources, only spread around in WH community articles. Doing my head in tbh.

Battlescribe hasn't been updated to 9th either save for a few factions, none of which I'm playing.

It really bums me out that I'd have to buy redundant physical matter and scan and process it myself, just to build a few flocking lists. The piracy option is looking hella tempting right now..! It's not even about the money, I got better use for my time than scanning printed books to pdf's ffs

That list builder for the 40K app better come around ASAP. And if it's gonna be the only way to build lists for 9th in the digital domain, it better be decent. This is getting awkward.

Are you sure about Battlescribe?

The Drukhari points were updated some weeks ago, and I doubt they were a particular priority.

Some people need to trigger the update from 8th to 9th manually for some reason.

Here's a screenshot from my scribe after clicking on "New roster" -> "40k 9th edition"

How do I update manually? Or do I just delete the app and reinstall?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
This keeps getting weirder. I exported my existing rosters (8th ed) and deleted Battlescribe. Upon reinstalling the app, I cannot add 40k 8th nor 9th data to the app anymore? Those repositories do not show up.. Have they been taken down?

Wouldn't surprise me if GW finally got to them, seeing as Battlescribe had access to their IP and now they are developing a direct competitor to the app (40K app army builder function).

tauist wrote:
Here's a screenshot from my scribe after clicking on "New roster" -> "40k 9th edition"

How do I update manually? Or do I just delete the app and reinstall?

On the Android app, there is a button on the top right for data. You'll find your 40k data there, refresh data can be found when hitting the three dots behind it.

On a windows desktop, use the button right next to the "support battle scribe" heart to update data.

If that doesn't work, delete the 40k data and re-add it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Strange, I can't find the repo either.

I have been an idiot! Upon closer inspection it seems weapon options DO have point values in the 40k app.

I have to use an excel sheet for building the actual list, but at least its doable now. Whew!

Somethings up with scribe though..?

They just updated Battlescribe on the 16th. Maybe the site is just down for maintenance or something. It goes down from time to time.

tauist wrote:
So Black Library (formerly known as Warhammer Digital?) FINALLY replied to my inquiry regarding new digital rulebooks for 40K:

"Thank you for your email and please accept our apologies for the delay in replying to it.

At this current time there have been no announcements as to when there would be a digital release of the books you inquired about, beyond them being in the new 40K App.

Any announcements about this would be made via the Warhammer Community web site and until anything appears on there we do not have any further information.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused."

So it's not looking too good... but maybe there is still hope

Well about what you could expect. Until WHC announces they would deny. If there would be revelation coming in 3 hours they would still not say that in mail.

Mine has done that error a couple of times where it doesn't show all the armies. It goes away after I resync the data.

tauist wrote:
So Black Library (formerly known as Warhammer Digital?)

Am I missing something? - Doesn't Warhammer Digital deal with the rule books and Black Library the fluff / fiction books?

beast_gts wrote:

tauist wrote:
So Black Library (formerly known as Warhammer Digital?)

Am I missing something? - Doesn't Warhammer Digital deal with the rule books and Black Library the fluff / fiction books?

You are correct, even though both sites use the same logon and customer database.

tauist wrote:


Somethings up with scribe though..?

Nope, mine (android) is working fine.

beast_gts wrote:

tauist wrote:
So Black Library (formerly known as Warhammer Digital?)

Am I missing something? - Doesn't Warhammer Digital deal with the rule books and Black Library the fluff / fiction books?

Well I sent mail to Warhammer Digital and Black Library replied, so I assumed something had happened internally. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding..

BTW, got Battlescribe finally working! The thought of losing it has made me appreciate it even more than before.. Just a wonderful tool for list building. The 40K app army builder has some pretty big boots to fill

 tauist wrote:
BTW, got Battlescribe finally working! The thought of losing it has made me appreciate it even more than before.. Just a wonderful tool for list building. The 40K app army builder has some pretty big boots to fill

It's GW's fault that they left it so late to bring their own list builder out (when/if it appears). The list building process is quite fiddly, and there are lots of variations on choice selections.
Because Battlescribe's app writer and list contributors have been working on this for years, they know the process better than GW does.
Expect many many issues with GW's lists when they arrive, and a glacial fix schedule.

 Skinnereal wrote:
It's GW's fault that they left it so late to bring their own list builder out (when/if it appears).

Just for historical accuracy - GW had army builders out before BattleScribe (and before most people had Internet) but at the time most people preferred pen & paper list building.

I really do hope they rethink this, the app is plain bad and some of us simply prefer to read on tablets.

 Platuan4th wrote:

Karol wrote:
I mean it would be crazy if each day you would have to carry 6-7 notebookes, 6-7 class books, 3-4 exercise book and then your training stuff.

That's why lockers in schools exist, dude.

So people steal from them? I wouldn't even leave my old school shoes at school. And I live in a dorm practicaly touching the school.

But then again we did hold the top place for heavies school back packs for kids at middle school. My sister was lucky as she goes to school where my mom teachs, but her back pack weighted 1/5th of here wait at some days. My were and are lighter, but I have to carry a gym bag on top of that, as I do go to a sports school.


Does the app now work on I-products properly, or does is still go haywire?

beast_gts wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
It's GW's fault that they left it so late to bring their own list builder out (when/if it appears).

Just for historical accuracy - GW had army builders out before BattleScribe (and before most people had Internet) but at the time most people preferred pen & paper list building.

Obsolecence is a big thing with GW. If only they had kept up after tearing up the previous versions.

beast_gts wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
It's GW's fault that they left it so late to bring their own list builder out (when/if it appears).

Just for historical accuracy - GW had army builders out before BattleScribe (and before most people had Internet) but at the time most people preferred pen & paper list building.

Spoiler:

Those where Pen and Paper list building was pratical. I too, prefer Pen and Paper list building, but have to use Battlescribe because at this stage I don't even begin to understand where the accurate rules and points cost for each unit I own is. FAQ this, expansion book that, and that, and that, Codex this, revised points cost chapter approved over here, even if I had everything spread out in front of me, [which would take most of the floor of my room, I still wouldn't be too clear on what I was doing.

Pick guard infantry squad from Codex.
Check all FAQ's to see if the rules are still the same.
Consult all sources for points to see if they've changed.
Select Wargear.
Repeat above process.
Select unit two.

That sounds, frankly, insane. I'm not even sure what to do with my Codex's anymore. I'm hesitant to consult or read them because I'm not sure what words within them are even accurate or I'd be teaching myself the wrong rules. [No, that stratagem doesn't work like that silly?! Havn't you read the two seperate errata's?] [What do you mean that's a great unit at 12 points? It's 24 points now, they're trash!]

 The Phazer wrote:
I really do hope they rethink this, the app is plain bad and some of us simply prefer to read on tablets.

I agree. My experience from the RPG industry is that if a game doesn't offer a digital book option, customers will end up using illicitly produced PDFs instead.

Karol wrote:

...

Does the app now work on I-products properly, or does is still go haywire?

Still not working on iPadOS 14 beta 4. Working on my iPhone 6S running iOS 13.6.1 though. I suspect its got something to do with the embedded version of Google Chrome browser engine that's inside the app.

Update: iPadOS 14 beta 5 is out, and the app is still broken on it.. Waiting for the latest update to get approved to the app store, maybe that'll finally fix it.

However, I was so upset with GW not offering the digital rulebook for 9th that I ended up buying a second hand copy of the Indomitus rulebook, and have now started scanning it to PDF. This effectively means GW did not gain any more money from me, since they didn't offer me a way to buy their rulebook in the format they use for selling every other rulebook in their lineup. I noticed House Of Blades is up on Warhammer Digital as a purchaseable epub, so its obvious GW is still making the digital versions, just not for 40K. Well, their loss.

I will be doing the same for every 40K book from now on until they start selling digital editions of 40K books again. I suggest yall do the same if your as upset about this as I am. Its not illegal in any way to buy the books 2nd hand, it just means GW doesnt get any more money from your books.

Think imma cancel my 40K app subscription while I'm at it. Don't want to be sending them a mixed message. If they make me choose between a POS app or secondhanding my books and scanning them to PDF myself, thats ok, I'll choose.

/soapbox rant