Now would be a great time for a 40k army builder app, and a potential revenue stream for GW as well? It seems like a huge missed opportunity for GW…
List building in 40k over the years has become increasingly complex. With so many factions, units, wargear options, and FAQs, it’s nearly impossible to write out a list with pen and paper.
40k Army Builder App Missed Opportunity For GW
It’s probably safe to say that a majority of 40k players use Battlescribe to throw lists together. It’s completely free and has just about every rule you can think of at your fingertips. With 40k exploding with popularity, it really makes you wonder if amid the retail shutdown if GW sees not having their own 40k army building app as a missed opportunity.
They could even be paying a team to develop one right now while working from home even. I know I would sub to such a product that contains all the rules I need for my army and is updated with new releases to be 100% correct.
GW Made an AoS Army Building App Already
GW made an army building app for Age of Sigmar already called the Azyr. It’s free to download and you’ll have access to every datasheet in the game as well as the core rules. Its actually really good!
However, if you pay $1 a month, you get access to start building armies in a roster. Plus, you can digitally download all the Battletomes for your army as well. Overall, the app is very streamlined and has all the mission details to set up games, datasheet artwork, etc.
Definitely worth the $1/month in our opinion.
So Why Hasn’t GW Released a 40k Army Builder?
It’s safe to say that as it stands right now, 40k is the most popular game GW is running. Age of Sigmar isn’t far behind, but relatively speaking 40k is a tabletop titan. From a business standpoint, you would think GW would want to drop a monthly subscription army builder for 40k as well. Make it streamlined with datasheets, constantly updated point values, etc. With a vast majority of GW fans playing 40k, they could theoretically make a killing at just charging $1/month.
It’s also been believed, however, that historically speaking, Age of Sigmar has been a “beta-tester” for things in 40k. Just one example is the Stormcast Eternals (bigger and better once-humans) and their entire model range. They promoted them in AoS and Primaris (also bigger and better humans) dropped shortly after.
You could compare the basic Intercessor to Liberators as main battlefield units in both games.
In the same way, we saw the Stormcast Vanguard wave hit and Primaris Vanguard followed behind shortly after.
Where we’re getting at with all this is that GW COULD currently be using the AoS Azyr app as a test-run for a 40k army builder. There’s not been anything confirmed on this, however, so don’t go saying that we said GW is releasing an official 40k app.
On the other end of the spectrum, GW could just see that Battlescribe is established in the community and would rather put resources toward more content.
At the end of the day, we don’t know the motive of why we haven’t seen an army builder yet. But if you’re new to the game/still trying to write your lists out on paper, downloading Battlescribe will change your life.
What do you think is the reasoning behind why we haven’t seen a 40k army builder come from GW yet? Do you think we will ever see one?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
