As many people know, I have slowly been switching much of my computer life from the PC to the Mac. One of the first things I looked for was an application to create army lists. Unfortunately, my search turned up nothing. The big army list software company has been slow to finish its Mac version. This forced me to search elsewhere.
My search lead me to the App Store on my iPad, where I discovered a little App called Quartermaster. The price was only $4.99 so I figured it was worth the gamble. The version I originally purchased was version 2.0. Version 2.1 was released a few days after my purchase which fixed a couple of errors but unfortunately, it was pulled from the App Store while Sean Rogers, the programmer, could make the app compliant with Games Workshop's rules. I should mention that this app also works on an iPhone or an iPod Touch as well.
On September 13th, Quartermaster marched its way back on the the App Store!
In a nutshell, Quartermaster allows the creation of Army Lists for Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer 40K.
What you get when you first open the app is a screen that requires you to create an Army Template. Due to GW's strict policies, they cannot be included. Creating the Army Templates is very simple. You just enter the information from your Army Book or Codex. The great thing about this is it allows you to create custom names for your troops and leadership. In my case, I created my own chapter of the Space Marines so my army lists will reflect the actual names of my leadership.
Creating your list from the Army Template is very simple. You just pick the Army and select the creature or unit and choose its options. The one thing that that this app doesn't do it verify the legality of your army. I really don't see this as much of an issue because you should be familiar enough with the rules to be able to do this on your own.
For an experienced player, a 2000 point list can be created in minutes. Duplicating lists and making changes to an existing list is so simple within a half hour of using this app, you will likely have half a dozen or so lists ready. Currently on my iPad I have almost 30 different lists, each one created for a specific purpose. For example, my Warhammer Fantasy army of choice is the Skaven. On my iPad I have lists created to deal specifically with Dwarves, Tomb Kings and High Elves. I also have my default list and the list I like to call The Walking Death.
One of the biggest omissions from the app is the ability to create PDFs. This is not a big thing as the app can print to any printer supported by IOS. The app allows you to generate forum code so you can share your lists with the online community. You can also email the lists. Currently, this method is the one i use to print my lists as my wireless printer isn't supported by IOS.
Two things I would like to see in a future update are to have the ability to save save magic items in a list similar to the army list and the ability to create a Storm of Magic list associated with the army list. The Storm of Magic list is easily accomplished by creating a separate list, but it would be nice to have one list instead of two.
At about 1/8th the price of the largest Army list software package, this app is a steal! If you are't afraid of a little typing or searching for someone who has already created the Template you want, you will find no better tool for creating Army Lists for Warhammer Fantasy or 40K.
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