GrimSlate vs BattleScribe - Which Army Builder Should You Use?

BattleScribe was the default army builder for a decade, and for a lot of players it still is. GrimSlate is newer, narrower and built specifically for Warhammer 40,000. They are genuinely different tools, and which one suits you depends mostly on what else you play and how you like to work.

This is an honest comparison, written by the people who make GrimSlate — so read the "where BattleScribe wins" section carefully, because that is the part we have the least incentive to write.

The short version

Choose BattleScribe if you play more than one game system, you want a native desktop or mobile application rather than a web app, or you already have years of rosters in it that you do not want to rebuild.

Choose GrimSlate if you only play 40k, you want the builder and the in-game tools in one place, and you would rather have a tool that does one game properly than one that does six games adequately.

Use both if you like — they read from the same underlying community data project, so neither locks you in.

Where BattleScribe wins

Multi-system support. This is the big one and it is not close. BattleScribe covers Age of Sigmar, Kill Team, Horus Heresy, Necromunda and dozens of other systems through community catalogues. GrimSlate does Warhammer 40,000 and nothing else, deliberately. If you play two systems, one tool for both is a real advantage.

A decade of ecosystem. Longer track record, more guides written about it, more people at your club who already know how it works. If you need help, someone nearby has used it.

Native applications. BattleScribe ships as an installable desktop and mobile app. GrimSlate is a progressive web app — installable, but a web app underneath. Some people simply prefer native software, and that is a legitimate preference.

It is not going anywhere. An established tool with a large user base is a safer place to keep a decade of rosters than a newer project.

Where GrimSlate wins

It does more than build lists. GrimSlate includes a live battle tracker for VP, CP, rounds and unit states, a combat calculator, full datasheet browsing, and public roster sharing. BattleScribe builds lists; that is its scope. If you want your list and your in-game scoring in the same place, that is only one of these tools.

Purpose-built for 40k's rules. Because we only implement one game, we can implement its specific structures properly — the Detachment Points budget and its Incursion exception, Leader and Support character slots, alliance rules with their per-battle-size caps, transport capacity including the double-space rule for Terminator and Gravis models. A generic multi-system engine models these more loosely by necessity.

Modern interface, mobile first. GrimSlate was designed for a phone screen first and a desktop second, which is where most people actually build lists. BattleScribe's interface is functional and long-established; whether "dated" is a criticism or a compliment depends on your taste.

Free with no ads and no paid tier. GrimSlate is free. There is an optional account for cloud sync and sharing, and an optional Ko-fi if you want to support the project, but no feature is behind a paywall.

Sharing and discovery. Public roster pages, profiles and an explore feed. If you want other people to see your list without exporting a text file, that is built in.

Where they are genuinely equal

Data accuracy. Both draw from BSData, the community-maintained catalogue project. GrimSlate additionally cross-references the Munitorum Field Manual for points and Wahapedia for rules text, and runs an automated checker over the result — but the foundation is the same volunteer effort, and neither tool is an official Games Workshop product. Both will occasionally be wrong about an edge case, and both depend on volunteers to fix it.

Offline support. BattleScribe stores data locally. GrimSlate caches everything as a progressive web app. Both work in a basement game store with no signal.

Neither is official. Always check the current Munitorum Field Manual and your codex for anything that matters. Any third-party builder is a convenience, not an authority. Our disclaimer page covers this properly.

Feature comparison

On migrating

There is no automatic import from BattleScribe into GrimSlate today. Rebuilding a 2,000-point list takes a few minutes in practice, but if you have twenty saved rosters that is a real afternoon, and it is a fair reason to stay where you are.

If you are coming from a 10th Edition list of your own, GrimSlate does convert those to 11th — see converting a 10th Edition list.

Our actual recommendation

If you play several game systems, BattleScribe is the more sensible primary tool and we would not pretend otherwise.

If you play only 40k, we think a purpose-built tool models the game's rules more accurately, and having the list, the datasheets, the maths and the in-game scoreboard in one place is worth more than it sounds until you have played a game that way.

You can try GrimSlate free without an account, which is the only real way to decide. If it does not suit you, nothing is lost — your models still work.

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