War room

So a good friend of mine posted a review of the app so I thought "hey that's a good idea, I will do the same".

Hmm where to start. Well, I used the app for the first time on my Ipad. This is actually where I ran into my very first issue. It did not "link" my Ipad to my account. So when I purchased 3 decks (I will come to this later) they work on the Ipad but will not update to my other devices. This is an issue that I can contact THGs (Tinkerhouse Games) and they will fix, supposedly.

So I have it on my Ipad and it looks nice, it's clean on the main menu page. I can clearly identify where to go to do the things I want to do. So the very first thing I want to do is make my armies, aftering buying decks, so I click the link and it loads up everything. It looks pretty nice I have the usual stuff so far. Looks pretty clean at this point. Then I opened up the dropboxes and started using the list builder and realized that it is about as barebones as you could possibly make a list builder. I actually find it easier to use a calculator, pen and paper. Here is a list of the things that I found to be completely wrong with this section of the app:

1. No good touch screen controls - Every touch device since the Istuff has used pretty common array of touch controls like drag and drop and swipe to delete. This has none of it. Which is just a waste and not following basic commonly used conventions for the devices you are creating your app for is just no good. There is no real excuse for it. 
2. Theme forces - This is a BIG one for me and many many others. There is just no list validation at all, you don't anything shone on screen for using a theme force. It just goes "hey here it is". From my understanding this is even worse on the phone but I can't verify that so I won't go into it. Considering that a free app, made by a dude in his free time after working a full time job, was able to handle this I think that a company charging me for the app and made by professionals should have done better. 
3. Models - There is no control given by the app to organize or limit the model choices you can make in your army. As far as the app is concerned it OK! for me to add gator warbeasts to my Cryx list. I just simply do not understand why this is permitted. At least put them in a separate category instead of making me dig through every merc and minion jack/beast just to get to the jacks at the bottom of my cryx list. 
4. Syncing - This is silly to me. I am paying for this app and thus I do in fact feel somewhat entitled to basic smart phone things liking syncing. There is no list syncing between your devices. This is so basic that apple even provides a place for you to send the files (Icloud, forget the name right now) so that I can share them on all my stuff. They even had to fix their code to make it work better with Icloud but couldn't manage this? Such a wasted opportunity. 
5. Buying decks - So I bought the cryx and legion deck and then went to make my Skarre2 list which includes Gorman Di Wolfe. The app then pops up to tell me that I must pay $7 or I don't get to put him in my list. At first I thought this must be a cruel joke or a bug. But no, if I wanted to be able to properly manage the stuff I had already paid for I was forced to buy more. Mercs that can work with your faction should be included with the faction. Excluding merc/minion warcasters that will work with you. Beyond that I am still a little annoyed that you can't just build lists without buying decks. I was able to for free before and now I have to pay money to do it. This screams of a bad business decision as you aren't going to make much money off this app anyway, I would think it would be a better idea to use it as advertising for your actual product. I will have a much harder time wanting to buy new armies now if I can't even build a list to proxy or buy without paying money. 

That's all the bad I could think of off the top of my head right now. Here is the good stuff about list building: 

1. Pretty pictures - There is an icon for all the options, while this is really unnecessary, I find that I like having a little picture there to look at. Though I would sacrifice this for better battery conservation and load times. But I like it. 
2. Model counts - I like that it tells you how many models you have of different things. I think it could be slightly improved by showing you points spent on models instead of just number of models but it is still nice. 

That's a very off balance set of lists there isn't it? Makes me sad. Moving onto the other menu options I played with. The reference section is amazing, as far as I know it completely part of the "free version" and will be a blessing at any event or game night. I will keep the app on my phone/tablet just for this feature alone. The card library is also very handy, as long as you buy the decks, being able to look at the actual cards is pretty cool. Sadly, you have to buy the decks but this is the spot where I think deck buying is worth it and don't really mind paying the fees, even if I personally think they are a little pricey. The store is hardly anything, so not much to really talk about here, other than the bugs that many people are running into with buying decks and not being able to access them. I didn't have this issue (until I attempted to use my phone) so no real comments here. 

Lastly, FIGHT, the feature that I feel the developers most likely spent the majority of their time making. So here's what I think about the fight system so far. I am going to play a game using it tonight so this might change slightly, however I don't think it will so I feel safe typing this up. lets just go right into the lists. Here's the bad: 

1. It's clunky - This is so sad to me. Everything here is very clunky, every card has like 3 different locations that you can click that do completely different things and there are no clear boundaries between them. The hit point modification portion of the tool is so badly implemented that I am going to do a separate line just for it. 
2. Hit point modification - This is the most disappointing feature in the fight mechanic.  The invisible slider is very difficult to control and on phones it becomes even worse (unusable according to my friend) and it isn't convenient to actually get to. You have to click a section of your model to open up a special dialog box just to use the feature. On the Ipad there is an entire area of the screen that is 1/2 devoid of information when you have information there at all and this system would have easily fit there. I simply do not understand why it's not more accessible. By the time I actually get damage marked using this system I would be having to mark the next portion of damage. It's faster and easier just to use cards. Which defeats the entire purpose of the app. Ok that one was a little ranty sorry.
3.  Saving enemy lists - you can't do this unless you own the deck, but why? I don't want to see their cards just a list of what they used. Why can't I have that? 
4. Currently there is a bug with the app that prevents me from playing any lists that include a necrotech because the app doesn't think I own the scrap thrall that comes with necrotechs. (However, I am fine to have the scrap thralls that I get via buying with points). This is a very basic bug that really should have been caught. Maybe I am too much of a Blizzard fan but I have these issues with many things and think that companies should be held accountable for their bugs, not given leeway for any reason. Bugs should be found before I get the product. Not all can be but more of an effort should be made. 

Here are the things that I like about this feature: 

1. Although I haven't tested this part yet, I love that I can look at my opponent's stuff while he is taking his turn without having to bug him for his cards. 
2. The basic info dumb they do on the left side when you click on the name of your model is nice. Though I wish this was more robust, it is nice to have. 
3. The timer is in theory a nice feature - I have not tested it yet and I am excited for it. However, I have not been hearing good things about it so I am little worried. 

Lastly there are a couple of issues that I have seen with the app in general that I would like to comment on. 

1. Battery life - This thing destroys the battery on my devices. This is not good for an app that the company wants people using for 2 or more hours at a time. I don't think that there are devices out there right now that would last using this app at any given tournament. Which is sad because it limits where you will use the app. 
2. The front art - Ok, this one is all me so ignore it and think of me as a crazy if you like but I am so bored/tired of seeing Khador plastered on EVERYTHING. In my opinion the art on the front should have been neutral to the game. Even just a big Warmachine and Hordes logo would have been better. 
3. The phone versions look like bad ports - This is the worst. It is clear to me at this point that this was made for tablets and ported to phones. There are lots of people who have phones and not tablets and/or don't care to keep their tablets with them at all times but always have their phones. It is a waste that this functions so poorly on phones. 
4. Purchases - I hope others are having more luck with this issue but I bought three decks on my Ipad and they are not syncing to my phone. So the version on my phone is even more useless beyond the issues noted above. 
5. Bugs: They are just everywhere, I noted a couple above but that's not nearly all of them. It's sad.

Anyway those are my thoughts on this app. I am going to call apple for a refund of my in app purchases today because at this stage it is just not worth it. It's easier and faster to just write a list on paper and then use cards. I really have high hopes that they will just let IBodger come back and get updated. (There is another entire rant about that, which I won't go into) 

Thanks for listening.