Importing Armies
Typing a force in by hand is the slowest way to start a campaign. If you already build lists in NewRecruit, BattleScribe or anything else that exports a roster file, Echelon will turn it into a full Order of Battle, Crusade Cards included, in seconds.
You will need the exported file to hand: .json, .ros or .rosz.
Import Workflow
Which exports are supported
Echelon reads 10th and 11th Edition exports in two file formats:
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
.json | NewRecruit's own export |
.ros, .rosz | The BattleScribe roster format |
.ros and .rosz are an interchange format rather than one app's file. BattleScribe writes them, NewRecruit writes them, and so do several other list builders, so any builder that offers .ros or .rosz will import here. Both formats carry the same underlying roster data, so a list imports the same either way.
Both list shapes are read too:
| Format | What it contains | Imports as |
|---|---|---|
| Roster / army list | One army, its detachments and its battle size | Your Order of Battle |
| Crusade list | Your Order of Battle plus the army you mustered from it | Your Order of Battle |
From an 11th Edition list Echelon also reads each detachment the army combines, the Detachment Points each costs, and the Force Disposition the list was built with.
The edition has to match
A list's edition must match the campaign you are importing into. An 11th Edition list can combine detachments that 10th Edition does not allow, so importing one into a 10th Edition campaign would build an illegal force, so Echelon refuses it and tells you instead. Ask your Host to check the campaign's edition if you see this.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Export your list
From NewRecruit:
- Log into your account on NewRecruit.eu.
- Open the army list you wish to import.
- Click the Export / Share button in the upper-right menu.
- Select JSON Export. NewRecruit can also export
.rosand.rosz, and either of those imports too. - Save the file to your computer or mobile device.
From BattleScribe:
- Open the roster you wish to import.
- Choose Share or Export.
- Select the
.roszor.rosformat. - Save the file to your computer or mobile device.
From any other builder: export the list as .ros or .rosz and upload that.
Use Official Game Data
Ensure your list is built using up-to-date Warhammer 40K game data so unit points, keywords, and enhancements match standard rules. Both builders read the same community catalogues, so a stale catalogue in either shows up the same way.
Step 2: Import into Echelon
- Open Roster in your campaign. Your Order of Battle already exists; joining the campaign created it.
- Click Add Unit and choose Import an army list. On an empty Order of Battle, Import from NewRecruit in the middle of the page does the same, and takes BattleScribe files too.
- Drop your exported file onto the Import army dialog, or click the drop zone to browse your files.
- Echelon reads the file and shows what it found:
- The faction and detachments. The faction becomes your force's, chapter included (see Chapters and Your Force's Faction). An 11th Edition list shows every detachment it combines with its Detachment Points cost, plus the Force Disposition it was built with.
- Every unit with its points. Where the list pays for weapon options, the unit shows the split, e.g.
125 pts (110 + 15 wargear). All of them start selected; untick any you do not want.
- Check the Replace existing units switch (see below), then click Import. The button counts the units you have selected, e.g. Import 12 Units.
Step 3: Verify Crusade Cards
Once imported, Echelon automatically generates a Crusade Card for every unit in the file:
- Check that unit point totals match your expected Supply Limit.
- Open the ⋮ menu on your Warlord's row and click Set as Warlord. Only a Character can take it.
- Verify initial weapon equipment and options.
Edge Cases & Troubleshooting
Unit Point Discrepancies
A unit's points include the weapon options your list pays for, so a Ravager with three Dark Lances imports at 125 points, not 110. Each paid weapon keeps its count and its cost per weapon on the card's Equipment tab. An enhancement's points are not included: you give enhancements when you muster.
If point values still differ between your army builder and Echelon:
- Open the ⋮ menu on the unit's row and click Edit Details.
- Change the Base points on the Unit Info tab, or a weapon's Points each on the Equipment tab, and click Save Changes. See Paid Wargear.
Supply Limit and Requisition Points
Importing never changes your Supply Limit or Requisition Points. A list built at 2,000 points in your army builder still counts against the Supply Limit your campaign gave you, which grows by spending Requisition Points on Increase Supply Limit. A Crusade export's own Supply Limit and Requisition Points are left out too.
The import screen warns you when the units you have selected would take you over. A selection bigger than your Supply Limit on its own is refused, so untick units until it fits.
Detachment Not Recognised
A detachment the catalogue cannot place is left out of the import, not added as a homebrew one. That covers homebrew detachments, any added to the game since the catalogue was last refreshed, and any your campaign's edition no longer has (an older 11th Edition Ork list naming Freebooter Krew, say). The import screen names them before you import. Pick one by hand on your roster's Force tab afterwards. A homebrew detachment is a Supporter feature, but one your force already holds stays, with its rules, when the file names it.
The detachments the catalogue does place are picked for you. In an 11th Edition campaign their rules come from the catalogue, not from the file, and one your force already holds keeps the rules it has.
Chapters and Your Force's Faction
The import sets your force's faction from the list. It reads the faction from the catalogue the list was built with, not from the units, because every chapter's units say Adeptus Astartes. So a Black Templars, Blood Angels or Deathwatch list imports as that chapter rather than as plain Space Marines, and the same goes for any chapter with a catalogue of its own. That decides more than the name on your banner: a chapter has its own detachments, pays its own Detachment Points for a few of them, and brings its own Crusade content. The preview shows the Detachment Points the file gives each detachment; your force is then charged its own faction's price. See Detachment Points.
If the list is a different faction from your force, the import changes your faction without asking first. Your army rules are cleared, and your detachments are replaced with the ones the list names, or removed if Echelon could place none of them. Your old faction's official Agendas and Battle Traits give way to the new faction's. A battle that used one of those Agendas keeps it, a unit that gained one of those Battle Traits keeps it, and relics you have already claimed stay where they are. A list whose faction Echelon cannot recognise imports as Other / Unaligned; set the right one under Faction in Edit Force Details afterwards.
On the free plan, an import that would move your force to a faction where writing your own Agendas, requisitions, Battle Traits or relics is paid is refused while your force holds ones you wrote. The message names which, so you can remove them or upgrade.
Importing into a Force That Already Has Units
The import screen has one switch, and it starts switched on:
- Replace existing units: deletes every Crusade Card already on your Order of Battle, then adds the new file's units.
- Add alongside existing units (switched off): keeps your existing Crusade Cards and adds the new units next to them.
Data Loss Warning
Because the switch starts on Replace existing units, importing an updated list into a force you have played with deletes those units' XP, kill tallies, Battle Honours and Battle Scars. Switch it off before you click Import if you want to keep them, or edit the cards one at a time instead.