Warmachine Card Creator V4

... And now there's a V4!

Changes from V3:

• It is now possible to overlay and independently position multiple background images when loading images from URLs.
• There is now and option to flip the small data box alignment. It will be automatically set to run left-to-right if there are more than 6 stat blocks.
• It is now possible to have up to 7 model or weapon stat blocks if the life bar is hidden.
• Numbers have been removed from health boxes, although they can still be added back manually.
• The mini spell box now resizes automatically.
• Added file upload options for background images, profile images, and icons since local paths don't work unless running the web page locally.
• Replaced "import/export" options with single card/all cards JSON options (more future-proof as it only saves data, so more likely to be able to import the data in the future).
• Unit health rows can now be hidden.
• The unit health area is now raised if the fluff box is hidden.
• The fluff box and unit health area are now raised if profile image is hidden.
• Can now have up to 8 model health bars in unit health box.
• Increased size of model name boxes in unit health area.
• Added a more efficient font to save space in some fields.
• Added an importer for importing data directly from the app.
• Rescaled card elements and added an option to set the page size to try to make printing easier.
• Added an option to scale up the warbeast damage spiral.
• Added a separate colour control for damage boxes.
• Automatically shrink ability text to fit available area.
• Replaced base size icon with a text field next to the name.
• Increased number of health boxes in life bar to 30.
• Fixed some display issues.
• Added the ability to print hardpoint option cards.

--EDIT--
14/12/2023: Refactored the card creator data loader to make it more robust and general.
14/01/2024: Added the option to scale the warjack damage grids.
12/02/2024: Added an option to copy just the card settings between cards, and paste them in the loader.
14/02/2024: Added command card compatibility to the data loader.
09/03/2024: Fixed an issue with Chrome preventing the same image from being uploaded multiple times in a row.
09/05/2024: Fixed a bug where the JSON exporter only exported 25 health boxes, not the 30 that we new have.
09/05/2024: Unit damage box name no longer wraps and overflow is hidden, so less likely to need manual work.
09/05/2024: Can now select more than 4 cards of models, will open multiple new tabs if needed.
13/05/2024: Doubled the card sizes, so screenshots can be taken at 100%.
13/05/2024: "Edit" button in loader is now colour coded to show if options have been selected.
13/05/2024: Save PDF functions added to loader and card menu.
16/05/2024: Excess weapon profiles will now "overflow" onto the left of the card.
18/07/2024: Fixed the PDF padding issue (by scrolling to the top of the page before export).
18/07/2024: Added a new attachment feature for combining cards (eg. unit with it's CA).
27/07/2024: Added an option to print rack cards.
13/08/2024: Fixed an issue with the solo model health track being replaced by unit boxes.
02/10/2024: Fixed an issue with not handling null profile advantage data properly.
03/10/2024: Added more ability icon slots to profiles and weapons.
08/10/2024: Changed background file name to use _ instead of |, as | doesn't work on Windows.
20/11/2024: If a card only has one free option per slot they are selected automatically and not listed on the card.
20/11/2024: Removed spaces from profile,weapon, and spell stats (so Sp 8 becomes Sp8, etc).
05/01/2025: Added a function for importing manually written lists.
05/01/2025: Fixed an issue where the "view" etc. buttons weren't disabled properly when we reload the page.
05/01/2025: Edited keywords to use faction, then armies, then other keywords, then type, to fix display issues.
11/01/2025: Removed model type keyword when it would be redundant (e.g. "Heavy Warjack Warjack").
01/02/2025: Options with no cost are set to cost 0 by default, allowing them to be selected automatically if appropriate.
02/02/2025: Added a scaling factor for the unit damage boxes.
03/02/2025: Better handling of model names in unit damage boxes.
04/02/2025: Can now specify separate background images for front and back of each card.
04/02/2025: Options list now correctly shows only faction-specific option cards.
01/04/2025: Added damage rings that can be used for Infernal Horrors.
01/04/2025: Fixed an issue with weapon abilities not being read properly.
14/04/2025: Fixed an issue where options cards weren't working anymore.
14/04/2025: Fixed an issue where the menu wouldn't open for some cards.
14/04/2025: Fixed an issue with attaching models to existing models with no health track.
14/04/2025: Card type is now the last keyword.
18/04/2025: Added a menu option to control the font size in the abilities field.
18/04/2025: Companion/attachment IDs now optional in card data in JSON.
18/04/2025: Can now choose to list all options for a hardpoint, rather than just choosing one.
20/04/2025: Added scaling options for cohort damage trackers to card loader settings menu.
05/05/2025: Fixed profile/weapon ordering issue for attachments.
05/05/2025: Can now select options for attached models.
05/05/2025: Added a horizontal rule before attachment rules texts to avoid confusion.
08/05/2025: Last update broke option cards, quick fix to get them working again.
30/05/2025: Added a colour selector to the image menu.
30/05/2025: Updated loader to set profile colour based on background image name.
30/05/2025: Fixed an issue where the profile image wasn't being handled properly in the JSON exporter.
31/05/2025: The "continuous corrosion" icon was showing the "continuous fire" icon instead, fixed now.
31/05/2025: Now added a faction icon override system based on keywords.
06/06/2025: Added weapon type icons up to x9.
09/06/2025: Added text fields next to the top two large number fields around the profile image.
09/06/2025: Fixed an issue where the fields around the profile image didn't use the field background.
09/06/2025: Added images of selected hardpoint options, or all options to option cards.
09/06/2025: Added profile image of attached card instead of faction icon on back of card.
14/06/2025: Made the background optional for option images.
28/06/2025: Model list combo box includes base points cost.
28/06/2025: Displaying total point cost of all selected models and options.
02/07/2025: Fixed a bug with loading cards from saved lists.
02/07/2025: Displaying total cost of added card beside each card name.
02/07/2025: Added a search function, to add cards by name.
03/07/2025: Search now displays a dialogue letting the user know how many cards were added.
05/07/2025: Can now save card selection to a json file that can be loaded again.
08/07/2025: Added a PDF quality option to the loader settings.
08/07/2025: Added an option to print only 2 cards per page on PDFs, for printing larger cards.
14/07/2025: Added a PDF quality option to the card creator menu.
14/07/2025: Fixed a bug with Granted: Resistance: X (it was not adding the "Resistance:" part).
14/07/2025: Added the ability to find models based on special rules, keywords, and spells.
15/07/2025: Fixed a bug where you could not remove attachmnets once added.
15/07/2025: Fixed a bug where attaching by name and failing to find, did not show the existing attachment.
08/08/2025: Refactored PDF code to fix issue where it crashes if there are too many cards.
08/08/2025: PDF export loading message now shows current page being processed.
08/08/2025: Fixed page size option in card menu.
10/08/2025: Added half-height spell cards and command cards options.
29/08/2025: Improved spell code to ignore bad data.
29/08/2025: Added document loader.
29/08/2025: Exposed the stylesheet when loading a document.
31/08/2025: Improved default CSS for document loader.
05/09/2025: Can now select rack spells in card options.
05/09/2025: Loading and saving lists to json files now includes warcaster rack spell selection.
12/09/2025: Added option to show images in "mana" fields to card menu.
12/09/2025: Fixed issue displaying bordered option image from card loader.
12/09/2025: Enabled fifth "mana" field as fifth option image.
01/10/2025: Added new icons, updated some existing icons, improved icon menu (organization and attribution).
01/10/2025: Added text fields underneath profile blocks that automatically resize the profile block.
01/10/2025: Updated the profile block spacing code to better handle the new dynamically sized profile blocks.
03/10/2025: Added new options to the stat layout combo box.
04/10/2025: Added a "Vortex" icon.
16/10/2025: Fixed a bug with document stylesheets not actually being updated by user input.
16/10/2025: Changed document stylesheet to use percentage font-sizes.
16/10/2025: Added handling for ascii newline characters in documents.
02/11/2025: Added a new option to automatically add damage grids if a model is FA>1
06/11/2025: Document converter now uses specified media width and height if present.
10/11/2025: Re-wrote the file loader code to remove depricated functions and allow manual fle browsing.
13/11/2025: Fixed an issue where added profile blocks were not being indexed properly.
13/11/2025: Updated health bar to use unit block when more than one profile is present.
09/12/2025: Added an option for two-sided printing.
07/01/2026: Added an option to change card heights.
08/01/2026: Tweaked the card height management in the card menu.
08/01/2026: Tweaked some icons and the icon menu.
13/01/2026: Adjusting card height in card menu now resets the y-padding to 0.
13/01/2026: Refactored the damage trackers: now there's 16 unit rows, 4 grids, 4 rings, 4 spirals.
13/01/2026: Improved health tracker display in card loader. Can now specify number of extra trackers.
24/01/2026: Uploading a profile image now shows the profile image editor buttons.
03/02/2026: Removed path loading options for all image types to avoid issues with the PDF export.
03/02/2026: Fixed a bug that allowed selecting spells without having rack slots.
03/02/2026: Added support for a new, simpler JSON data layout.
17/02/2026: Fixed a bug where position profile blocks and data boxes was not respecting actual card size.
17/02/2026: Fixed a bug where resizing cards did not reposition profile blocks and data boxes.
17/02/2026: Added the option to have 0 health trackers to the card loader.
17/02/2026: Added the option to not flip bottom cards to the card loader.
17/02/2026: Added the option to halve regular card sizes to the card loader.
18/02/2026: Fixed an issue with arranging cards when halving model card sizes.
18/02/2026: Fixed an infinite loop when trying to resize text for half-sized cards with spells.
28/02/2026: Added options to the card menu to control feat and spell description font sizes.
28/02/2026: Tweak the capitalisation code to consider more characters (e.g. •,★).
28/02/2026: Added 3.5 json file compatibility.
18/03/2026: Can override default number of cards per model.
18/03/2026: Models with more than 3 spells get a second card (fixes Grymkin warlocks).

Improved Old Card Creator

I've been a bit inspired lately, so I went back and re-built my old Warmachine card creator. The new one is MUCH more user friendly (no more invisible buttons! Yay!). Here's a sample card:

Karchev And The Homebrew Card Creator

I was searching the internet for some kind of homebrew card creator, but after a full ten minutes failed to unearth one, I decided to spend two weeks or so writing my own. Because apparently that's my idea of saving time.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it, other that the fact that it has one massive flaw: it doesn't save the card. My current plan for fixing this problem involves adding a button that refreshes the page with all the input data embedded in the link. I believe this would allow users to bookmark a created page and come back to it, and also to use online web page to PDF creators to save cards as PDFs.

The card creator and instructions on how to use it are here. So here's my first homebrew card:

Let me talk for a little about the character. So I love the idea of Karchev, and I like some aspects of his fluff (which is more than I can say for most warcasters, sadly), but I haven't had the chance to put him on the table yet and already I've heard a lot of general negativity with regards to his power levels. So this was my attempt at tweaking him a little bit to, let's say, match my preferences.

I tried to keep his most characteristic features intact, and also not to invent any rules or spells or anything (except for his feat of course). I didn't want to make him overpowered, but as he's generally considered one of Khador's weakest casters (at least at 50 points I guess) I figured a bit of an upgrade was acceptable. So let's talk about what's changed.

First of all, I bumped him up  to ARM 20. He's a Khador warjack dammit, he should be ARM 20! Besides Butcher has ARM 18, Karchev have more than a single point more ARM.

Next I gave him CMD 10. He's a living legend and a symbol of Khadoran indomitability dammit, his men would willingly follow him through the gates of Hell itself, he gets CMD 10! Why are we even talking about this?

I added Quick Work to Sunder. Since his "fissure" attack is just him slamming his axe to the ground, I figured that the presence of a squishy little human underneath his axe wouldn't interfere with the process; thus if he kills a model with his axe he can drive the axe right down into the ground and create a fissure. I considered Assault instead, but decided Quick Work was a better approximation. I also gave him Gunfighter to complement the ability. This was more of a fluff thing than anything else, but I think that it helps him deal with infantry, which is good.

I replaced Sidearms with Lash; I think Karchev needs knockdown protection these days with things like the Prime Axiom and Galleon in armies that have access to ranged knockdown. But trying to juggle Sidearms and Tow is a problem. Lash is simpler, always-on, can't be removed with spell hate, and is more focus efficient, so yeah, I figured he deserved it. Hey, if the Battle Mechanic Officer can do it and he's just a MOW, why can't Karchev?

I wanted to give Karchev some infantry support, so I went with Fog of War. You can get some of the effect that Sidearms used to have with it, along with the associated problems, so I figure it fits from that angle, and it does something for his infantry as well without being overpowered. I guess it just seemed like a decent compromise.

I had an idea a short while ago for a way to give jack-casters better focus efficiency without giving them more focus, and that was to make a caster also a jack-marshal. It's not as powerful as Conferred Rage (which some Hordes casters have!), and basically makes up for the loss of the free charge from his feat (which is important  for a jack caster) while also being more versatile the rest of the time, and allowing him to camp higher while his jacks run or take a boosted shot or something. Plus it isn't affected by things like Agonizers, which is a big plus in my book.

Speaking of the feat, I decided the feat was an acceptable time to buff infantry, and made it something that I thought fit the fluff. I also took the opportunity to give him a way to deal with crippled systems on himself and his jacks - kind of a big deal for him, and again, nothing that Hordes can't already do. The feat is limited by his small control area and the fact that it's not a pulse, so I think it's reasonably balanced.

Overall I believe he's more powerful than the original version, but I don't think he's broken or anything. To help balance him out I knocked off a warjack point and took away Ground Zero; plus losing Sidearms cost him a means of defence (hell, he might even be weaker overall without it, I don't really know). At any rate I think he's closer to what I want to play, which is the point of all this really, right?


I will mention that I did have some other ideas for him that I decided not to go with. I considered Fortune as his infantry buff spell as it's versatile but not overpowered. Iron Flesh and Battle Lust seemed a little too much.

I thought about swapping around his arcanatrik turbine so that he has Focus 6 and has to spend one for the movement buff, but decided it wasn't worth changing (and also the current system allows him to gain a focus in some situations when he would otherwise be left high and dry, so that's something).

I wanted to give him a Ret-like forcefield to represent his Warcaster powerfield; fluff-wise warcasters get their additional boxes - which they can repair - from their powerfields; Karchev doesn't have additional boxes or armour and has much more limited repair abilities, so it seemed fair to me.

I would have liked to give him some kind of repair ability, either as a regular action (possibly one that he could use on himself) or better yet, as a battlegroup-wide repair spell.

I considered (and am still tempted by the thought of) giving him an "elite cadre" ability that gives all Greylords in his army Power Booster; but I think Jack-marshal works better (and I wouldn't give him both!). And while it's probably more thematic and unique, I want to try to avoid inventing rules and abilites.


Getting back to the card creator, I will try to implement a saving feature when I have time, but for now I'm leaving it up as it is basically usable.