Fighting a Battle

First, agree on an army and a points value to play at. In a pitched battle, both players' armies should be built to the same points value -- you may bring less than that total, but never more.

Table size scales with the size of the game -- a standard 2,500 point game plays best on a 72" x 48" table.

Place terrain first. There's no strict rule for how much, but a good guideline is one piece for every 24" x 24" of table. Players take turns placing pieces, and once terrain is down, both players should agree what each piece actually represents, so everyone knows what rules apply to it.

After terrain is placed, decide which side of the table each player deploys on -- normally the two longer edges. Both players roll a die; the higher roll picks a table side and deploys the first unit. Players then alternate placing units until both sides are finished.

Every unit (other than Characters) costing less than 50 points must be placed all at once. Characters are placed together, after every other unit is deployed, though they may be split across different locations or units within the deployment zone. Units should be placed at least 1" apart, so it's clear where one ends and another begins.

Once deployment is finished, both players roll a die to see who goes first -- whoever used fewer deployment drops adds +1 to their result. If the roll is tied, re-roll until someone wins.

A standard game lasts 6 full turns, each made up of both players taking their own Movement, Magic, Shooting, and Close Combat phases. Once all 6 turns are complete, tally casualties and any completed objectives to determine the winner (see the Scenarios chapter for other battle types).

Players alternate acting with their forces -- one player moves and fights with everything they have, then the other does the same, repeating until the battle ends.

Each player's own turn always resolves in the same four phases, in this order: Movement, Magic, Shooting, Close Combat. Everything you want to move happens first, then spells are cast, then shooting is resolved, then finally close combat -- keeping this order consistent makes it clear what's happening and when one player's actions end and the other's begin.

A complete game turn is actually two player turns, one per side, each with its own Movement, Magic, Shooting, and Close Combat phases.

Whenever a rule -- in this book, a Warhammer Armies book, or an expansion -- just says "turn," it means a single player's own turn. If it means the full two-player round instead, it will say "game turn" explicitly.

Occasionally something breaks from the normal phase order above -- resolved as it happens rather than waiting for its usual phase, or requiring both players to act at the same time. One player's action might even trigger something else entirely, such as a troop type suddenly appearing or a special rule activating. When this happens, the rule causing the exception explains exactly how to resolve it.