Battles are fought between two opposing sides - two armies that will struggle for supremacy using all their armed might and cunning. The warring armies are commanded by kings and generals, wizards and heroes. Their model counterparts are commanded by you - the player.

In a real battle lots of things happen at once and it is very difficult to tell exactly how the battle is progressing at any one moment. The fortunes of each side sway throughout the battle as one side charges and men the other, roaring with fury and bloodlust as they throw themselves upon the enemy. Mighty war-engines lob their cargos of death towards their cowering foes and clouds of arrows darken the turbulent skies.

In Warhammer we represent the howling maelstrom of action in turns, in a similar way to chess or draughts. Each player takes one complete turn, then his opponent takes a turn. The first player then takes another turn, followed by the second player again, and so on: each player taking a turn one after the other until the battle is over.

To decide which side takes the first turn it is usual for both players to roll a D6 and the player who rolls highest goes first. See the Scenarios section for more about different ways of setting up a battle and deciding which side has the first turn.

Within the turn, actions are performed in a fixed order - this is called the turn sequence. Each turn is divided up into phases during which the player moves all his units, shoots all his missiles, resolves all close combat, and so on.

When it is your turn, it is up to you to keep track of where you are in the turn sequence. If you forget, your opponent should be able to remind you. Each turn is divided into the following phases. These phases are always completed in the order given below, and all actions in each phase must be resolved before moving onto the next phase.