How a turn works

A game is split into battle rounds. In each battle round, both players take a full turn — so a "turn" is your whole go, not just one action. Here's what happens, in order.

At the start of each battle round

Before anyone moves, the round is set up:

• Who goes first? In the first battle round it's settled before the game starts: in Spearhead the attacker picks, and in full-size games whoever finished deploying first picks. From the second battle round on, players make the priority roll to decide. Win it at the right moment and you can take two turns in a row.
• Commands. In Spearhead, each player draws back up to 3 battle tactic cards. Every card has a command on it that you can use instead of scoring the card. In full-size games, each player gets a fresh supply of command points to spend on commands instead.
• In Spearhead: a twist card changes the conditions of the battle for the round.

Then each player takes their turn

1. 01

   Phase 1

   Start of turn

   Anything that happens "at the start of your turn" is done now, before the hero phase.

2. 02

   Phase 2

   Hero phase

   Heroes use their abilities, Wizards cast spells and Priests chant prayers. In full-size games it's also a common time to use commands like Rally, which lets a battered unit heal or bring back slain models.

3. 03

   Phase 3

   Movement phase

   You move your units around the battlefield, up to each unit's Move characteristic, while staying in coherency (close enough to the rest of their unit).

4. 04

   Phase 4

   Shooting phase

   Units with ranged weapons can shoot at enemies within range and line of sight, rolling dice to see if the attacks hit, wound, and get through the target's save.

5. 05

   Phase 5

   Charge phase

   Units that want to fight in melee this turn declare a charge and roll 2D6 to see if they cover the distance to reach the enemy.

6. 06

   Phase 6

   Combat phase

   Units that are close enough fight in melee, again rolling to hit, wound, and save. Both players' units fight, taking turns — and units with Strike-first go before everyone else.

7. 07

   Phase 7

   End of turn

   Work out who controls each objective by comparing control scores. Then the player whose turn it is scores any victory points their battleplan gives; the other player scores at the end of their own turn. Then it's the other player's turn.

Next: the glossary for a quick reference on every term used above.