Battles are fought between two opposing sides - two armies pitting armed might and cunning against each other. The forces represented by the models are commanded by kings and generals, wizards and heroes. Their metal 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, then the other, roaring with fury and bloodlust as they throw themselves upon the enemy. Mighty war-engines lob their cargoes of death towards their cowering foes and clouds of arrows darken the turbulent skies.

In Warhammer Fantasy Battle 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 both players roll a D6. The player who rolls highest goes first.

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, then resolves all hand-to-hand combat and so on.