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OK. WHFB and 40K generally work at being balanced, but the first turn is still a big advantage. You can alpha-strike and get to objectives first.

Fluff-wise, I wonder if we could allow armies to trade off the first turn and sacrifice the ability to use certain units. If your general wants to start unexpectedly, he runs the risk of leaving some of his army behind. Furthermore, some armies might choose to go second, to allow them a last-minute charge and objective grab.

So, a proposed way of determining first turn:

After deployment, both players secretly write down a number between 1 and 6, then reveal them.

The player with the highest number takes the first turn. If both numbers are identical, they roll off.

The player who takes the first turn must roll to see whether his units are ready for the sudden start to the battle. Roll a d6 at the beginning of the turn for each unit. If the result equals or beats the number declared, that unit may be used as normal.

If the result is less than the declared number, the unit may not make any moves except to flee, may not make any shooting attacks except to stand and shoot, and may not cast any magical spells for that player turn.

Passive effects, such as magic resistance, army standards, general’s leadership, still work as normal.

After the first player turn, the game continues as normal. Note that the second player moves all of his or her units without needing to roll the dice.

Any special rules that affect the dice roll to see who starts/deploys first (re-rolls, forced rerolls and modifiers) may instead be applied to a single dice roll to see if a unit is activated.


So, an orc or skaven player might risk it with a high number, to get some early attacks in, and reflect the way they play. A dwarf or empire player might go for a low number, but would benefit from the fact that some of the enemy units would probably forfeit the first turn. If both players pick a 1, then it's a normal roll-off

Any comments? Done before?

An interesting idea, but I think has the potential to end up with one army being stuck doing nothing for an entire turn while the player that bid lowest has full control of the board if the high bidder rolls poorly.


I think something that simply limits destructive potential for that crucial first turn if you win the initiative might be a better idea.

Something like;

[Hastily Prepared]
To determine who takes the first turn, both players roll a d6. The player who rolls the highest may choose to go either first or second. If they choose to go first, that player must roll a d6 for each of his units that are deployed on the board. On a 4+, the unit may act as normal. On a 1-3, that unit was not fully prepared to enter the battle. A unit thus affected may not march on the first turn and is at a further -1 to-hit for shooting attacks. War Machines that roll the scatter die add +1 to the number of inches they scatter. War Machines that do not scatter, but do roll the artillery die does not fire on a result of "2" on the artillery die (will suffer misfires as normal if they roll a misfire). War Machines that do not roll the artillery die nor scatter die suffer the -1 to-hit with their shooting attacks and -1 to-hit with any close combat attacks.

This was a scenario that featured in White Dwarf (can't remeber which) as part of a Battlefield Challenges article. The scenario was called Forced March. The special rule in the scenario was exactly what you've suggested i think: Each player puts a die, with a certain number face up, under a cup (or similar) before deployment players reveal their number. The player with the highest number goes first, in the resullt of a draw, roll off. Each player must roll a D6 for each of their units if the result is lower than the number they chose at the beggining of the game the unit must be held in reserve and will come on at the start of game turn 2 as if it had pursued an enemy off the board.

It was something like that, though there may have been a dice roll to see if the unit came on on turn 2 or not.

It was designed to be a scenario with a very important tactical descision at the start of the game. I've played this scenario before and it's quite hard to decide what number to choose, though i normally go with 4.

doctorludo wrote:So, a proposed way of determining first turn:

After deployment, both players secretly write down a number between 1 and 6, then reveal them.

The player with the highest number takes the first turn. If both numbers are identical, they roll off.

The player who takes the first turn must roll to see whether his units are ready for the sudden start to the battle. Roll a d6 at the beginning of the turn for each unit. If the result equals or beats the number declared, that unit may be used as normal.

If the result is less than the declared number, the unit may not make any moves except to flee, may not make any shooting attacks except to stand and shoot, and may not cast any magical spells for that player turn.

I would take a gunline army, then choose '6'. Almost all my units would fail their rolls, and I wouldn't care, as I'd just be standing and shooting with all of them anyway. My opponent wouldn't dare risk matching my number, because he'd have almost all his units failing their first turn.



I'd rather that an army can elect to attack early, if it wants. Each player would make this decision secretly. If only player elects to attack early they automatically go first. If both or neither player elects to attack early, they roll off for first turn as normal.

However, if you elect to attack early there is a chance of confusion in the ranks. Roll a D6 for every unit, on a 1 that unit cannot move or fire in the first turn. Note that this confusion applies to any army that attempted to attack early... it could possibly apply to an army that elected to attack early, found the enemy did as well, lost the roll and ended up acting second.

Has the priority determination changed in WHFB?
Not got the new rulebook yet

Personally I prefer a roll for every turn.
Also do you have to go first if you win priority?
afaik you don't but could well be wrong.

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Has the priority determination changed in WHFB?
Not got the new rulebook yet

Personally I prefer a roll for every turn.
Also do you have to go first if you win priority?
afaik you don't but could well be wrong.

It differs for different scenario's, so for instance sometimes one player has to go first because they do not control a vital building, whereas other times the player that deploys first usually gets the first turn.