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As I read other threads and battle reports, I have a strong sense that there are pretty clear guidelines on whether or not to want the first turn. At least people have pretty strong opinions about what they'd prefer, saying things like "unfortunately, I went second" or "critically, I got first turn," but it's also clear that first turn isn't always best. I'm wondering what kind of calculus around your army, your opponent's, the board, and the scenario goes into these sort of preferences. Anyone have any universal guidelines or useful thought processes around turn preference?

very much scenario.
when playing to kill points you want to go first. When playing to objectives, you generally want to to second unless you are playing maelstrom.

the reason for going first is literally first strike.
the reason for going second is so that your opponent cannot react to you taking the objective on the last turn, where the final holder gets the points.

Short answer: it depends.

Longer answer: in standard (non-Maelstrom) book missions, you usually want to go second for the last say on objectives. If your units are ObSec, but your opponents aren't, this isn't as critical. If your opponent's units are ObSec, and yours aren't, it's vital to go second. In a Maelstrom game, going first is usually better, because objectives get scored at the end of your turn and it gives you more of an opportunity for an alpha strike and First Blood. In a game using Kill Points, going first is often preferred (again, for the alpha strike).

Army composition can also factor into this. If your opponents army is heavily psychic dependent, it's great to go first and do as much damage as you can before Invisibility or other psychic buffs come up. If your opponent is heavily assault, you want to shoot him up before he gets to charge. If you're both heavily assault, it might be better to go second and try to get your opponent to close in before you attempt any charges - but not if your opponent's army is better at assault than yours. It might also be better to move up into cover and force him to charge through terrain before he gets to move.

Lots of different variables play into it, really, but in most cases it will come down to the mission.

A very specific example, but against Necrons, I usually try to go second. That's because most Necron weapons have a range of 24 inches or less; therefor, by deploying 6 inches back into my deployment zone I can make my oppontent waste a full turn of shooting while he closes in.

I play speed freaks with a hoard mentality; lots of vehicles packed to the gills with boys, lots of bikes, lots of klaws, and NEVER only one of something. I actually like going second against anything but a gunline. MOST armies have a 24" standard weapon (bolters, gauss rifles, etc), so it's beneficial for those armies to move forward to get into range, even if you deploy right on the line. They move 5" or 6", and then I blast up the board a full 12" (6 in trukks + 6" disembark) and suddenly I'm well within charge range. I'll lose a trukk or a couple of bikes, but in the long run it's a worthy sacrifice.

Generally, if you can weather the opponent's first turn of shooting (or you yourself would not have a strong alpha strike) then you will want to go second because it benefits you to be able to have the last say on objectives at the end of the game (if you are playing a mission that has end-game objectives).

If you're playing pure maelstrom where you score on the player turn, there is literally no incentive to go second. Unless you're playing against a null deployment army. But even then, sometimes gaining board control can be worth it.

One other reason why it might situationally be beneficial to go first is if your opponent has a large amount of psychic defense, where you want to do as much damage as possible before they get their powers off. This also applies to seizing the initiative. Sometimes you can get people caught with their pants down if you get a lucky seize. (Example: flying hive tyrants deployed aggressively on the ground because they assume they're going first and will start flying).


But truly, as has been said, these things are so situational. If you want, the best way to learn might be through experience, which many of us have in spades. Post your list, the opponent's list and the mission and we can tell you if you want to go first or not and why.