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In the core rules the fight phase starts with "with the player whose turn is not taking place". So if an enemy charges a unit of mine that has some "fight first" type ability then I will get to attack with it first.

However the designer's commentary says "In practice then, it is best to think of the Fight phase as being made up of three separate steps, as follows" and that the first step has "players alternate selecting eligible ‘fights first’ units to fight with, one at a time, starting with the player whose turn is taking place." Under those rules if my "fight first" unit is charged by the enemy then they enemy will get to fight first, and indeed that's what the example in the commentary shows.

So does the designer's commentary replace the core rules? It seems like that's the intention, but it doesn't actually state that this new three step system replaces what came before. How are tournaments handling this?

The commentary is here:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/OQ1TeUZ6hxw5jp1e.pdf

Traditionally the Designers' comments are meant to explain the Designers' thought process as to how the rule was meant to be used or to expand upon some point that might be seen as ambiguous. In this case it's an actual RAI explanation. It is where a person can actually point out what a designer meant when he wrote that particular rule or set of rules.

As to how much weight it should be given in any dispute my feeling is that it should be considered at the "expert" level. To me, it's obvious that what the designer meant to say should be taken as the end of the argument. Sometimes, a person writes one thing but due to nuances meant another or didn't write the rule as clearly as they should have.

Also, the rules for Fight First in the Rare Rules section clearly outline how to handle things with both players have units that can Fight First. The first attack when to the player who's turn it is, even before they added additional clarifications via the Errata and Design Commentary documents.

But yes, the Design Commentary is an official rules source and overrides other documents since it is an attempt to put you into the mind of the rules writer when interpreting a rule.

Not to mention that it has specifically been known that the person who charged gets to fight first for a long time now.

They recently changed how fights first and fights last rules interact, but the core rules of the edition still apply.

If I charged you, every unit i charge with gains fight first and will alternate with your fights first units, but I still get to actually fight first, since I charged.

The only ability that gets around that is Custodes Stooping Dive stratagem, since it specifically states that the unit using the strat fights before anyone else.

Even that can be stopped though, as if you give the diving unit a fights last debuff, it is reduced to the normal fight initiative.

The designers commentary didn't change anything that was exactly how it was played before the comentry.

The Designers' Commentary doesn't actually contradict the core rules - see "Always Fight First/Last" in the Rare Rules section of the rulebook. It has always been the case that if both players have units under the effects of an ability that makes it fight first/last, then the player whose turn it is activates the first one.

 Cheex wrote:
The Designers' Commentary doesn't actually contradict the core rules - see "Always Fight First/Last" in the Rare Rules section of the rulebook. It has always been the case that if both players have units under the effects of an ability that makes it fight first/last, then the player whose turn it is activates the first one.

That's the conclusion that I've come to. I was taking the rules for the fight phase in too much isolation and didn't really take in the addition stuff in the rare rules section.

Thanks for all the help on this. Getting back into 9th after the lockdowns is being a challenge...

Design commentary never changed the rules IIRC - they were always RAI explanations of the RAW.

Sometimes, designer's commentary also included minor rules change (typically limited to grammar), but to date, it has not been used to 'justify' the change in rules.