So you’ve read the rules, assembled your glorious army and are even now champing at the bit to unleash a smiting upon your opponent! That being the case, it’s time to set up and play a Warhammer battle.

Two armies, met by chance or purpose, must now battle for supremacy! Who knows what grim deeds have brought them to this bloody ground? Whether they fight for glory, vengeance, justice or the act of slaughter itself matters not. When the sun rises the carnage will begin, and only the elimination of the foe or the fall of night will bring it to an end.

Of course, not all battles are the same – quite the opposite in fact – so we vary certain details, such as deployment and how the winner is determined. Doing this allows us to reflect the particular situation of the clash – classic battlelines, a fight in a mountain pass, the defence of a watchtower, and so on – creating a ‘scenario’ for the game.

The scenarios given on the following few pages represent pitched battles, where the armies are of roughly the same size and the situation gives neither side a particular advantage. They are each designed to give both sides an equal chance of winning, and have few, if any, scenario special rules.

There are two ways that you can choose which pitched battle to use. The first is to pick randomly, by rolling on the Pitched Battle table shown below.

The second method is to discuss the matter with your opponent and agree which battle you both want to fight. This gives the maximum amount of choice and ensures that you don’t end up in a scenario that neither of you wants to play.

Each pitched battle contains the information you need to get set up and playing, broken down into the following categories: The Armies (this will normally be two armies of equal points values, see Choosing Your Army, earlier), The Battlefield, Deployment, First Turn, Game Length, Victory Conditions and Scenario Special Rules. This format governs all Warhammer scenarios – not just the ones found in this volume.