Timing

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Beware, gentle reader, for you have stumbled upon an article hidden within The Vaults. These dim and dusty halls are a resting place for articles that are seldom read, seldom updated, and sometimes woefully obsolete. Plus, you know, all the other junk we can't find a better place for.

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This article is intended to be a reference article, not a teaching article.

Game Setup

(Based on the 2019 Steamroller rules and associated Infernal Rulings)

1. Choose a scenario
2. Set up the terrain so that it doesn't block off the scenario. Do not place terrain from theme benefits yet.
   Note that, in an official tournament, the organiser chooses the scenario and places terrain - therefore do not shift terrain around without the TO's permission.
3. View each others lists, secretly choose one of your own, and then simultaneously reveal your choice.
4. Choose what objective you'll use.
5. Roll to determine player priority
   • The player that wins the roll gets to choose whether to go first or second.
   • The second player always gets to choose which side of the table they deploy on.
6. Start the clock.
7. Resolve any "before the game begins" abilities (such as a Grymkin player choosing their Arcana, placing terrain from a theme benefit, declaring Ambush etc)
8. Start deploying models.
9. Resolve any "after deployment, before the game begins" abilities (such as Prey)

Game Ending

(Based on the 2019 Steamroller rules and associated Infernal Rulings)

In a one-off game the winner is the winner (1st tiebreaker), but in a tournament you need to track secondary win conditions to determine tie-breakers. Depending on how the game was won, scoring the scenario (2nd tiebreaker) can vary a little bit:

• Scenario - If one player wins on scenario, there is no need to do more scenario scoring.
• Assassination - After one player is assassinated, do a final round of scenario scoring. Note that the assassinated player has inert warjacks, wild warbeasts, and RFP'd horrors - none of which can control or contest scenario elements.
• Deathclock during your own turn - If your clock runs out in your own turn, and an immediate scenario scoring would lead to you winning on scenario (up by 5 points), then you win on scenario. Otherwise you lose - your warcaster/warlock/infernal master is destroyed and the game is scored just like an Assassination.
• Deathclock during enemy turn - If your clock runs out during the opponent's turn (they changed clock to you while you did a free strike, marked damage, made a countercharge, etc) then you lose. Your warcaster/warlock/infernal master is destroyed and the game is scored just like an Assassination.

After scenario scoring, you also score Army Points Destroyed (3rd tie-breaker) and then finally Army Points at Scenario Elements (4th tie-breaker).

Game Round

Maintenance Phase

1. Clear tokens
   • Remove all focus points from your warjacks.
   • Remove all focus points in excess of the FOCUS stat for each of your models with the Focus Manipulation special rule.
   • Remove all fury points in excess of the FURY stat for each of your models with the Fury Manipulation rule.
   • Leave fury points on warbeasts at this time.
2. Resolve Fire and Corrosion
3. Resolve all other effects that occur during the Maintenance Phase.

Control Phase

1. Warlocks Leech & Warcasters Replenish
2. Warlocks Spirit Bond (with dead warbeasts)
3. Warjacks Power Up
4. Warcasters Allocate
5. Pay for upkeeps
6. Do frenzy checks
7. All other effects

Activation Phase

The Activation Phase is the major portion of a player’s turn.

• All models you control must be activated once per turn.
  • This is usually done during the Activation Phase, but some effects allow a model to activate earlier in the turn (ie a warbeast which Frenzies).
• Units and independent models are activated one at a time in the order you choose.
• A model cannot forfeit its activation unless allowed to do so by a special rule
• A model must be on the table to activate.

Frenzy & Threshold

From the 2020.02 edition of the core rules.

Tapping into the primal energies of vicious warbeasts is not without risks. The fury accumulated by a warbeast can potentially send it into a blind rage, causing it to frenzy. During your Control Phase, after your warlocks have leeched fury from their warbeasts and spent fury to upkeep their spells, each of your warbeasts with 1 or more fury points remaining on it must make a successful threshold check or frenzy. To make a threshold check, roll 2d6 and add 1 to the roll for each fury point on the warbeast. If the roll exceeds the warbeast’s current Threshold (THR) stat, it fails and frenzies.

EXAMPLE: During his Control Phase, Jack makes a threshold check for his Dire Troll Blitzer, which has 3 fury points on it. Jack rolls 2d6 and adds 3 to the roll for the Dire Troll Blitzer’s fury points. He then compares the result to the Blitzer’s THR of 9. If Jack rolls 6 or less (the Blitzer’s THR of 9 – 3 fury points = 6), the Blitzer passes the threshold check and nothing happens. If he rolls 7 or more, the Dire Troll Blitzer frenzies because the result exceeds its THR.

When a model frenzies:

1. It immediately activates.
2. Without being forced, it automatically shakes knockdown, stationary, and any other effects that can be shaken. A frenzied warbeast also ignores effects that would cause it to forfeit its Normal Movement or Combat Action during an activation in which it frenzies.
3. It immediately charges directly toward the closest model in its line of sight without being forced, even if the closest model is a friendly model. The frenzied warbeast cannot voluntarily stop its movement before contacting its charge target.
4. It makes one attack against the model it charged with the highest-POW melee weapon that has range to the target. The attack roll is automatically boosted. If the warbeast moved at least 3˝ during the charge, the attack is a charge attack and its damage roll is boosted. A frenzied warbeast cannot make Assault ranged attacks or additional attacks.
5. At the end of the warbeast’s frenzy activation, it is no longer frenzied and you can remove any number of fury points from it.

If two or more models are closest to the warbeast when it frenzies, randomly determine which of those models it charges.

Because a frenzied warbeast activates in the Control Phase, it cannot activate during its controller’s Activation Phase that turn. During the frenzy activation, a frenzied warbeast can only take its Normal Movement and Combat Action as described above. It cannot be forced, cast its animus, make special actions, and so on. If a frenzied warbeast cannot immediately activate or if it cannot charge, it loses its activation and is no longer frenzied, and you can remove any number of fury points from it.

Rules Clarification Frenzy (Edit) You cannot trigger optional abilities (such as Cleave or Sprint). (Infernal Ruling) You must trigger compulsory abilities (such as Consume) ... except for compulsory abilities that also generate an extra attack (such as Berserk). In that case, you don't get the Berserk attack. (Infernal Ruling) A warbeast may not make an Assault shot as part of a Frenzy activation. If the closest target to a warbeast resolving a Frenzy cannot be charged, then the warbeast will forfeit movement and action (as per the rules of having to charge and not being able to). (Infernal Ruling) If a frenzying warbeast can't reach its charge target (because the charge lane is blocked by terrain, etc) then it will make a failed charge and end its activation. (Locked thread) If a frenzying warbeast has two melee weapons with the same POW, it can choose which one to use. (Infernal Ruling)

Disabled Boxed Destroyed

Refer to Step 10 of the #Attack Sequence below, or the basic training article 101 - Disabled Boxed Destroyed.

Appendix A - Timing Charts

Activation Sequence

1. Resolve effects that occur at the start of activation, including the unit commander issuing an order to its unit.
2. Resolve all required forfeitures of Normal Movement and Combat Action. You cannot use “at any time” abilities or forfeit your Normal Movement or Combat Action voluntarily before this step is resolved.
3. Resolve effects that occur before Normal Movement.
4. The model makes its Normal Movement.
5. Resolve effects that occur at the end of Normal Movement.
6. If activating a unit, repeat steps 4 and 5 for each trooper, then resolve effects that occur at the end of the unit’s Normal Movement.
7. The model makes its Combat Action.
8. Resolve effects that occur at the end of a model’s Combat Action.
9. If activating a unit, repeat steps 7 and 8 for each trooper, then resolve effects that occur at the end of the unit’s Combat Action.

Spell-casting Sequence

Models cannot use “at any time” abilities while resolving the spellcasting sequence or while resolving triggered effects.

1. Declare the spell being used and pay its COST (by spending focus or fury, being forced to use an animus, using the model's combat action to perform a special action, etc.).
2. Declare the spell’s target.
3. Resolve effects that occur when a model is targeted by a spell.
4. If the spell is not an Offensive spell, check the range to the target. If the target is in range, it is affected by the spell. If the spell is an Offensive spell, resolve the spell using the Attack Sequence timing beginning with "Check range to the target."
5. If the spell is not an Offensive spell, the spell is now resolved. If the spell is an Offensive spell, it is resolved when you reach "The attack is now resolved" during the Attack Sequence timing.

Attack Sequence

From the 2020.02 version of the core rules

Models cannot use “at any time” abilities while resolving the attack sequence or while resolving triggered effects, including between new attacks triggered by the previous attack.

Target

1. Declare the attack and its target.
2. Resolve effects that occur when a model is targeted by an attack.
3. Check the range to the target. If the target is out of range, the attack automatically misses; do not make any attack rolls, and go to step 6.
4. Resolve effects that cause an attack to hit or miss automatically.
   
   Attack Roll
5. Make all attack rolls as dictated by the type of attack and its special rules. For example, a spray attack or Thresher special attack must go through the attack roll sequence for each model potentially hit before proceeding to step 6.

Resolve effects that change the number of dice rolled, such as boosting the roll.

Roll the dice.

Resolve effects that remove dice from the roll.

Determine if the model would be hit or missed by the attack roll against it.

Resolve effects that cause the attack roll to be rerolled. Return to step b if needed. When returning to step b, add all dice removed in step c back to the roll.

6. Resolve effects that cause the attack to automatically hit a model other than the target.
7. Resolve the AOE hit or deviation. All models within the AOE at its final position are now hit by it.
8. Resolve all other effects triggered by hitting or missing.
   
   Damage Roll
9. Make all damage rolls resulting from the attack.

Resolve effects that change the number of dice rolled, such as boosting the roll.

Roll the dice.

Resolve effects that remove dice from the roll.

Determine if the roll would damage the model.

Resolve effects that cause the damage roll to be rerolled. Return to step b if needed. When returning to step b, add all dice removed in step c back to the roll.

Resolve effects triggered by a damage roll that fails to exceed the ARM of a model hit.

Resolve effects that trigger when a model “would suffer damage” such as damage transference.

Damage Application
10. Apply all damage. If an attack damaged more than one model, choose one model, follow the damage application sequence below, then repeat for each other damaged model.

Resolve effects triggered by a model suffering damage.

If all of a model’s damage boxes are marked, the model is disabled. Resolve effects triggered by the model becoming disabled.

If the model is still disabled, it becomes boxed. Resolve effects triggered by the model becoming boxed.

If the model is still boxed, it is destroyed. Resolved effects triggered by a model being destroyed.

Remove the destroyed model from the table, then return to the main sequence.

Resolution
11. The attack is now resolved.
12. Resolve active player effects that trigger “after the attack is resolved” that do not involve making another attack.
13. Resolve all inactive player effects that trigger “after the attack is resolved.”
14. Resolve active player effects that trigger “after the attack is resolved” that involve making an attack.