In Mordheim you are in a charge of a warband and your opponent is in charge of another.

The warriors and scenery in the game are set up on the tabletop in a way that is appropriate for the encounter you are fighting. Do not worry about this for now as these things will be explained in full in the Scenarios section.

To play, one side takes a turn, then the other side, then the original side and so on, much like in a game of draughts or chess. When it is your turn, you may move all your models, shoot with any warriors able to do so, and fight in hand-to-hand combat. Once your turn is complete, it is your opponent's turn to move, shoot and fight.

To keep track of who is doing what and when, each turn is split into four phases. This is called the Turn sequence.

During the recovery phase you may attempt to rally individuals who have lost their nerve and recover models that are knocked down or stunned.

During the movement phase you may move the warriors of your warband according to the rules given in the Movement section.

In the shooting phase you may shoot with any appropriate weapons as described in the rules for shooting.

During the hand-to-hand combat phase all models in hand-to-hand combat may fight. Note that both sides fight in the hand-to-hand combat phase, regardless of whose turn it is.

During the recovery phase you may attempt to rally any of your models who have lost their nerve (see the Recovery Phase rules). To take a Rally test, roll 2D6. If the score is equal to or less than the model's Leadership value the model stops fleeing and has rallied; turn it to face in any direction you wish. The model cannot move or shoot for the rest of the turn, but models able to do so can cast spells. If the test is failed, the model will continue to flee towards the closest table edge.

Note that a model cannot rally if the closest model to him is an enemy model (fleeing, stunned, knocked down and hidden models are not taken into consideration for this).

During the recovery phase, warriors in your warband who have been stunned become knocked down instead and warriors who have been knocked down may stand up (see the Injuries section).