At the start of every battle round after the first, both players roll a dice and the winner chooses who takes the first turn. If the player who went second last round wins and chooses to go first, they get two turns in a row: the famous double turn. In matched play under the General’s Handbook 2026-27, doing that is called seizing the initiative, and it comes with a price: you can’t complete battle tactics that turn, and your opponent becomes the underdog.
That’s the whole system in a nutshell. The rest of this guide explains each step, shows some worked examples and covers how to plan around the double turn.
Quick reference
| Question | Answer (current rules) |
|---|---|
| Who goes first in round 1? | The player who finished setting up their army first decides, unless the battlepack or battleplan says otherwise |
| Who goes first in later rounds? | Both players roll off (the priority roll). The winner decides |
| What if the priority roll is a tie? | The player who went first in the previous round decides |
| What is a double turn? | Going second in one round and first in the next, so you take two turns back to back |
| What is seizing the initiative? | The matched play name for taking a double turn (General’s Handbook 2026-27) |
| Penalty for seizing | No battle tactics that turn, and your opponent counts as the underdog until they seize back |
| Exception | It doesn’t count as seizing if your opponent leads by 11 or more victory points |
| Who is the underdog? | The player with fewer victory points. If scores are tied, nobody is |
| Command points | 4 each per battle round, plus 1 extra for the underdog |
| Re-roll | Having more regiments than your opponent lets you re-roll your priority roll once per battle |
The core rules come from the current Age of Sigmar Core Rules (4th edition, with the 2026-27 updates), and the seizing-the-initiative rules come from the General’s Handbook 2026-27, the matched play battlepack for this season. If you’re brand new, read our how to play Age of Sigmar guide first.
How a battle round works
A game of Age of Sigmar is split into battle rounds. In each battle round, both players take one turn. In matched play using the General’s Handbook 2026-27, a battle lasts five battle rounds.
At the start of each battle round, three things happen in order:
- Decide who goes first. In round 1 that’s set by deployment. From round 2 onwards it’s the priority roll.
- Work out the underdog. The player with fewer victory points is the underdog for that round.
- Use start-of-round abilities. The player taking the first turn uses theirs first, then their opponent.
Command points are handed out at the start of the round too, after the underdog has been decided. Our Age of Sigmar commands explained guide covers what you spend them on.
The first battle round
There’s no priority roll in round 1. Instead, the player who finished setting up their army first chooses who takes the first turn, unless your battlepack or battleplan has its own rule. The core rules count you as “finished” once all the units in your army have been deployed.
This is why army size matters. An army with fewer units to put down often finishes deploying first, which gives that player the choice in round 1.
The priority roll (round 2 onwards)
From the second battle round onwards, both players roll off. Whoever rolls higher chooses who takes the first turn. You don’t have to go first just because you won. If the roll is a tie, the player who went first in the previous round makes the choice.
Whoever takes a turn, first or second, is the “active player” for that turn.
Regimented Forces: a once-per-battle re-roll
The current army composition rules include Regimented Forces. If you have more regiments than your opponent at the start of the battle, you can re-roll your priority roll once per battle. You decide after both dice have been rolled, before priority is settled for that round. It’s a small reward for building an army out of several regiments rather than one or two big ones.
What is a double turn?
A double turn happens when the player who went second in one round goes first in the next. Their last turn of round 1 is followed straight away by their first turn of round 2, so they get two turns before their opponent can act again.
That means two movement phases, two shooting phases and two charge phases in a row. A unit that charged at the end of one round can fight again almost immediately, and a fast army can reach parts of the table the opponent thought were safe.
It’s one of the most debated parts of Age of Sigmar, and it’s the main reason experienced players always ask “what happens if they get the double?” before making a move.
Seizing the initiative (matched play)
In the General’s Handbook 2026-27, taking a double turn has a name and a cost. If the player who went second in the previous round wins the priority roll and chooses to go first, they seize the initiative. When you seize the initiative:
- You can’t complete any battle tactics in that turn. You give up the chance of scoring them (see our Age of Sigmar battle tactics guide).
- Your opponent becomes the underdog, and stays the underdog until they seize the initiative themselves. This replaces the normal “fewest victory points” check.
There’s one exception. If your opponent is ahead by 11 or more victory points, going first doesn’t count as seizing the initiative. A player who is well behind can take the double turn without the penalty.
The underdog
Normally, the underdog is simply the player with fewer victory points at the start of the battle round. If the scores are level, as they always are in round 1, there’s no underdog unless a rule says otherwise.
Being the underdog matters because:
- You get an extra command point. Each player gains 4 CP at the start of each battle round, and the underdog gains 1 more. Unused CP are lost at the end of the round.
- Some battleplans give the underdog special abilities. Several General’s Handbook 2026-27 battleplans have rules that only the underdog can use.
Once someone has seized the initiative, the underdog stops depending on the score. Their opponent stays the underdog, even if that opponent is winning, until that opponent seizes the initiative back.
Other ways to get extra command points
These aren’t part of the priority roll, but they sit next to it at the start of the round:
| Source | Extra CP |
|---|---|
| Underdog | +1 each battle round you’re the underdog |
| Fewer auxiliary units than your opponent | +1 each battle round (nobody gets it if you have the same number) |
| Army 50+ points under the points limit | +1 in the first battle round only |
Worked examples
Example 1: a normal round
Anna goes first in round 1, and Ben goes second. At the start of round 2, Anna has 10 VP and Ben has 6 VP. They roll off: Anna rolls a 5, Ben a 2. Anna chooses to go first again. Ben has fewer VP, so he’s the underdog and gets 5 CP to Anna’s 4. Nobody seized the initiative, because Anna went first last round too.
Example 2: seizing the initiative
Same game, round 3. Anna went first in round 2, so Ben went second. Ben wins the priority roll and chooses to go first. He seizes the initiative: he takes two turns in a row (his round 2 turn, then his round 3 turn). He can’t complete any battle tactics in his round 3 turn, and Anna counts as the underdog until she seizes the initiative herself. That holds even if Anna is ahead on points.
Example 3: the comeback exception
In round 4, Ben went first in round 3, so Anna went second. Ben now leads by 12 VP. Anna wins the roll and chooses to go first. Because Ben leads by 11 or more, this doesn’t count as seizing. Anna gets her double turn and can still complete battle tactics.
Example 4: a tied roll
At the start of round 5, both players roll a 4. The tie goes to whoever went first in round 4, and that player chooses.
How to play around the double turn
- Always ask “what if they go twice?” Before you commit a key unit, check whether it would survive two enemy turns in a row.
- Screen your important units. Cheap units placed in front of your heroes and war machines make it harder for a double turn to reach them.
- Think hard before taking a double turn. It’s powerful, but you lose your battle tactics for that turn and hand your opponent the underdog command point for the rest of the game, or until they seize back.
- Going second isn’t always bad. If you go second, you see your opponent’s moves first and score your objectives with the latest information.
- Track who went first each round. It decides ties and whether a double turn counts as seizing, so jot it down on a notepad or your game tracker.
Common mistakes
- Rolling for priority in round 1. There’s no roll in round 1. The player who finished deploying first decides.
- Thinking the winner must go first. The winner chooses, and that can include making the opponent go first.
- Giving the underdog bonus on a tie. If scores are level, there’s no underdog unless a rule says otherwise.
- Forgetting the seizing penalty. In matched play, the player who seizes the initiative can’t complete battle tactics that turn.
- Using the old double-turn rules. Earlier editions handled turn order and command points differently. Check that you’re reading the current Core Rules and General’s Handbook 2026-27.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get a double turn in Age of Sigmar?
Yes. If you go second in one battle round and then win the priority roll and choose to go first in the next, you take two turns in a row. In matched play this is called seizing the initiative.
What happens if the priority roll is a tie?
The player who took the first turn in the previous battle round decides who goes first.
Does the underdog get an extra command point?
Yes. Each player gets 4 command points per battle round, and the underdog gets 1 extra. If both players have the same victory points, there’s no underdog and nobody gets the bonus.
Can I score battle tactics on a double turn?
Not if you seized the initiative. The General’s Handbook 2026-27 says a player who seizes the initiative can’t complete battle tactics in that turn. The exception is when your opponent leads by 11 or more victory points, because going first then doesn’t count as seizing.
Do Spearhead games use the same priority rules?
Spearhead is its own game mode with its own rules, so check the Spearhead rules for your box. Our Age of Sigmar Spearhead guide explains how that format works.
Has Age of Sigmar always had a double turn?
Yes. The roll-off to decide who goes first each battle round has been part of Age of Sigmar since the game launched in 2015, so the double turn has always been possible. What has changed over the editions is how it is balanced, and in the current General’s Handbook 2026-27 the cost is losing battle tactics that turn and handing your opponent the underdog bonus.
Does the seizing-the-initiative penalty apply in casual games?
Only if you are using the General’s Handbook 2026-27 battlepack. Seizing the initiative and its penalties are matched play rules, so a game played with just the core rules or another battlepack still has the priority roll and double turns, but no battle tactic penalty and no locked underdog unless that battlepack adds its own rule. Agree which battlepack you are using before the game.