Players sometimes ask how long a time is represented by a single turn of play. Does a turn last for hours or does it represent a few minutes? Warhammer has been designed as a game, so events which might realistically last for hours have been compacted into a shorter time though with the same overall results.

A real battle might last for most of a day, whilst a Warhammer game will typically last for 5 or 6 turns on each side. We presume that these 5 or 6 turns represent the passage of about the same number of hours or perhaps slightly longer.

Of course, in reality a warrior can shoot more than 5 or 6 times in that many hours, he can move much further, and so forth. However, we compact events together and cut out all the time spent in inactivity. In a real battle troops stand idle for much of the time, only moving into action when required, and then expending much of their energy all at once.

If you like, think of a Warhammer turn as a short period of activity together with longer periods of idleness, waiting for orders, resting, and so forth. Similarly, just as one model stands for many, so an arrow or crossbow bolt might be thought of as representing a whole shower of missiles fired by shooters who have limited supplies of missiles, and who would soon become tired by repeated firing.