A look at the phases of the game in detail phase 1:

In each round of the game there are six phases.  Players complete each phase at the same time before moving onto another phase.
The six phases are:
1) Acquire magic and select the lead player
2)Add cards to your spell book
3)Play Mages
4)Battle
5)Check for victory conditions

Phase one is the topic of this entry.  Acquiring magic is done by counting up how much magic you are in control of.  Each land is worth a certain amount of magic.  Villages are worth 2 each, Cities are worth 3 each, Castles are worth 4 each and a Tower earns you 4 magic each.  In addition to this for each seat you hold on the council you gain an additional 2 magic.  You take the amount of magic you are in control of from the bank at this time.  All players complete this at the same time.
Players now roll a die.  Whoever rolls highest becomes the lead player for the round.  The lead player breaks ties and makes decisions when there are disputes.  You may only be the lead player for one round.  Then you can not qualify for rolling again until all other players have had the chance to be a lead player.

More to come.........