I've come up with a not so innovative method of approaching combat turns and player order.

From what little i know of Warhammer FB, it looks a bit like their games (but without the morale checks thus far).

I'm hoping this will help break up combat into smaller chunks (since i've played AD&D and found combat to be a little grindingly slow at times due to the number of players/monsters involved), i was hoping by segmenting combat into phases it would help it move at a faster pace. Also, this should place greater emphasis on the different combat roles people play while not exploding in complexity to a full-on tactical boardgame. I'm trying to get away from grids and rulers and down to very simple, fast paced tactical decisions, some inspiration was drawn from oldschool JRPGs like Final Fantasy and its kind, where you have a front row and a back row. Even though these old games didn't have movement, there were certain tactical decisions to be made, like not putting your squishy healer on the front row, attacking sooner or waiting till near the end of the round to cast a spell. Also, by putting magic at the end of the turn order, we don't run into the problem of healing someone who needed it less than someone else at the expense of not being able to heal just any time.

I do still allow for individual movement, and that could be done on a grid or ruler, but i'm also toying with the idea of area based movement. With area based movement, you divide the battlefield into sections, maybe four quadrants, and any movement within the quadrant you are in is a free action (you may move once per turn before taking an action after the form ranks/move turn has passed). However, moving from one quadrant to another takes place during the form ranks/move turn, and is the only time during the round that you may move between quadrants. A quadrant may be drawn on a sheet of paper, on a dry erase board, using chunks of scenery, or using dungeon tiles where each room-sized tile or hallway is a separate quadrant.

EDIT: the problem i see here is that it could be very confusing to keep track of not one but two movement opportunities and their respective application.

Combat Order:
1. Surprise/Initiative
2. Form Ranks/Move
3. Shoot
4. Melee
5. Magic

Surprise/Initiative
   The players may try to surprise their target, thereby getting a full round before the opponent may retaliate. However, certain circumstances may lead to the enemy seeing the heroes first, and they may attempt to gain the element of surprise themselves. If the enemy surprises the heroes, they form ranks first and get a full round before the players may retaliate. If both sides see each other coming, e.g. in a tournament, roll for initiative to see which side acts first each turn. You need only roll for initiative once per encounter. Whichever side has the element of surprise has already won initiative and always acts first. If combat has already engaged, skip this turn. In the successive turns, whichever side won the element of surprise/initiative always acts first in turn followed by the opposing side before moving on to the next turn. Each player may roll for surprise/initiative separately, allowing only the highest roll to determine whether the heroes succeed or not. Alternatively, the players may designate a party leader who makes such rolls on their behalf. The party leader may be changed at any time between encounters.

Form Ranks
   Assuming the players see their opponents ahead of time, they may form ranks: Front Row and Back Row. Those on the front row of the formation receive the brunt of the attacks and damage, protecting the back row. Those on the back row may not be engaged in melee assaults til the front row is either disassembled or defeated. Ranged attacks and magic aimed at the back row are penalized -1 per person standing in the front row. Ranged attacks and magic that successfully hit the back row deal half their normal damage before armor mitigation. Note that anyone in a formation will be hit by a spell or explosive device that affects an area wider than a single target, but the back row still receives half damage. If the formation is successfully flanked, then whatever side that is being attacked is treated the same as the front row.
   In addition to forming ranks, during this turn the formation may be reordered, people may enter the formation or leave the formation, and those who have already left the formation may use this turn to maneuver around the battlefield.

EDIT: climbing ladders, stairs, jumping on/over/from obstacles all count as a standard move action, not a free one. Basically any action that changes your altitude/height advantage.

EDIT:i'd also just thought of an additional tactical element that could work in favor of both the players and the monsters. If a formation has a designated leader, if that leader is in the front row, any offensive action taken by members of the formation, for those actions reliant on an ability the leader has that is a higher score, the member of the formation uses the leader's score rather than their own. For example, a fighter has a magic scroll which he may use to cast a spell, but his Intelligence score is lower than that of his leader who is a wizard. Since the spell inscribed on the scroll is an offensive one, he may use the wizard's Int score to help him cast the spell, which also frees the wizard to cast a spell of his own.

Likewise, if the leader is in the back row, any action taken against a member of the formation, for those defensive actions reliant on an ability the leader has that is a higher score, the leader's score is used instead, even if the leader is not the target of the attack. For example: an archer shoots an arrow at a wizard. The wizard's formation leader has a higher Dexterity score than he, so the leader's Dex score is used to help the wizard defend against the arrow. This might not be something players should consider for their own formations, but GMs might use it for bossfights and such.

Shoot
   Ranged combat is resolved first. If there are multiple Ranged combatants on the same side, they may either decide who goes first by letting the character with the fastest loading weapon shoot first, letting the character with the highest Dexterity score go first and then around the table in descending order, or by going around the table in a clockwise manner.

Melee
   Hand-to-hand combat is resolved next. Note that anyone who made a Ranged attack already may not also engage in Melee combat. If there are multiple Melee combatants on the same side, they may either decide who goes first by letting those with the longest weapons attacking first, or by letting the character with the highest Dexterity score go first and then around the table in descending order, going around the table in a clockwise manner.

Magic
   Magical spells are resolved last. Note that anyone who has made either a Ranged attack or a Melee attack may not also engage in magic spell casting. If there are multiple magic users on the same side, they may either decide who goes first by letting those who have the shortest spell preparation cast first and then around the table in descending order to the slowest, by letting the character whose spell costs the least amount of energy to cast, or by letting the character with the highest Mind score go first and then around the table in descending order, or by going around the table in a clockwise manner.
   Alternatively, magic users who deal in the same kind of magic may act in unison to improve their chances of successfully casting the spell, sharing the energy requirement between them, and increasing the effect of the spell. Doing so forfeits any individual action this turn.

Any thoughts on the topic?

I've revised the rules somewhat, for those who prefer grid based movement i based movement speed on Dexterity/2 round up to nearest whole. That gets you the number of spaces you can move, and i generally treat a square as 5'x5' space.