In previous game I had a Great Wolf to buff my troops. The Wolf acted first in all battles until I made some high-Initiative-Henchmen. This annoyed me as I wanted the Wolf to also buff the first round of attacks from the Henchmen. I tried stripping the Henchmen of Initiative-equipment but still had problems.
If I remember correctly (not 100% but almost), the final result was a Wolf with 27 Initi and Henchman with 26 Init (which was checked before the battle, not inside a battle). And STILL the Henchmen acted before the Wolf.
Shouldn't the highets Init troop always act first? Is there a random element to who-goes-first? Or what did I miss? Are some Init-spells/buffs only applied first thing inside tactical battle (and thereby not visible outside combat)?
I played Altarian and faction had Quick (+1 Initiative).