Ok, so I've looked at the rulebook, and the description of ranged says that the card can be used in the ranged skirmish phase of the first combat round, and that's about it. Now, say for arguments sake, I am the non-initiative player, but have the ONLY ranged unit in the battle, do I get to go first? It certainly seems as though this would be the case.

Sorry for questions, but I'm new to this

Yes you would go first during the Ranged skirmish if your opponent has no Ranged units to use with his initiative advantage.

Thanks, looking closer at the combat steps in the rules guide also mentions it. In effect, the player with initiative will have "passed" on this step as he wouldn't have any ranged units.

Exactly.