Managed to get in some quick gaming yesterday. Occasional Tom showed up ready to command a small Guild Pact tasked with destroying the obscene totems erected by the forces of darkness.
A simple party of Initiate-level Hunters, no Hirelings, Companions, or Familiars. Just four Guild members trying to pick up the trail of a lich rumored to be hiding in the region.
Nightwatch players start the campaign as beginner hunters – Initiates– just graduated from their respective academies. If they survive, each one will gain promotions and unlock new skills. But they will also face more dangerous enemies. For now, they’ll confront Vermin level minions and a handful of Horde enemies in the final game turns.
There are three totems that must be destroyed, two flanking the structure, one in the upper level of the abbey itself. These have to be torn down by hand while uttering prayers of exorcism and casting ‘dispel evil’, so melee attacks only. (lobbing grenades or firing arrows won’t do.)
The Hunters come off thier deployment edge while the Minions will spawn at random from two of the four, preset ‘portals’ set around the board. Off to a good start, the Hunters confidently split up to take the objectives on the ground.
Rotting, milky eyed, and ravenous, the reanimated corpses of newly-dead villagers stumble and grope at the Hunters, trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. But the Guild training is more than sufficient to dispatch the rotting undead. The first totem falls.
The Hunters move toward their next objectives.
While Vermin-level enemies are relatively easy to take down, they keep coming, spawning from preset locations at random at the beginning of their phase in the game turn. So the tide of battle can really shift with a couple dice rolls.
The second totem goes down but the enemies are coming fast and furious. Deadlier ones too. The Blade dashes up the crumbling stone steps to the third and final objective. The Mancer readies another spell.
A blast of arcane power below as two powerful blows ring out from the second floor. The last evil icon destroyed. A thunder clap, a rush of pressure like an errant gust of wind, and the remaining foes sag to the ground. The battle is over. The Pact is victorious.
Our Hunters are one step closer to finding the mysterious lich.
***
Early missions in Nightwatch tend to be easy for Hunters. Unless they’re spectacularly unlucky with their Action dice rolls, the Vermin-level enemies are killed swiftly, which means a meager but steady income from bounties. There’s modest treasure and loot to be found and divided among the members after. Not epic, but not too shabby either. A decent start.
Thing is, it’s only going to get more dangerous from here. Mission by mission, as the Hunting party closes in on the final boss, (an Atrocity-level monster) the higher quality Horde and Terror level enemies are mobilized to stop them. It’s going to take every ounce of their skill, intelligence, and cooperation if the Hunters hope to rid the world of the obscene malevolence that is spreading fear and wreaking havoc in their corner of the world.
Good luck and Godspeed, Hunter.
“In tenebris, venari “
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NIGHTWATCH: Terror and Treasure in the Dark Corners of the World is a solo/cooperative table top miniatures war game. It is available as a PDF at WARGAME VAULT and printed at AMAZON.
Thank you.
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