NIGHTWATCH: Branok’s Stairs

We were fortunate to be able to game last Tuesday evening. Tech-Max, Matt the Evil Meme Master, and Other Pat showed up for a quick game of Nightwatch. Adept-level Hunters and two Hirelings were tasked with defending the monument of a long-dead hero. Set in the foothills outside the village of Marren’s Eve, a Mancer, an Alchemist, and two Blades set out to keep the forces of darkness from defiling the site and setting up their own blasphemous icons.

Party added two Ranged combat Hirelings. (decent shots, no good in melee)

Pact surged off the starting line, moving to take the high ground and control the main avenue of approach. Local militia was coming, but they had to keep the statue safe, block those stairs, for seven turns.

The hunters move fast, taking key positions, but the minions start spawning nearby. Nasty fights break out. The Alchemist is pleased he stocked up on grenades and the archers start earning their pay.

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Thing about monsters is they just keep coming. The Hunters do well against the Vermin (ghouls) for the early turns, but Horde-level troops start appearing. And they brought archers.

A hired Archer goes down with a black-fleathered arrow in the back. The clearing at the bottom of the stairs gets crowded.

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Moving into the final stretch, enemy archers take their toll. The hunters fell the vile minions of evil, but start taking wounds. To top that off, Terror-level foes start appearing. Can our heroes hold out?

Moving into the final turn, Branok’s Stairs are clogged with the dead, the undead, and the wounded. The forces of darkness make one final push.

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It’s a damn close thing, but the Hunters hold on. Over the dark treetops comes a blare of trumpets; the Duke’s militia has arrived in force. The malevolent foes melt into the woods, retreating for now.

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The game turned into a bit of a grind in the middle turns. All my fault as the terrain was selected for appearance more than optimal gaming. The single access point forced the attackers to spend actions to move from their various spawning points around to the front and clog up that spot.

Fine for grenadoes but game-wise it morphed into a slog. That’s on me. It would have been far more interesting and challenging for the players if there had been multiple access points to the statue. Next time…

That said, it was a decent night: easy set up, a fast, uncomplicated game with loads of different, cool miniatures.

Thanks for looking.

If this sounds interesting, NIGHTWATCH is available in print at Amazon. As a PDF at Wargame Vault.

Until next time, In Tenebris,Venari (In darkness, we hunt)