When Nightmares Come Game #6: "...And All the Devils Are Here."

It all comes down to this; if the Webster Street Irregulars fail, then Paradise Cove Trailer Park will become the site of a massacre. The cultists seek to summon a mighty demon prince, Malphetorix, the Knight of the Black Blade, to earth and they’re willing to kill everybody present to achieve this.

 

"Diane? It's me, Carrie. Yeah, I know you're not happy to hear from me after last time. I don't care. You and the boys at Channel 7 owe me a favor and I'm calling it in. Yes, now. Yeah, well, same to you. Now here's what I need..."

***

"Ernie? No, it's not Vern, it's Steve. Yeah, listen, I need a favor..."

[I originally failed both Challenges, but spent banked favors to turn them into successes. With two successes, the Hunters "won" the narrative scene, and they get to deploy on any side of the table, within 1 move of the edge, effectively gaining a free move.] 

Turn 1

Carrie moved forward, meeting up with Diane and the Channel 7 news team to gather intel.

 Meanwhile, Guy collected clues in the carport, and Lisa moved up to speak with Steve's contact Ernie, but found herself unable to get a word in edgewise as the denim-clan man waxed poetic about Mello Yello soda. 

 Steve checked the port-o-john for clues.

 Cultists spawned at Portals 1 and 4, and the Nexus emerged from the ground in the third quadrant.

 One dashed at Carrie but failed to hit her, and Paul reacted by snapping off a shot that ended the cultist's life.

 Turn 2

Lisa managed to get the information she needed, and then started to cut through the trailer to reach portal 2, ready to shut it down.

Guy moved towards the Nexus and began extracting Arcana. Paul, meanwhile, moved forward and shot the second cultist, then returned to overwatch.

 Steve took the opportunity to approach Portal 1 and begin harvesting Arcana. Carrie approached the Nexus.

 Cultists spawned at Portals 1 and 3, attacking Steve and inflicting two wounds, and attacking Guy but failing to harm him.

 Turn 3

Steve tried to fight back against the cultist and failed, then tried to break away - the cultist got a Free Hack attack. The cultist brought his club down hard on Steve's head, and the handyman-turned-monster hunter collapsed, dead.

 "Steve! No!" Paul dashed forward and put two rounds into the cultist, center-mass.

 Guy beat down the cultist attacking him, pulled some Arcana from the Nexus, and then moved towards Portal 3 to hopefully close it.

 Carrie pulled 8 Arcana from the Nexus, while Lisa moved forward towards Portal 2 and went on overwatch.

Cultists spawned at Portals 1 and 3, and Malphetorix manifested right on top of Lisa. The cultists attacked and injured Paul and Guy. 

 "Lisa, Lisa, Lisa," Malphetorix mused. "You haven't been taking my calls any more. That one-eyed bitch cleaned my influence off your soul, did she? Well, we'll see about that!"

He struck her twice with the great, black sword. Panicking, Lisa fled the table.

With a laugh and a powerful flap of his wings, Malphetorix leapt over the trailer.

 Turn 4

Guy downed a Kaiju Energy Drink, then gave voice to a mighty, sepulchral scream - giving voice to everyone that cult and their summoned demons had killed, knocking an action die off of all enemies on the table. 

Paul killed the cultist facing him, then performed first aid on himself. 

 Carrie cast "Heal" on Guy, then blasted the cultist with an "Arcane Bolt" spell, and shut down the Nexus.

 Two cultists spawned at each of Portals 2 and 4, while Malphetorix approached Carrie slowly and full of gloating.

 Turn 5

Paul turned around and shot the Demon Prince in the back, but Malphetorix shrugged off the shots. 

 Carrie gave Malphetorix the full force of an empowered "Arcane Blast," followed up with an enchanted bullet in the forehead. The demon staggered back, wounded, fire bleeding from a dozen wounds. 

Cultists charged towards Guy and Carrie, managing to attack her but failing to inflict any injury. Additionally, succubi sprang forth from Portals 2 and 4, swiftly winging across the battlefield.

 Drawing on the last of her arcane power, Carrie hit the cultist and succubus with a casting of "Elemental Fury," slaying both, then turned and fired another shot into Malphetorix.

"Noooooo!" the demon snarled as his flesh began to collapse into ash. "I was so close! I'll see you in Hell!"

 With a roar, Guy smashed the cultist in front of him to the ground, then turned, charged, and clobbered the second succubus as well.

 Paul, surrounded by cultists, tried to shoot his way free, killing one cultist but falling to the other.

 Carrie and Guy held their breath, awaiting the worst, but the portals were silent and slowly guttered out as the last ashes of Malphetorix drifted away on the wind. 

Steve and Paul were dead, Lisa missing, but the world, it seemed, was saved...for now.

***

And with that, this campaign of "When Nightmares Come" draws to a close. I'm really proud of myself that I managed to play six games in the span of 31 days; I wasn't sure I'd be able to carve out the time to do so, but I made it work!

I had a lot of fun playing through this, and really enjoyed the rules. I can see myself playing this again next October. 

Newly Painted Terrain

 You can see it in my most recent after-action report, but I spent all of last week working on another 3D printed building from Corvus Games Terrain, printed for me by my friend Dave. As the sign (oddly over the back door instead of the main entrance) says, it's a bank, which I got as part of a bundle of STLs from Corvus.

 It's printed in five parts - a ground floor, a second story, the roof and two drop-in floors to make the interiors playable. I primed the walls and roof black and then oversprayed them with Montana Gold "Sand" spray paint. Once I was happy with that I picked out some individual bricks at random in three different shades of brown and tan and one of gray, and did the cement ornamentation on the front with gray craft paint. 

Then, I washed the whole exterior with a homemade wash - made from black and raw sienna liquitex inks, some water, matte medium and a little bit of Dawn dish soap to break cohesion. The first batch was a little pigment-light, but I added some extra ink and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. 

By volume, the equivalent of 16 bottles of GW Agrax Earthshade

 Once the wash had dried, I went over the cement with a lighter gray and drybrushed the entire exterior lightly with a dusty tan craft paint. Finally I blacked in the windows with black craft paints and did all the window and door frames with a gold paint pen, which worked a treat and FAST! Better coverage than I would have gotten with a brush, less touch-ups on the black and I think I finished them all in about 10 minutes. 

Then it was on to the interiors. I gave all of the internal walls a few coats of off-white craft paint, while the floors I was initially doing in blue and white but ended up not liking; I reprimed them gray and drybrushed the tiles; the drybrushing doesn't show up that well. Alas. The interior windows were gone over with black, though I left the frames unpainted. Too much of a pain trying to get in there with the paint pen. 

Then, on to furniture! I pulled some desks, a vending machine and an ATM from Oshiro Models out of my stash, primed them, painted them in mostly-neutral office colors, and started gluing them into place - the desks and vending machine on the second floor, the ATM next to the front door. Hard to tell from these photos but I added a "glass" front to the vending machine with some UV resin. 

 I'm not done with the interiors, however; I've got a 3D printed photocopier that might go up on the second floor, and I want to do a teller's counter on the ground floor. I haven't found a premade option for that anywhere; the places I've seen selling "bank furnishings" in 28mm are all big circular vault doors and piles of gold bullion instead of more useful things like a teller's counter. So I'll probably try making one out of balsa wood, card and coffee stirrers and see what I can come up with. 

 

Miniatures Acquired: 246

Miniatures Painted: 252

Terrain Acquired: 9

Terrain Painted: 11

Scatter Acquired: 21

Scatter Painted: 24

 

When Nightmares Come Game #5: "Hell is Empty..."

As the clock ticks down and their goal grows nearer, the cultists grow bolder and more aggressive, staging a raid on the 2nd National Bank during business hours. The Webster Street Irregulars are on the scene, and need to act fast to figure out what the cultists’ aims are and shut them down before the police arrive. This is an important fight – the head of the coven has shown up to personally oversee the proceedings. 

 "You sure about this, Lisa? Last time it didn't work so well..." Paul kicked a can, watching it bounce down the alleyway.

"Yes, I'm sure. Last time was a fluke." She gently inserted a bent piece of wire into the security box. She twisted slightly, holding her breath as she did so. She felt a lot less confident then she'd forced herself to sound. 

With a chirp, the security system deactivated. 

"Hah! Told you!"

[With a success, the Hunters "won" the narrative scene, and they get to deploy on any side of the table, within 1 move of the edge, effectively gaining a free move.] 

Turn 1

Lisa darts forward, picking up the ringing pay phone.

"Hello?"

"Time's running out, Lisa," the voice from her dreams whispered through the receiver. "Make your choice, or I'll make it for you."

 Steve moved forward and began searching the van that had been left idling with the door open. Paul and Guy took up overwatch positions.

 Carrie approached a pair of nervous-looking bankers. "What have you seen?" She asked.

 Portals 2 and 4 belched; a robed cultist emerged from each, and a gargoyle atop the bank sprang to life and swooped down.

 [The gargoyle is an Alpha Dark Spawn, similar to the rat queen and giant rat in Game 3.]

Fortunately, Paul was in position, and snapped off a shot at one of the cultists, killing him. 

 The second cultist charged towards Carrie but didn't have enough actions remaining to be able to attack, while the gargoyle flapped its wings and swooped towards Steve. It swiped with its claws but failed to connect.

 Additionally, the Nexus rumbled up out of the ground.

 Turn 2

Guy charged, swinging his tonfa. It connected with the gargoyle's chin, knocking the monster off its feet but not harming it. 

[The gargoyle has the trait "Tenacious" - only critical hits and aimed shots can actually damage it, other attacks just knock it prone.]

Steve joined in attacking the gargoyle, though his knife was no more effective.

 

Lisa moved up to the Nexus, drawing a clue from it as well as a stunning 10 Arcana.

 Paul turned back towards Carrie and dashed forward, pausing to aim before squeezing off a shot that took out the cultist threatening her. Nodding gratefully to the ex-cop, Carrie then cast "Deja Vu" on Guy, allowing him to activate again, before turning her attention to the Nexus.

 Guy, re-energized, brought his tonfa down on the gargoyle's head hard enough to shatter the animated stone. Barely pausing to look at the fallen monster, he then darted inside the bank, collecting some financial information dropped by the cult.

 More cultists spawned at Portals 1 and 3, and the leader of the coven emerged from Portal 4.

Another Alpha Dark Spawn.

 One of the cultists ran into the bank, slashing wildly at Guy, injuring him, while the other crept more cautiously through the Urgent Care.

 The coven leader swept forward imperiously, raising a hand and making a complicated gesture, his fingers slashing glowing runes into the air. A blast of black, evil energy erupted, washing over Steve and Paul.

 Turn 3

Paul and Steve blinked as the dark energy faded. 

"Huh, couldn't touch us! We're made of tougher stuff than that, hoss!" Paul said as he raised his pistol.  One shot later, the coven leader slumped to the ground. The occult glamour hiding his features faded, revealing...

 

"Mayor Goodenough? Aw man, I voted for you!" 

Paul spat, then turned and darted across the street, drawn by the sight of a red robe through the window of the Urgent Care. Again the pistol barked, and another cultist fell over dead.

 Lisa pulled another 10 Arcana from the Nexus before moving on towards Portal 2, ready to close it. Carrie drew 8 Arcana from the Nexus, then shut it down.

 Steve moved towards Portal 4, ready to harvest Arcana and close it, while Guy clubbed the cultist attacking him into submission.

 Two cultists spawned at Portal 2, charging and attacking Lisa, injuring her, and approaching Carrie but not having the action dice available to attack.

 Turn 4

Steve managed to harvest 5 Arcana from Portal 4, and Guy moved up and into contact with Portal 1.

Lisa tasered the cultist in front of her in the neck, dropping her, though she failed her Dodge Defend roll against the cultist's "Self Defense" trait and took a wound. Pulling a Healing Potion from her vest, Lisa downed the syrupy, foul-tasting concoction and let it work its magic, restoring both lost wounds.

Carrie shot her cultist in the belly, successfully dodged his violent death throes, and took up an overwatch position in case more cultists emerged from Portal 2.

 

 With no-one to fight, Paul moved into contact with Portal 3.

 FOUR cultists emerged from Portal 2.

 "Got you, you sons'abitches!" Carrie snarled, carving the lines of a spell in the air and blasting them with a full-power casting of "Elemental Fury."

 Three of the four cultists failed their Dodge Defend rolls and snuffed it. The last one charged forward, slashing Carrie, wounding her.

 Turn 5

Steve successfully closed Portal 4, and Guy managed to harvest 4 Arcana off Portal 1. Paul harvested another 3 Arcana from Portal 3 and closed it.

Lisa moved up to Portal 2 and harvested 5 Arcana from it.  

Carrie shot another cultist in the belly.

 

Succubi spawned from Portals 1 and 2, a pair of luscious, lascivious demonic beauties that giggled and... flirted on appearance. One sprang forward towards Lisa, kissing her before sinking long fangs into her face, while the other twirled her fingers in Guy's hair before kneeing him in the groin.

 Because of the succubi's "Dreadful" trait, both of them took enough hits to necessitate a Dread roll. Both hunters collapsed to the ground, curling into the fetal position and sobbing as their demonic foes capered and taunted them.

 Turn 6

Guy and Lisa lose their actions this round to Dread.

 Carrie hurled an Arcane Bolt at the succubus standing over Lisa, who easily ducked the glowing magical dart.

"Is that all you've got, Carrie? I can smell that you're out of magic..." The demoness taunted.

"I might be out of spells, but I'm not out of options," Carrie retorted, raising her pistol and squeezing off a shot. The magically-enhanced bullet ripped into the succubus' chest, banishing it back to Hell.

 

Two more succubi quickly sprang up from Portal 2, however, and Carrie, Steve and Paul were forced to retreat. Hopefully there would be enough left of Guy and Lisa to retrieve later...

 ***

Again, a victory, but at what cost? The Webster Street Irregulars were doing really well against the cultists, especially now that all of them have Arcana-upgraded weapons. The succubi are fast-moving and nasty, however, with each hit dealt in combat counting double when it comes to testing for existential Dread.

We did harvest an incredible 45 Arcana over the course of this game thanks in no small part to Lisa spending a total of four actions to harvest Arcana from the Nexus. 

I am glad that both Lisa and Guy, when they rolled for Dread, got "Freeze" as their result; if they'd rolled "Flee," they would have been unavailable for the next game and I would have been going up against the final boss with only three Hunters. 

Since both of them were "killed" by succubi, they're coming back a little weirder. Guy is now Bloodthirsty the same way Paul is,  while Lisa has the same sort of PTSD that Guy has had for a while now. Both of them have Fiend's Flaws, an ability to recognize weaknesses in their enemies and give the other Hunters a bonus to attack and defense against them. Lisa previously gained this ability in game 3, though I've been forgetting to make use of it; whether or not I'll stack them and let her use the ability twice in Game 6 remains to be seen. 

***

Carrie frowned and fidgeted in her chair. She sat next to Lisa's hospital bed, watching the younger woman sleep fitfully under the effects of heavy painkillers. Fortunately, the ER doctors had believed their story about a dog attack. Steve and Paul were sitting a similar vigil with Guy. She went over the clues they'd gathered so far in her head. 

"Carrie..." Lisa moaned weakly.

"I'm here, kiddo," the older woman said softly. "Try not to talk, you'll pull your stitches. You did good today, just focus on getting better."

"Gotta tell you," Lisa mumbled.

"Tell me what, hon?"

"Knight...asshole...in my dreams. Talking to me..."

"He's talking to you in your dreams?" Carrie's eyes hardened in recognition. "Don't worry, kiddo. I know what to do about that. You rest up and let me take care of it, okay?"

"Okay...thanks Carrie..." 

Lisa dozed back off. Carrie sighed. She'd need to harvest more wolfsbane for this. 

***

Game 6 is all set to be played on Halloween.