When Nightmares Come

What is When Nightmares Come

When Nightmares Come: An Investigative Wargame of Supernatural Horror is a solo and cooperative skirmish game from Osprey Games, written by Patrick Todoroff and illustrated by Boris Groh. It’s number 33 in the Osprey Wargames series, an 80-page softcover that came out on March 28, 2024 in the UK and April 30, 2024 in the US.

It’s set in the modern world. You play a team of up to five paranormal vigilantes, self-taught occult specialists and monster hunters who call themselves the Nightwatch. They look into crimes that might have something supernatural behind them: waterfront murders, missing university students, museum thefts, mutilated pets. Osprey’s pitch is that the monsters never went away. They just learned to hide better.

Osprey calls it an “open-world, open-miniature wargame.” The terms in the book are kept generic on purpose so you can fit it to your own story, and you use whatever 28mm figures you have.

How it plays

An Action Dice Pool. Your hunters act with d6, d8, and d10. A 4+ after modifiers is a success, whether you’re in a fight or a narrative scene. If you fail, you can try again with a different die.
Two Dice Bonus. When an action fits a character’s specialty, you sometimes roll two matching dice and keep the better one.
Enemies by Caste. Enemy models use a single Action Die set by their Caste, their quality level, and need the same 4+. Osprey describes the combat as fast and bloody, with tiered enemies.
The d4 runs the tables. Loot tables, event tables, and where enemies come onto the table all use a d4.
Narrative scenes and tactical engagements. The book has a roleplaying element for non-combat challenges and dramatic encounters, using the same dice with an emphasis on quick resolutions. Separate chapters cover Narrative Scenes, Tactical Engagements, and Full Cases.
Build your hunters. Character Creation comes early in the book, and Osprey lists flexible player classes among the core features. The Splendor of Fire review read them as a warrior, a wizard, and a tinker or mechanic.
Monsters in the Dark Spawn chapter. A typical campaign uses three types of enemy, 30 models in all, plus one boss monster.

How to start

Get the book. Osprey sells it for $25 in paperback, or $20 as a PDF or ePub and Mobi ebook, on the When Nightmares Come product page.
Read it all first. The introduction recommends reading the whole rulebook before you make characters.
Gather about 36 figures. Osprey’s introduction puts a typical campaign at around 36 miniatures in 28mm: your five hunters, 30 enemies in three types, and one boss.
Set up a small table. You need a 2’ × 2’ play area, a ruler, blast and teardrop templates, d4, d6, d8, and d10 dice, and some status tokens. Osprey says missions run under 90 minutes.