Spooky scenarios for narrative Wargames

Halloween is a time when the barriers between our world and the spirit realm are at their thinnest, a time when spirits wail, witches cackle, and all your favourite snacks get rebranded in orange. Spooky season is also the time to temporarily abandon sensible, balanced, competitive gaming at the tabletop and get weird with it.

As a player with a high drive for narrative-focused play, which is entirely unrelated to my naffness as a competitive player, I am all about the Halloweens. I am also a grown-up alternative kid, so autumn is my season (because I am too pale for the sun), and spooky doots is my (pumpkin?) jam. That means any excuse to dust off the ram skulls, light up the pumpkin spice candles, and pretend the cobwebs were not there all along is a good one in my book. With that in mind, let's think about how we can get a little ghoulish with our gaming.

As with my previous article focused on Christmas narratives, I’ll be looking to keep ideas fairly system-agnostic, but bear in mind that most of my wargaming is Bolt Action and a few fantasy skirmish games, so that’s my perspective. I’m also a proper horror nerd, so I’ll be leaning on those video nasties for plenty of inspiration. With all that said, let’s raise some hell.

Establishing the nightmare

Let’s talk terrain, and let’s begin with a fundamental concept of horror: anything can be scary. Folk horror, for example, makes the most of daylight, the countryside, and kids singing in flowery robes. Alright, kids scare the crumpets out of me regardless, but what I’m trying to say is that horror doesn’t have to be gothic graves, gnarled trees, and skulls. You can use any old terrain you already have and add the horror via the miniatures or the ruleset, or even the real-world atmosphere around the table.

However, let’s start with the obvious: graveyards are hella cool. You can pick up bags of gravestones online for not very much at all. Sling them on some MDF bases with a scatter of rocks, tree roots, and autumn diorama leaves, and job done. Maybe throw in a statue or two, and even some pumpkins.

PS. Now is the time to hit your discount stores and gather up the cheap plastic skulls, pumpkins, bat skeletons, giant spiders, etc., because all that stuff is a godsend for terrain making. Hot-glue some skulls and an interesting animal skeleton to a piece of MDF. Add a little rock and sand over PVA glue for texture. Prime and drybrush, and boom: a cheap, spooky terrain set done in an afternoon. And when Halloween is over, you’ve still got a Chaos Wastes or Trench Crusade board.

That said, terrain takes time and cash, so why not use what you already have? How about repurposing some grimdark future ruins as the remnants of Dracula’s castle? Or maybe using those Kill Team corridors to go Xenomorph hunting? Don’t forget your more natural settings, too. Something stalking you through those trees you bought from that scale model shop? Maybe your Desert Rats woke up a mummy with their tanks rumbling over your North Africa board, or perhaps it’s time to investigate that howling coming from the far end of that snowy mountain pass. Here are a few more ideas for repurposing non-horror terrain into a 6x4 nightmare to get that creative ectoplasm flowing:

• Suburban – You have seen a slasher film, right? Or maybe you’re more the D&D kids-on-bicycles kinda vibe?
• Castles & fortifications – I mean, obviously Dracula, but if you want to keep it groovy, then how about doing an Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness scenario where you need to hold off some slapstick Tomb Kings?
• Historic village/rural Normandy – Well, see all of folklore, really, but also maybe you are a squad of plague doctors cutting your way through undead peasant hordes to find out what ails them?
• Sci-fi and cyberpunk buildings – AI androids gone wrong? Maybe the Necromorph plague has kicked off again? Or are you hunting a lab experiment/alien who consumes humans to take on their appearance and could be anyone among you? Well, that would be a hell of a Thing.
• Forests and jungles – Predator would have a pop at hunting pretty much any wargaming mini out there, or maybe it's the Blair Witch hunting you? Or maybe Tony Blair? Shudders.

Same goes for minis. By all means, kitbash some zombies out of spare soldier sprues by clipping and regluing heads at unnatural angles, twisting an ankle back on itself, and, oh, of course, raising those arms and limping those wrists for easy fleshy undead. Also, you can splatter any mini in red paint for instant gore. I prefer to flick my Blood for the Blood God from a toothbrush (my wife’s, not mine, obviously) for a splatter effect. Speaking of paint, a lot of minis work well as vampires by shifting to a more pallid/purple paint job, or, for a quick and easy ghost effect, just prime in white and coat in something like Hexwraith Flame. And if you are looking for some next-level stringy gore or drool effects, then you need to look up UHU glue tutorials online. The possibilities are endless, but the barrier to entry into the world of getting gruesome might be a lot less intimidating than you think, is all I’m saying. If you are more of an off-the-shelf kinda person, then here are a few ideas for minis that would suit some of the following ideas very well.

Undead Zombie Swarm

Soulblight Gravelords Spearhead Box

Frostgrave Cultists

Genestealer Cults

Vampire: The Masquerade Painted Minis

Just give it a stab

Moving on to scenario ideas, then. Here are some ideas based around slasher flicks. Basically, this is me regurgitating my childhood experience growing up in the 90s and watching films I should not have been watching. These prompts best suit smaller, squad-sized games.

1. An unstoppable killer wielding a [thing] is stalking your squad or party through an isolated environment. Damage may slow or incapacitate them, but not for long. You’ll have to get the generator running, find the boat keys, or cast that ritual before you get a few extra holes in ya.
2. One player controls a squad of hunters, while the opposing player commands a single, exceptionally dangerous individual who must evade capture. The hunters must coordinate to surround their quarry, while the hunted player uses terrain, traps and misdirection to turn the tables. Maybe this is a creature feature, or maybe this is just Rambo: First Blood.
3. You know the killer is coming, so it’s time to set up some traps and fortify your location. Can you hold off the killer or creature? Or will this monster make a meal of your cornered squad of school children, college kids, or God-fearing family living in a rural farmhouse? Just remember, if you are defending against aliens, then the greatest weapon you might want to give your players is a bottle of water, because apparently someone thought that made for a good ending. Spoilers. Sorry. Not sorry. Don’t watch Signs.

The Monster Mash

Well, this is what I came here for. The possibilities are endless here. Pick your monster from the infinite list of horror history and have a think about how it might slot into your ruleset of choice. Some humble suggestions:

1. Something has escaped Frankenstein's lab or that secret military bunker. Does it need capturing again? Or perhaps this is too powerful a weapon to allow back into enemy hands? Perhaps a live capture is worth more points, but the body alone is still of scientific value if you can wrestle it from the other player.
2. Maybe a horror classic has taken control of a military force through influence, magic, or good old-fashioned fear. Each player brings their normal army, but this time they can bring a horror icon to lead it, and they get a suitably thematic army rule for this game only. Dracula used his dark influence on a platoon of German WW2 infantry? Then they get -1 to be hit as they advance in a creeping fog. Has a chapter of Space Marines come under the influence of an elder god? Then roll a dice every turn for a dark boon, but if you roll a 6, then one of your dudes becomes a snack. Or maybe your force of medieval knights who lost last game have been raised by a necromancer and are harder to kill but move at half speed.
3. As you go about your business, a lone alien, masked in cloaking technology, is looking to pick up some new trophies. Maybe it’s striking at lone units or at your flanks. Maybe it’s only visible for a short while after an attack, or maybe it brought friends. Bonus points if you have jungle terrain. Also, it should probably explode on death.
4. A military expedition discovers a nest of enormous predators of some kind beneath an abandoned city. Maybe it’s a near-future utopia, or maybe it’s the ruins of Berlin. The armies must destroy or avoid the nest before the creatures overwhelm them, but every explosion risks waking another wave of the brood. We love a bit of risk and reward in our narrative games!
5. No monstrous minis? Well, I’ve got you. Buy a couple of bags of cotton wool and use them as a sinister fog hampering the battlefield, or maybe it’s more of a roaming cloud. Maybe this is a John Carpenter fog filled with leprosy pirates (yeah, lol), or maybe the fog itself is sentient and has its own agenda. Or maybe spray it grey, and now it’s a swarm of nanobots that needs containing before it replicates any further.

How would body horror work in wargaming? Asking for a friend

Okay, indulge me, as it’s one of my preferred subgenres. Can we make this work in a wargame?

1. A battlefield is contaminated by an organism that absorbs dead bodies and incorporates them into a single, ever-growing monstrosity. Both armies must prevent their fallen from being consumed, while the creature grows stronger with every casualty left behind. Have fun kitbashing that god-awful idea.
2. An unknown pathogen is spreading through a battleground where two forces are locked in battle or trying to sneak around each other. Everyone starts in a containment suit, and you roll every time you get hit to see if your suit breaches enough for the infection to get in. If it gets you, then you begin the Cronenberg countdown. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad has to decide: do they flame you now or try to sedate and/or extract you?
3. All praise the Chaos Gods and the boons they bestow! Keep a mutation chart handy, and maybe some situational modifiers that might apply to the rolls based on the unit’s current action, successes or failures thus far, etc. When feeling spicy, a player may call upon the many-faced gods. If you roll well, then congratulations! Tentacle arms give extra attacks! If you roll badly, then uh-oh, tentacle arms want extra cuddles.
4. Also, something something The Thing. Maybe you are hunting the shapeshifter through a village or facility. One team wants to kill it, the other wants to capture it, or maybe even join with it. You both dash from NPC to NPC, doing rolls or pulling tokens to test for infection. If you roll that one, then that room suddenly gets a lot smaller, and so does your squad a second or two later.

Hammer time

Let’s lighten this article back up a bit. In loving memory of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Vincent Price, let’s have a ponder on some campier ideas for that Hammer Horror tone.

1. A vampire lord has returned to reclaim his ancestral lands. One army must destroy his coffin before midnight, while his loyal followers desperately try to keep the hunters at bay. Naturally, the Count can regenerate unless his coffin is dealt with first. Or perhaps the Count is boxed up in the back of a wagon as his manservants are hauling it across the battlefield in a desperate escape. Be a real shame if the vampire hunters caught up!
2. A mad scientist has created a creature from stolen body parts, and the local villagers have had quite enough. One force defends the castle while another storms it to destroy the laboratory. Every turn, the monster might break free, but will he rise to the defence of his father or turn against his creator? Maybe it takes a trait from every unit it kills as it adds to itself? Oops, back on body horror again - sorry.
3. Archaeologists have disturbed an ancient tomb, and now an undead ruler is marching on the nearest settlement. One side hopes to lift the curse by returning the slab, while the other force seeks to use the power of the slab themselves, or even escape with it. Perhaps the slab can be used as a weapon, but what are the risks in doing so? Maybe both parties are fighting over it, looking to leave the other at the mercy of King Damnedses.
4. Players have been invited to a lavish wine-and-dine at a country home, but little do they know they are the ones on the menu, as their host is revealed to be a vampire/werewolf/cultist who intends to hunt them through the grounds.
5. Can the players survive a full night in the haunted mansion? Is one of them a traitor and causing the murders themselves? Or is the house haunted? Can they investigate a way to lift the curse? Or is this a tower defence game vs. Casper and the unfriendly ghosts? That film is over 30 years old now, by the way. That’s real horror.

Witches get Stitches

On to witchy, folk-horror vibes now, as that’s another comfort space for me. Let’s see what we find deep in the dark woods.

1. Two forces advance on a set of ancient obelisks of unknown age, looking to secure them for their own purposes. Each has the potential to bestow a boon on the securing unit, but activate too many and you’ll call out a beast from back in the dark woods. Also, maybe those boons are not very reliable. Sure, that one might make you stronger, but fluff the word or flub the roll, and congratulations, your squad of witch hunters are now frogs in fancy hats.
2. Two competing heroic or mercenary forces are seeking out a bounty on a notorious witch dwelling in the dark hollow, but surprise! CHICKEN HOUSE! Good luck catching this old hag as she flings spells from the porch of her dwelling while it starts charging random units. PS. If you have no idea what I am talking about, then check out Baba Yaga, and scroll past the John Wick stuff. She is a witch-like figure in Slavic folklore who has a house that walks on chicken legs, and sometimes flies around in her cauldron looking like Eggman from Sonic. I <3 that queen.
3. Forces clash across fields by an abandoned farming village. The only thing left is a surprising number of scarecrows in the fields. What happens if a unit gets too close? Did that one just move?
4. Players arrive just in time for the local harvest festival! And everyone here is so friendly! Everyone has a lovely time until they announce the sacrifice is to begin. Do all the villagers pop on their cultist hoods and you have to fight your way out? Or is a trickster spirit making mischief, and the players find themselves saving screaming villagers from gnashing pumpkins and a big, stompy Wicker Man?
5. Ancient woodland was cleared to build this military installation, but now the woods want the land back. Each turn, more roots appear to make movement difficult and grab at soldiers and vehicles. Did anyone bring a priest, flamethrower, or pair of shears? Maybe you're the recovery team sent to investigate this new, all-consuming species of mushroom which wants to make hosts of us all, or the pilgrimage to retake the land from the Green Knight.

Alright, alright, I’ll do Cthulhu

Old HP is inescapable when geeks do horror, so let’s not disappoint. Time to get fishy with it.

1. Players fight over a powerful site of cosmic significance and unimaginable power. Holding the ground gives some huge benefit to your army, but only once the price is paid. Which unit will you sacrifice so your others can thrive? But perhaps this unknown entity’s hunger is endless, and a sacrifice must be made each round. I’d add the points value of the sacrifice as a bonus to a dice roll for each offering. If a certain threshold isn’t met, then the entity is not satiated and demands another, or picks its own meal.
2. Some strange object has fallen from the sky and radiates a strange light. Surely the glowy thing is something we want, and we certainly can’t let the other guys have it! Hold the objective till game end for the win, but the longer you’re near it, the more your guys start to understand what just landed on this planet, and that is not good knowledge to have. How does this manifest? Losing control of the unit? Do they attack at random? Or flee? Or do their heads start popping like bubblegum bubbles?
3. Fancy crafting up some obelisks? Strange rocks jut out of the battlefield. Are you trying to secure or investigate them? Perhaps you’re trying to tear them down? Either way, this would be a lot easier if they didn’t keep drifting across the battlefield at random, especially given that proximity to them tends to make people look a bit fishy.
4. There is a colossal eye in the sky which watches the battlefield with something like interest. Don’t look at it. Or maybe you should? Surely if we stare into the eye, we will gain some tactical insights? Perhaps a blessing? Never mind that piece of paper that says Army Sanity Tracker.
5. What about going all in and playing as the cultists? A set of spaced-out objectives represents ritual sites which are influencing the stars. Your forces are playing a tug-of-war with the cosmos itself to bring about their preferred cosmic patron. Are the ritual sites little gateways that unleash minions? Or does holding them reveal the next part of a phrase that, when uttered in its entirety, will signal the end of the universe and the game alike? Please be careful when reciting arcane phrases aloud, BTW. Don’t use anything you pull out of a flesh-wrapped tomb, carved on any tablets of shimmering rock, or ChatGPT.
6. Two armies clash over a coastal settlement when an enormous aquatic creature emerges from the water, attacking anything that moves. Both sides must fight over evacuation points or transport vessels while avoiding the shoreline, which becomes increasingly dangerous as the creature moves inland or the waters advance.
7. Sigh, OK. You are in a New England village, and Stephen King is there, and there are some creepy statues along the water’s edge. Each one emits a terrible sound like a whale stuck in time, which damages units within its radius. You need to smash them before that impossibly swelling mass beneath the waves rises any further. Maybe fishmen are waddling out of the waves to keep it interesting. Or, if you want to go full book-accurate and own a boat wargame, then Cthulhu has risen and wades towards shore. Can your little boaties take him down before humanity is doomed? Bonus points if you win by ramming him. Spoilers.

Bonus rules

And lastly, here are a few rules I couldn’t shoehorn into my arbitrary categories but still think could be a good laugh:

1. I really want to throw in a final girl mechanic in here somewhere. I was thinking: when a unit is wiped out, its surviving leader may escape instead of being removed. If they survive until the end of the game, then maybe they’ve earned some extra points.
2. Scattered across the battlefield are forbidden tomes, cursed inscriptions and mysterious artefacts. Interacting with one grants a powerful bonus, but also adds a point to a corruption tracker. The more knowledge a player gains, the worse the consequences become! Another chance to roll on the something awful happens chart.
3. Whenever a unit is destroyed, place a marker where it fell. At the end of each turn, roll for each marker. On a successful result, the dead rise as a small unit of Skeletons or Zombies and go looking for brains.
4. Halloween needs more Skaven. An ancient bell stands on the battlefield, its toll audible even above the clash of steel. At the end of each turn, ring it and roll on a random table: units may suffer Leadership penalties, undead may rise, or a supernatural event may affect the entire battlefield. Destroying the bell stops the effects, but its final toll is always the worst….

And They All Died Horribly Ever After

And there we have it, my ghouls and goblins. I sincerely hope you’ve plucked an idea or two from this old man’s deranged ramblings and feel inspired to bring a little terror to your tabletop. Remember, Halloween isn’t about the candy or the costumes. It’s about the friends we made along the way… and the friends we sacrificed to an unspeakable horror to ensure the dice gods finally showed us some bloody mercy. Happy haunting, you beautiful little monsters.