We played a one-shot of Jason Morningstar’s Night Witches for Story Game Sunday. The premise of this one is that you are in an all-female Soviet air bomber regiment during WWII (referred to by the Germans as the Nacht Hexen, or Night Witches). The Red Army treats this regiment as a joke, and one of the main themes of the game is that these women are patriotic warriors, putting their lives on the line every night, but they also have to deal with a lot of chauvinistic bullshit from their comrades during the day.
The game is excellent. This is probably my favorite AW-hack after Dungeon World and Monsterhearts. Bully Pulpit has knocked it out of the park on every level here. The playbooks are fun, the move sets are useful and interesting, the pre-made one-shot scenario is a breeze to work with, and the production values are extremely high. The game’s narrative structure is really damn cool, alternating between Day/Night cycles, with each cycle having its own set of Basic Moves. Even in a one-shot, we were able to experience all of the game’s main themes, particularly the non-stop grind of these women’s lives, and the infuriating sexism they had to deal with.
I expect we will discuss it more on Friday’s podcast. Thanks to everyone who came out: Daniel Lewis Ferrell Riley Russell Benner and Steve Mains.
Sounds like great fun!
Sounds like great fun!
Also, Night Witches has gotten me very pumped for Marshall Miller’s The Warren, since Bully Pulpit is publishing that one, too. Should be great!
Also, Night Witches has gotten me very pumped for Marshall Miller’s The Warren, since Bully Pulpit is publishing that one, too. Should be great!
I’ll say this as well, since I consider it the biggest praise for the game:
We all wanted to immediately pick it up and play again when we were done.
I’ll say this as well, since I consider it the biggest praise for the game:
We all wanted to immediately pick it up and play again when we were done.
Those decks of cards are really great, too. Love the portraits and the medals. I’m sold on them a little late for the Kickstarter, but hopefully Bully Pulpit will offer them for sale.
Those decks of cards are really great, too. Love the portraits and the medals. I’m sold on them a little late for the Kickstarter, but hopefully Bully Pulpit will offer them for sale.
I played both the Warren and Night Witches in Jan, and they were both excellent. I agree; a great job was done with both.
I played both the Warren and Night Witches in Jan, and they were both excellent. I agree; a great job was done with both.