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Taking out nameless mooks and bodyguards, people for whom it's not worth spending the time on a prolonged fight, is honestly best modelled as a single Overcome roll: they are merely obstacles to be overcome. If there's a series of them, which is often the case, model it as a Challenge to get past the guards in the area. My group has used this multiple times and found it helped us maintain both a good pace and tension, where we found dipping into conflicts or other more involved mechanics would be a drag. The single sentry on the balcony is simply not worth more narrative time than a tricky-to-climb wall and thus gets about as much mechanical attention.

Taking out nameless sentries and guards is honestly best modelled as a single Overcome roll, when they're not worth zooming in on for a full Conflict scene. The single sentry on the balcony is simply not worth more narrative time than a tricky-to-climb wall and thus gets about as much mechanical attention. Sometimes a single Overcome roll handles multiple guards at once: the two guards posted at the entranceway may represent a single obstacle together. If there's a series of guards worth focusing on, model getting past the guards as a Challenge: individual rolls in the Challenge might be about individual or entire groups of guards depending on how much ground the protagonists cover during that Challenge, and some may simply be about getting into a new place unnoticed. 

My group has used this multiple times and found it helped us maintain both a good pace and tension, where we found dipping into conflicts or other more involved mechanics would be a drag.

The first is a challenge, the second bullet point is a single roll, and the third is either a challenge or a contest. Failed rolls in the last phase mean you make noise that helps people find you now, or leave evidence that lets people figure out who you are later. Your story will tell you which, if any, of these bullet points are worth spending time on and how much zoom you want to give them, and usually the last bullet point has the most capacity for drama and excitement. (It is also a perfect opportunity for compels to screw up.)

The first is a challenge, the second bullet point is a single roll (or, if you screw up your first shot, a contest to see if you take them out or they get away), and the third is either a challenge or a contest. Failed rolls in the last phase mean you make noise that helps people find you now, or leave evidence that lets people figure out who you are later. Your story will tell you which, if any, of these bullet points are worth spending time on and how much zoom you want to give them, and usually the last bullet point has the most capacity for drama and excitement. (It is also a perfect opportunity for compels to screw up.)

Taking out nameless mooks and bodyguards, people for whom it's not worth spending the time on a prolonged fight, is honestly best modified as a single Overcome roll: they are merely obstacles to be overcome. If there's a series of them, which is often the case, model it as a Challenge to get past the guards in the area. My group has used this multiple times and found it helped us maintain both a good pace and tension, where we found dipping into conflicts or other more involved mechanics would be a drag. The single sentry on the balcony is simply not worth more narrative time than a tricky-to-climb wall and thus gets about as much mechanical attention.

Physical confrontations should not always necessitate dipping into a Conflict scenes. In fact, most of the time in stealth fiction like this, individual fights are simply not worth zooming in on and the guards are taken out in a single action, so we should leverage the Golden Rule's capacity to help us just ... not zoom in at all. Thus we resolve the defeat of a sentry in a single roll.

Taking out nameless mooks and bodyguards, people for whom it's not worth spending the time on a prolonged fight, is honestly best modelled as a single Overcome roll: they are merely obstacles to be overcome. If there's a series of them, which is often the case, model it as a Challenge to get past the guards in the area. My group has used this multiple times and found it helped us maintain both a good pace and tension, where we found dipping into conflicts or other more involved mechanics would be a drag. The single sentry on the balcony is simply not worth more narrative time than a tricky-to-climb wall and thus gets about as much mechanical attention.

Physical confrontations should not always necessitate dipping into a Conflict scene. In fact, most of the time in stealth fiction like this, individual fights are simply not worth zooming in on and the guards are taken out in a single action, so we should leverage the Golden Rule's capacity to help us just ... not zoom in at all. Thus we resolve the defeat of a sentry in a single roll.