4 Reasons Why Veteran 40k Players Should Try Konflikt ’47
Does anyone else feel like the latest edition/s of Warhammer 40,000 aren't meant for them?
For many of us, Warhammer 40,000 has been the gateway into tabletop wargaming. Fond memories over decades of friends made, epic games, proud armies and some highlight years of our youth spent hitting on 3’s, wounding on 4’s, 3 up armour saves, and so on.
I’ve spent years building armies, painting hundreds (Well, in my case… thousands of miniatures), learning the rules, memorising our latest codex’ and fighting battles across dining tables, gaming clubs and tournament halls. But after years of playing the same game, I find myself watching said game and it’s rules progress every 3 years without me wanting to chase after it anymore.
Time to roll my shoulders, turn about and see what else is out there to tick my Sci Fi gaming itch. Just something that feels a little more like the wargaming you originally fell in love with. With less of an obsession with balanced competitive play, and more about fun, wicked looking games on the tabletop.
Enter Konflict 47!
Set in an alternate 1947 where the Second World War has continued beyond 1945, Konflikt ’47 takes the familiar foundations of historical WWII gaming and throws them through the Rift. Tanks, infantry and artillery share the battlefield with walkers, enhanced soldiers, strange weapons and terrifying creatures.
It is recognisably a ‘historical’ wargame — but it is also gloriously weird. And for veteran 40K players, that combination could be exactly what you've been looking for. Especially when the game has a core emphasis on the player experience, not the incessant desire for % win rates, and constant creeps and balances around every new release.
Here’s a few reasons why, if like me you’re disenfranchised with 40K, you should take K47 for a spin.
A very beginner and wallet friendly starter box from Warlord, to get you set for Rift warfare!
A fun, cinematic and interactive wargame, first and foremost.
Despite being a young system (Relaunched in the summer of ‘25), the intent of what Warlord Games want Konflict 47 to be has been evident from the offset.
The game is a standalone system built around the familiar foundations of Bolt Action, while adding its own Weird War technology, units and mechanics. Warlord Games describes it as a standalone game rather than simply an expansion to Bolt Action.That distinction matters.
Bolt Action is acclaimed for its interactive and very engaging ruleset, and K47 leans on it at its core, while also doing its own thing to add it’s own flourishes and unique mechanics to the game, and the models you put on the table. You have resources across some units to manage in the form of Rift Dice, that enable certain abilities, but manage these with care, spend them early doors and you could leave your powerful squads left without the means to bring the pain. Your heroes have access to unique stats in the form of Guts and Luck, which enable them to manipulate rolls and rerolls, for those truly cinematic scraps that see your chosen hero reflected in game.
These coupled with the ‘Dice bag’ activation mean your games will never be decided by your opponent's first turn, or your unlucky first turn. There’s plenty of strategy to be had of course, but it’s less about bringing the strongest list and exploiting mechanics, and very much more about trying to anticipate what you’ll do based on what colour dice comes out of that bag!
The (current…) five factions in Konflict are: Japanese Empire, Soviet Bloc, Axis, USA and the British Commonwealth. Each with a distinct particular focus and style.
The Battlefield Looks Like a Battlefield!
The theme of Konflict is obviously ‘Weird War II’, with plenty of borrowed inspiration from some iconic universes and games that will make anyone with an affinity for ‘Nazi Zombies’ or huge soviet airships hum with delight when seeing a fully painted game being played.
Whether you’re playing in the ruined and rubbled hamlets of eastern France, or at the foot of the enormous Sturmriese, you can go as far as 1945 to 1947 and beyond for your terrain and warzones. Warlord Games are also offering FREE STL files for anyone to download and print select pieces of scenery for their tables. Some of these are monstrous in size, and will be a delight to see across any table, and even for any system they seem cosmetically suitable for.
Konflict is all about the theme and spectacle of the games story. No symmetrically aligned L shape buildings that need to be measured to within 0.5 of an inch. Just good old fashioned “Lets play a game on a cool looking board.”. You can bring out your tanks/walkers/vehicles not in your list and pop some smoke markers down on them for wrecked vehicles that always look the part during a wargame. As soon as your armies are moving across the board, the theme and aesthetic reminds us of the spectacle wargames deserve to be, for us all to enjoy!
The mighty Sturmriese, an esoteric monstrosity being fought amongst by Axis and US forces.
Armies LOOK like Armies!
Now every game has its meta, and a competitive element to any wargame is healthy for the game, its players and the company producing it, of course! This means that no matter how hard companies feel the need to try, there’s alway will be lists designed around total annihilation, and for the players that enjoy that, cool beans. But where in other systems we’ll see (especially at tournaments), several tables playing almost identical lists (sometimes, literal mirror matches), Konflict 47 is currently majorly free of this level of Win at all costs normality.
Players are encouraged to take the units they want to build their army around. Whether that’s a fast and mobile walker platoon, or an infantry heavy assault platoon, or a mix of whatever you desire to take in your agreed points limits. Each platoon will need their own commander, otherwise your army has plenty of freedom to work within your desired ambition, and not just “Take lots of what is good because that’s how you win.”. This, coupled with the order dice mechanic means even if your horde of infantry goes up against a rolling thunder tank list, you’ll have every opportunity to seize those objectives, and use those handy anti tank weapons to achieve victory with your prized collection.
Another feature of Konflict that I adore is the integration of your Bolt Action collection into your games. This isn’t just economic to get two games out of one collection, but the aesthetic of your rifle platoon being supported by a squad of jump troops zipping overhead with a pair of huge mechs rocking up the flanks is absolute cinema on the tabletop. All this without the need to buy expensive books repetedly in a constant cycle, while worrying about their collections being invalidated at the whim of game devs. During a recent discussion at the Warlord Games Open Day, assurances have been made that players collections should be welcome to their game for the forseeable, without fear of being cast to the winds of ‘legendary’ status that we all know and fear.
A British Starter army for Konflict 47. Complete with ‘Boss, some troops and one or 2 ‘special’ units. As all good starter armies should include!
A Complete Blend of Hobby Freedom
If you enjoy the painting element as much as the playing side of wargaming, this system offers huge potential to you regardless of where on the painting spectrum you decide to dip your toes into Konflict. If, like me, you've painted hundreds of Games Workshop models, and also have painted a fair share of Bolt Action, this game gives you an absolute treat to work within.
You can take the historical references straight from any Second World War publication or set piece (See my yearly watch of Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers etc) and apply that to your Konflict collection and it will still look fantastic from all that real world inspiration. You can go completely the other way and take that sci-fi desire and go full weird and whacky. Bright red mechs? Tanks with seamless red white and blue stripes? Digital camouflage patterns on your power armoured Stahltruppen? Why the bloody hell not! Likewise, you can absolutely split it down the middle. I’m very eager to do some Soviet walkers painted in the lovely refractive green, with some striking crimson rough camo stripes across the armour.
I’ve always been more of a painter than a player of toy soldiers. Konflict ticks all the boxes that inspire my painting. A beautiful blend of real world weathering and armour with some eccentric and sometimes absurd science fiction striking elements to make a truly unique and exciting force.
The Soviet Bloc Molot walker, painted in several various and super wicked schemes by the team at Warlord Games
Those are some of my brief reasons on taking K47 for a spin, if you’re feeling as I do about other high profile science fiction wargames. That’s certainly not me saying one is better than the other, but the be all and end all of, if you find yourself not enjoying something, try something new! So if you have a nearby gaming store that offer demo games of Konflict 47 (Or even bolt action, just to get those juices flowing), I highly recommend you do so. If you ever find yourself nearby Warlord Games in Lenton, or the Fresh Warlord Games store in Wigan, they have teams of wonderful staff who are more than welcome to take you through it, and support you with any questions or help you’re after. Special thanks to Conor at Warlord Games in Lenton for helping me with my demo game today.
Thanks for reading and be sure to let us know what additional K47 content you’d like to see! You can check out the SEMINAR from the Warlord Games Open Day where I discuss painting armies as fast as humanly possible. I’m excited to put this in to practice on some Starter sets soon…
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