Konflikt ‘47 at Devildog
Article by Joe Mealy
You’ll recall from my previous blog post that I’ve been very excited about Konflikt ‘47. Having played a few games for the review in Issue 137, I was keen to get my local gaming community playing, so I set myself the goal of running a demo day. What follows is a brief report on how the lead-up and day itself went.
In the lead-up to the Konflikt ‘47 demo day, I found myself in full-on hobby panic mode. I really wanted to give players an immersive experience, so I made sure that all the minis on the table were painted and ready for battle. On the workbench were three Stalhtruppen and five US Fireflies, with Steve, the owner of Devildog Gaming in Paignton, UK, painting the Linebacker, and me already having the Vogelspinne ready to go (see below).
The Hobby Prep
For the Stalhtruppen, I wanted to really sell the idea them being ‘walking tanks’. With that in mind, I went with a World War II–style tricolour camo scheme, but with a twist, to tie them into the Konflikt ‘47 universe. I wanted them to have the appearance of a heavy vanguard unit, sent forward in advance of the main army. So I included some subtle battle damage and chipping to give the impression of them having spent considerable time out in the field.
Meanwhile, the US Fireflies were my experiment in speed and simplicity. I decided to test how far I could push Contrast paints for a quick but effective finish. Overall, I was really pleased with how they turned out - especially for a fast-paint job - though in hindsight, I’d start with a zenithal prime next time to bring a bit more depth and darker tone to the scheme.
The Day Itself
The demo day itself was an absolute blast. We had an amazing turnout of players from all sorts of gaming backgrounds — seasoned veterans from Warhammer 40K, returning hobbyists who hadn’t played a wargame in years, and even a few complete newcomers to tabletop gaming.
Each player had the opportunity to play as the US, whilst I played as the Axis. For the table, I used Steve’s superb in-store terrain to create a war-torn town, which provided opportunities for line of sight blocking and the US the chance to make good use of their rift jump ability.
No matter their experience level, everyone came away smiling after a great introduction to Konflikt ‘47. The mix of alternate-history lore, gritty WWII roots, and strange new technologies really seemed to catch people’s imaginations.
For me, one of the highlights was just being able to chat about the game’s lore, the mechanics, and some of the current and upcoming releases announced by Warlord Games. There’s so much cool stuff on the horizon, and it was great to share that excitement with others.
Looking Ahead
With such a successful demo day under our belts, we’re already planning the next big step - a slow-grow campaign at Devildog Gaming kicking off in the new year! As for me, I’ll be expanding my Axis army so I can properly take the fight to friends who are now building their own forces after getting hooked at the event. All in all, it was a fantastic day and lots of fun was had. I couldn’t have asked for more.