After half a decade of war, and despite the vast resources arrayed against it, Imperial Japan reigns supreme over Asia. Battles between mighty fleets and great armies still rage across the islands of the Western Pacific, and through the jungles of Burma and India, yet the Japanese Home Islands remain unsullied by war. In China, the Nationalists and Communists alike have been driven into the hinterlands, and Japanese troops now face off against Soviet forces, awaiting the coming storm. Just as with the Axis, the opening of the Rifts has seen a reversal in Japan’s fortunes – from a slow march to inevitable defeat, to a fight on much more even terms, where victory hangs tantalisingly within reach.
The Emperor’s loyal servants have been galvanised by the Rift-tech secrets shared with them by Axis scientists. Each new development has been embraced and industrialised with great fervour, and Japan’s rise to the status of a true industrial powerhouse has been meteoric. Philosopher-scientists examine everything they can glean from the Rifts in microscopic detail, seeking to better understand the connection between the physical world, and the mysteries of the Rifts and their energies.
Situated far from the Rifts in Dresden and New Mexico, Japanese researchers have forged their own path, leading to a unique mastery of technology which allows for unprecedented manipulation of the physical world – particularly in the fields of stealth and ‘phasing’. With Axis-inspired walker technology backed up by the elite ‘Ghost’ battalions and powered armour, Japanese troops have been able to hold the Americans and Commonwealth at bay, while tightening their grip on the old colonial possessions in the region.
Japan’s enemies are implacable, however. British forces have driven deep into Burma, while Soviet-aided Chinese Communists grow in both numbers and confidence. The United States’ crusade continues its grinding advance across the Pacific, and island after island become charnel houses as the savage fighting is intensified still further by new, deadlier Rift-tech weaponry. The Axis, too, are no longer the firm friends they once were. Prizing their achievements dearly, the Japanese refusal to share their most advanced Rift-tech breakthroughs with those who gave them their start has angered Axis leadership, and while the two great powers remain technically allied, it seems clear that if the trend continues, the situation will deteriorate rapidly. Japanese propaganda reminds the population daily, in no uncertain terms, that their lives belong to their guardian, divinely ordained Emperor, and it is for him that they work, fight, and die with unswerving loyalty.
On the Konflikt ’47 tabletop, Imperial Japanese Rift-tech manifests in unique and deadly forms. While Japanese forces make some use of Axis-supplied technology, in the form of the Shibito corpse squads and the export model of the Heuschrecke, the majority of Japanese Rift units are entirely home-grown – and not shared with the Axis! The most notable breakthroughs by Japanese scientists have been the lethal Shiboru weapons – utilising molecular agitation to create intense high-pressure waves which can crush armour and flesh – and the research into stealth technology which has advanced to the point where users can temporarily ‘phase’ out of sync with the physical world, allowing them to move undetected and even pass through solid obstacles!
This technology means that Imperial Japanese forces can be extremely difficult to pin down and destroy, particularly in dense terrain, while putting out lethal mid-range firepower. In close combat, units such as the Battle-Frame heavy infantry can tear through unprepared enemies, and the Shibito exhibit all the resilience of their Axis cousins. Japanese armour is geared towards supporting their infantry with Shiboru-armed tanks and scuttling Sasori light walkers moving up alongside the main advance.
Through it all, Imperial Japan remains utterly committed to its war, determined to carve out an empire worthy of the name in the East. The time is ripe for conquest, and with Rift-tech helping to stem the previously relentless Allied advance, there is renewed hope of a true victory – not won around the negotiating table, but taken at the point of a sword from helpless and defeated foes. The secretive island fortress of Iwo Jima serves as the focal point for the war effort, and while rumours abound as to the research taking place within its volcanic caves, no-one – friend or foe – has been allowed to see the island up close and live. It is clear that Japan has the capability and intent to fight its war, and its war alone, to the finish. Exactly what that finish might look like is known only to the Emperor and his closest advisors.
A member of the elite Ghost Attack Squads assigned to long-range penetration missions in the jungles of Burma, Nagai is shown here wearing the cutting-edge armour and associated stealth systems that would allow him to wage a solo campaign of destruction against Commonwealth forces. Cut off from the rest of his unit, Nagai utilised his training and equipment to the utmost to harass the enemy, sniping at officers and sabotaging vehicles before fading back into the jungle. He would finally be cornered and killed by an SAS patrol after weeks of hunting, refusing to surrender and inflicting heavy casualties before his death.
Are you ready to join the resurgent Empire of the Sun’s divinely ordained march across the Pacific? Konflikt ’47 pre-orders are live, and the current Japanese range is ready to order right away – no need to wait!
