Konflikt ’47 – A Tale of Five Gamers: Progress Update!

I loved the aesthetic of the older Empire of Japan models, so when I saw the new releases, I jumped at the chance to collect and paint a new army! First off, the Ghost Attack squad models have had such a nice glow-up. The old models were what attracted me to K47 in the first place, but these new ghosts… Phwoar. I’d paint that.

The new Type 6 Walker has also captured my heart. If I could field 20 of them, I’d field 20, but I think I’ve worked out that I can at most field five by taking two minimum-size units of battle frames and a bare bones officer… but that might be a bit much. Also, we told Steff that she had to do a vaguely ‘sensible’ army to start off with – ed.

The models went together really nicely, and I really liked that the Type 6 kit allowed me to dip the front end down slightly by angling the legs, ensuring that the ‘tail’ gun points directly at enemy units.

When it comes to painting, I prefer a more ‘abstract’ approach to a colour scheme, rather than the traditional base coat – layer -wash – highlight system. The entire army got a base coat of white primer, and then every surface that would be in shadow got a liberal spraying of Wicked Pink through my airbrush, with the tanks getting their panel lines defined in pink as well. This was all followed by a top-down spray of Desert Yellow.

The pink underlayer, when covered in yellow , gives a really nice, saturated orangey-brown shadow, with small bits of the original pink showing through for tiny pops of colour.

The yellow areas then got a top-down coat of Daemonic Yellow and a 50/50 mix of Ice Yellow and Daemonic Yellow through the airbrush. All armour panels got a subtle sponging of Ice Yellow for chipping, and then a lighter pass of Oak Brown sponging, for deeper, rusty chipping.

Everything got a liberal coat of burnt umber and burnt sienna oil washes, and once dry, I picked out the lights with a bright red. Clothes got a coat of Uniform Grey, and a highlight of Grey Castle. Finally, all the bases were given a thick spread of texture paste and a drybrush of Pale Sand, with a few bright green tufts.

I think it made a really cohesive look across the army, without it being too bright. It’s also a quick scheme I can repeat on future models!

Speaking of future models… I have a mighty need for some Shibito, so I think that might be my next pick. The ghosts are really cool as well, though…so, ghosts? You know you’re in for a good time when the decision is ghosts or zombies!

As soon as I saw the new starter army with the plastic Fireflies and Linebackers I knew I had to get a hold of it and do something a little different. I was especially taken by the poseability of the Linebacker and decided to try a more dynamic pose for one of them, having it mid-bound!

I had an idea for the Fireflies from the get-go so I decided to look to my vehicles first. In the Linebackers, I saw an aircraft cockpit, and decided to go for that ‘aircraft aluminium’ silver for the prominent colour, as I felt to some degree it would make good winter camouflage! Single-colour vehicles are pretty typical of WWII, especially on the Allied side, and while I could have stuck with pure silver I decided I wanted to include an extra colour that would have been a bit more typical, a splash of that olive green found on most US WWII ground vehicles – this is a nod to the historical heritage.

Of course, no vehicle looks complete without decals or weathering, and the decals provided in the new starter sets are very exciting, marrying the familiar markings such as the White Star with some very Konflikt pieces. I also pinched some aircraft decals for my second walker to add that WWII-esque splash of colour. After decals were applied, I did some sponge weathering, washes on the moving parts, and some oil stains.

For my Fireflies, I decided to go for a relatively simple winter camouflage, utilizing white-grey and grey-blues to get a rudimentary but effective pattern. Keeping in theme, I painted some of the ‘general issue’ kit like repulsor packs, helmets, and ATRDs in olive green. The Firefly decals also added some more life and detail, setting them apart from their World War II cousins while adding some familiarity (who doesn’t love a white star?).

When it came to basing my force, I followed my usual basing for winter armies. I started with dark earth or concrete texture paste (both if I’m feeling a touch adventurous), a selection of tufts, and a healthy layer of snow effect paste, topped with a dusting of snow while the snow dried, then finally a handful of sticks broken up to form logs or stumps. I did this a few times before I sat back, and decided that the models didn’t feel apocalyptic enough! Fighting over snow covered ruins seems very Konflikt, so I began to add bricks, tires and abandoned crates and other such battlefield paraphernalia.

I could have left it there, but I felt I could really sell the apocalyptic vibe by splashing my troops with blood! As my brush control (and patience!) aren’t really up to this kind of work, I decided to utilize a flexible plastic spatula, dipping it into Old Blood and flicking it! This gave some wild results, from a few small specks of blood across the model to full blown splatters. If I didn’t like it, I simply wiped it off which left a red stain that I found quite characterful. I followed up with some True Blood in much the same manner, and that I felt was enough. Now I just need to give them a cool sounding unit name and motto!

How am I planning to expand on this force? An easy answer would be more Fireflies, and maybe another Linebacker, but at the same time I read that fun article by Kris about Light Walkers and feel I could probably do with some Jackal Jump Walkers to counter any pesky Shreckwulfen or Ursus (looking at you, Jon!). On the other hand, maybe a Tesla Cannon or two in an Artillery Platoon. Choices, choices…