Konflikt ’47 – Introducing the Axis

The atomic annihilation unleashed upon Dresden took only an instant, but it was one that had been three centuries in the making. Since the rule of August the Strong, the destiny of the Fatherland has been led and shaped by an organisation known as the Green Vault, always operating in the shadows to manipulate the course of history. With the opening of the Rifts, the need for secrecy has gone. The politicians of the Third Reich have been discarded, their purpose served, and their imagery remade anew. A similar revolution, engineered by the far-reaching hand of the Green Vault and its network of secret societies, has taken place across Germany’s European allies, consolidating the nations into the monolithic Axis, centred around the ruins of Dresden and the hellish Rift at its core. Now marching under one sinister banner, Axis troops wage war in the name of the Green Vault, and final victory.

The Axis were the first to truly harness the power of Rift energy, with their forces joined first by the unliving legions of the Totenkorps, followed by the Stahltruppen heavy infantry,  ever-increasing numbers of armoured walkers, and advanced new weaponry. Axis Rift-tech is inextricably intertwined with the occult studies of the Green Vault, and sinister rumours circulate about the upper echelons of the new regime and their arcane practices. Beneath these new masters, politicians and generals still vie for position and influence, and little if anything has improved for the average civilian on the home front. Brutal repression and endless propaganda are simply a part of everyday life, and every aspect of industry is geared towards supporting the war effort.

The Axis’ military situation remains a desperate one – the Allied landings in Normandy and Italy, and the relentless Soviet onslaught from the East have brought the war to Germany’s doorstep. In the East, the relationship with Imperial Japan appears to be fracturing as the Emperor pursues his own dreams of dominion. Now, with its legions empowered by the Rifts, the Axis lashes out in all directions. New offensives and counter-offensives lay waste to Europe, as enemies attempt to storm towards Dresden and its dark secrets, and Axis forces lunge forward to drive them back. For the Axis soldier at the front, the war is still one of survival, often against desperate odds, but in a world far more lethal than ever before. There is no question or possibility of negotiation or surrender – for the Axis, the war can end only in total victory, or utter obliteration, a fact reinforced constantly by the Green Vault’s propagandists.

As the old world tears itself apart in a Rift-fuelled orgy of destruction, new horrors issue forth from the hell that sits at the heart of the old Reich. The dark mobilisation of Axis forces gathers pace with each passing day, while the Green Vault’s finest minds dream of the impossible glories revealed to them in the flickering fires still burning in Dresden’s charred corpse. Their motives are unknown – perhaps incomprehensible to the uninitiated – but their will is clear, and hard as Krupp steel. The war will continue. The Green Vault demands it, and their Rift-scientists and generals will ensure that it is so.

Depicted in the thick of the action at the Fourth Battle of Smolensk, Oberfeldwebel Rühl wears the Panzerhärnisch heavy armour of the Stahltruppen, painted in disruptive urban camouflage. The extra communications equipment incorporated into his helmet marks him out as a squad leader. Armed with an MG 44 light machine gun, Rühl was last observed defending a street corner against Soviet troops when his position was overrun by Ursus infantry. His body was not recovered. His unit would later be annihilated, along with many of the advancing Soviet forces, during the Luftwaffe’s saturation bombardment of the front line.