Konflikt ’47 Starter Armies: What’s in Each Box
Warlord Games has unveiled a new wave of Konflikt ’47 starter armies, and the big theme is plastic. Almost every box now has a plastic core, with just one resin commander (or resin turrets, in Japan’s case) as the exception. Here’s what each faction gets.
Source: Incoming: New Konflikt ’47 Starter Armies, Warlord Games Community. Summary and commentary by Xpidemix.
Soviet Bloc Elite Operational Group
This is the one a lot of players have been waiting for. There’s no conventional infantry at all, just Ursus bear infantry backed by two of the new plastic DM-40 Molot medium walkers. The Molot kit has plenty of weapon options, some of which don’t have rules yet. The Platoon Commander returns from the earlier starter set, now carrying a hammer-and-sickle standard, and he’s the only resin model in the box. It’s a blunt, aggressive force that wants to get stuck in quickly.
Axis Sonderkampfgruppe
This one gathers Axis plastics released over the edition’s first year. Stahltruppen and Totenkorps form a durable but slow infantry core, with fast walkers in support: two Vogelspinne and a Nachtzehrer. The Nachtzehrer can be built as a support unit for the Totenkorps or as an Infernospinne flamethrower. The resin Stahltruppen Platoon Commander is carried over from the previous Axis starter.
British Commonwealth Automated Battalion
This is billed as the first fully plastic Konflikt ’47 starter army. It includes 20 Mk I Automata, a Mk IIC Automated Director and a squad of Mk IIs, which means lots of Data Transmission and plenty of automatic fire. The new plastic Percival is the headline: it builds the Percival, the Hornet and a third variant that Warlord hasn’t named yet, so expect speculation.
United States Rapid Deployment Force
Firefly jump infantry and Linebacker walkers make up the bulk, supported by the new plastic Grizzly. That kit builds the standard Grizzly, the rocket-armed Bruin and the heavily armed Kodiak, with a few surprises on the sprues. The resin Firefly Platoon Commander carries over.
Empire of Japan Long Range Penetration Group
Plastic Ghost and Shadow squads from Shinobi Space lead the infantry, built for flanking and infiltration. The Platoon Commander in Assault Frame Heavy Armour returns, though you can field a plastic Ghost Infiltration commander instead. Two new plastic Chi-Nu medium tanks supply the armour, each with a new twin-barrelled Shiboru Cannon turret in resin. The turrets drop into the plastic hull, and the same kit can still be built with the standard medium anti-tank gun.
Are these boxes temporary?
Warlord says no, but they will be revised as more plastic kits arrive, since the goal is all-plastic armies. Models you’ve already bought stay fully supported in the rules.
Our Take: Great Plastic, Awkward Scale
We’re largely happy with this wave. Moving the starter armies to plastic is the right call. Plastic kits are cheaper to produce, easier to convert and kitbash, and far more accessible to newcomers than resin or metal ever was. The redesigns are also a clear step up. The new Molot, Percival and Grizzly kits look like they were designed with modern tooling in mind, with more weapon options and more character on the sprues. Offering multiple builds from one kit is good value, and it’s what we’ve wanted for a while.
Our reservation is scale creep.
Konflikt ’47 has always been a 28mm game, but the new plastics look much closer to 32mm. That’s a noticeable jump. For a newcomer starting from one of these boxes, it’s invisible. For those of us who already own the original resin and metal range, it’s a real problem. Put an older 28mm model next to a new plastic one and the difference shows straight away, with the new models looking taller and chunkier. When we’ve spent years painting a resin or metal force, being told it will look slightly out of place beside the “new” version is frustrating.
It also affects the hobby side. A cohesive army is part of the appeal, and having to choose between a unified look and a mixed force built up over several years is a poor choice to have to make. Warlord has said every existing model remains supported in the rules, which we appreciate, but rules support doesn’t fix a visual mismatch on the table.
Where we land: the plastic transition is good for the game’s long-term health, and we’d happily recommend these boxes to anyone starting out. If you already own the older range, though, compare the new kits in person or check photos beside your existing models before you commit. The scale difference may bother you more than it bothers us, or less.
