The design team working on alt-history WW2 wargame Konflikt ‘47 has landed another superstar member, as prolific fantasy author and game developer William King joins the squad. King is best known as the author of the Gotrek and Felix Warhammer fantasy novels, as well as the Warhammer 40,000 Space Wolf series.
Publisher Warlord Games announced Kings’ appointment to the Konflikt ‘47 team on Monday. Though most famous for his Warhammer fantasy and Warhammer 40k books, King contributed to many Warhammer Fantasy Battle army books as well as the fourth edition of the game, and was a lead designer on Warhammer’s naval spin-off Man O’ War. He was also the lead designer for the 1996 Warhammer 40k rival Mutant Chronicles: Warzone.
How he managed to do all that design work and still write over forty fantasy novels is something of a mystery. Warlord states that King “will be crucial in building and developing the in-game universe, working with both rules and background” on Konflikt ’47.
King is joining a team headed up by another ex-Games Workshop luminary, Andy Chambers, who took over as lead designer of Konflikt ‘47 in June. Warlord’s latest announcement promises “several other big names [will] be announced in the not-too-distant future”.
King is enthusiastic about the new role, saying: “World War 2 plus Dieselpunk! Undead! Monsters! What’s not to love?” He adds: “Konflikt ’47 speaks to any number of my obsessions – retrotech SF, alternate history, WW2, to name but a few”.
That’s a pretty good summary of the Konflikt ‘47 setting. The core of the game’s rules come from WW2 game Bolt Action, which was developed by former Warhammer 40k designers Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley. Bolt Action carries over elements from 40k 3rd edition like standardised movement distances and vehicle armor values, but strips out systems like armor saves and different toughness values which are needed to differentiate all the exotic Warhammer 40k factions.
Konflikt ‘47 then adds in rules for a whole cast of Weird War Two goodness, from Soviet Werebears to British automata. Though there are mechs, power armor, and super-soldiers in Konflikt ‘47, it’s a game calibrated around mortal humans, not around Space Marines – so the sci-fi stuff feels really special. The video by MiniWargaming, above, shows off the gameplay.
The prospect of Andy Chambers gradually reassembling the 1990s Games Workshop design studio inside Warlord Games is honestly pretty great. The talent is proven, and they’re working with a rules framework that goes places they never could with Warhammer 40k.
Feeling nostalgic for a bygone era of wargaming, or want to learn more about what the old crusties got up to back in the day? Check out this amazing recreation of the Siege of Terra using the classic Epic rules, by Yogscast.
Source: Wargamer
