Most reputable scholars agree that a sci-fi tabletop wargame needs a few key ingredients to succeed: brilliant, desirable miniatures; robust, satisfying rules; captivating lore; and, most importantly, massive robotic death scorpions with ballistic weapons mounted in the tail. In Warhammer 40k, that role is filled by the mighty Brass Scorpion daemon engine, a $335 resin specialist kit that you'll only see played once in a blood red moon. But a new player has entered the wacky sci-fi wargame market, and its robotic death scorpions take center stage.
Originally released in 2016, then triumphantly relaunched in 2025, Warlord Games' Konflikt '47 is a delightfully weird, sci-fi infused, parallel history counterpart to its flagship game Bolt Action, easily the world's most popular WW2 miniature wargame.
In its alternate timeline, atomic explosions in Los Alamos and Dresden in 1944 opened time-space rifts, unleashing mysterious transmissions of future science that allowed all the WW2 powers to rapidly ramp up their weapons tech to absurdly futuristic levels. As a result, in 1947, its parallel world war isn't just in full swing, it's being fought with spider legged tanks and laser cannons, not only tommy guns and bayonets.
Last year, Warlord's big relaunch of Konflikt '47 delivered a range of very rad new miniatures for the game, and it's seemingly drawing the eye of many gamers who might not have gone in for full-fat historical gaming, but love them some freaky robo-nazis. What's catching my attention just now, though, is K47's masterful one-upmanship in the key area of armored war machines that look exactly like scorpions.
The Empire of Japan faction's new Type 7 Sasori Light Walker (currently up for pre-order and releasing in February) is, frankly, a superb addition to this competitive field. It's got the necessary, ridiculous design elements. Articulated armored tail with an energy cannon on it? Check. Preposterously heavy looking powered metal claws at the front? You betcha. It's even got decorative Samurai-style armor plating, for extra drip.
But what wins most points with me is that the design somehow feels natural; the vaguely realistic looking WW2 era tank hull portion in the middle is angled down, pushing weight onto the front legs, hiding the vulnerable underbelly, and giving headroom for that evil tail to swing about threateningly. Like GW's giant brass monstrosity, this looks like a scorpion. It's giving scorpion.
Its predecessor from Warlord's earlier range, the Type 6 Ke-Ho, did its best - but a fixed, upward tail assembly with a rotating tank turret on top just isn't scorpionish enough. It doesn't even have pincers! Only three poison stings out of five, in my book. Articulated, segmented tail weapon or GTFO.
I joke, but, for all the exoskeleton stormtroopers, nazi lasers, and jump pack aided US Airborne paras, it's this new Japanese scorpion tank that's properly sealed the deal for me on the miniature design appeal for K47's history bending schtick.
That's partly because it feels like a good bellwether of the thematic step change from pure historical to absurdist fiction game. As everyone knows, there's a reason even the versions of walker tanks that would physically work in real life have never entered combat service. It's because they're really stupid.
They're unstable, wildly inefficient, unavoidably vulnerable, and arachnid legs don't handle any tough terrain that good ol' tracked wheels can't deal with cheaper, more reliably, and more resiliently. Oh, and they can't rotate on the spot like regular tanks can, either. So the decision to not only have your game's warring factions use walkers, but make them even less practical by building them to look like scary animals, is an inherently fantastical trope.
Yes, there are still some excitable arms researchers who want to do it in real life. And yes, throughout history (especially ancient and medieval history), warfare has featured a lot of weapons, armor, or vehicles made to look like dangerous animals or mythical beasts, to intimidate enemies on the battlefield. But, where a helmet with a lion's face on it is a historically realistic element in a wargame, a six legged scorpion tank with attack claws as heavy as its chassis is an undeniable and (for my personal tastes) welcome step into the land of imagination.
The fact that the bizarre daemon engines in the Chaos aligned Warhammer 40k factions ignore the boring restrictions of real world engineering is a constant reminder that when playing 40k, we're in another world where normal rules don't apply. I'm not someone who needs my wargames to be overtly fictional - I enjoy historicals, and Bolt Action in particular - but I do prefer fantasy games for the more explicit escapism they offer. And, for many folks, an overt fantastical setting is necessary for a game to feel like the true escape from reality they want at their table.
That's why the marvelous Type 7 Sasori has so ignited my interest in Konflikt '47 (although the fact that it costs $66 to the Brass Scorpion's $335 doesn't hurt, either). Will it stop me maining British Commonwealth, purely for the maniacal decision to make literal B1 battle droids with Brodie helmets on? Not on your nelly.
If you're as hyped as me about all the wonderfully weird stuff coming out of Konflikt '47 right now, want to trade takes about weird war two versus world war two gaming, or just want a damn good chat about scorpions - hop into the free Wargamer Discord community and join the fun.