This section describes rules for the most common and important combat weapons of Konflikt ‘47 including infantry small arms, support weapons and artillery.
Each of the weapons used in Konflikt ‘47 has a profile that includes all the gaming information needed to play. For example, this is the profile for the most common weapon of the war:
| Type | Range | Shots | Pen | Special |
| Rifle | 24” | 1 | – | – |
Type: this is a generic description that includes many weapons with the same or similar characteristics. In the case of the rifle, this includes all bolt-action rifles, carbines, and semi-automatic or self-loading rifles such as the American M1 Garand.
Range: this is the maximum range in inches at which the weapon can be fired. This is not the maximum theoretical range of the weapon (which would be much longer in many cases) but rather an effective combat range reflecting practical ranges in battle situations.
Shots: this is the number of dice rolled when the weapon is fired. This does not directly represent the number of rounds a weapon can shoot in any fixed time. It is a measure of comparative effectiveness in our game, taking into account reloading times, ammunition conservation, and the need to constantly correct a weapon’s aim to keep it on target.
Pen: short for penetration bonus, this is a measure of how much punch the weapon’s shots deliver, its stopping power and ability to penetrate armour. This number is added to the roll to damage against all targets. If the weapon has the letters HE in this column rather than a number, this means it always fires high-explosive (HE) rounds. HE rounds have a penetration bonus based on the size of shell (see here).
Special: here we include any special rule that modifies the way a weapon works. A list of common special rules can be found after the weapons chart.
A German Spinne Light Panzermech supports a Zeus ‘tank-killer’.
The weapons chart lists the different types of weapon as they are defined in the game. Thus we treat all rifles as the same, all pistols as the same, all light machine guns as the same, and so on. Where we wish to make a distinction between particular kinds of machine gun, or particular kinds of weapon of any type, we will introduce a special rule in the Army List. For example, the German MG42 machine gun is given more shots to represent its higher rate of fire compared to other weapons of this type. Note that we do not include hand grenades amongst our list of weapons – this is because grenades are thrown only at very short ranges and are therefore included as part of the rules for close quarter fighting. It is assumed that all infantry carry the usual fragmentation grenades, and can be given anti-tank grenades in some cases. Most of the categories will be obvious enough and require no explanation. Hopefully everyone knows what is meant by a rifle, a submachine gun, or a pistol. Other categories are very specific and refer to a particular weapon such as a panzerfaust or a PIAT, and therefore require no further explanation of how they are arrived at. However, most heavy weapons such as anti-tank guns, mortars and howitzers are rated as light, medium, heavy, and so forth. A little explanation is required of how these categories have been determined.
Rifles. The rifle is the standard weapon of the World War II infantryman. Rifles can be either magazine-fed, bolt-action rifles such as the British Lee-Enfield .303 or self-loading rifles such as the American M1 Garand, German Gewehr 43, and Russian Tokarev SVT-40.
Pistols. Pistols are the standard side arm carried by officers as well as by vehicle crews and combatants otherwise unable to carry a rifle. These can be automatic weapons such as the American Colt and German Walther P38, or revolvers such as the British Webley.
Submachine guns (SMG). Submachine guns were often carried by vehicle crews and junior officers, or by specially equipped units such as commandos. Submachine guns fired pistol ammunition and therefore had a very limited range. The Russians equipped whole formations with these weapons, as they were very effective in the hands of inexperienced troops. Submachine guns were especially favoured for fighting in heavily built-up areas where a rifle’s greater range was of little consequence. Typical examples include the American Thompson, British Sten, German MP40 Schmeisser, and Russian PPD-40 and PPSh-41.
Shotgun. Whilst not a technologically advanced weapon, the advent of enhanced soldiers on the battlefield, has meant a weapon with the stopping power of a rifle and versatility in assault has become popular. A favourite of partisans and forces fighting in built up areas, more shotguns are making their way forward to the frontlines.
Automatic rifle. This category is intended to cover the oneman Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) that equipped American infantry squads in lieu of a two-man light machine gun. It was a weapon of World War I vintage originally designed to allow advancing infantry to give covering fire as they approached the enemy.
Assault rifle. This category covers the most advanced infantry arm of World War II – a weapon that could shoot with the power and accuracy of a rifle and the rate of fire of a submachine gun. Assault rifles only appeared in the hands of specialist troops until the end of the war. The German StG44 is the best-known example of an assault rifle from the period. The Soviet AK-47 has also been rushed into the field in response to the effectiveness of the German weapon.
Light machine gun (LMG). This category covers all mobile, squad-based machine guns usually with a crew of two such as the British Bren and German MG42. These weapons shot rifle calibre bullets and provided infantry squads with their main source of firepower.
Medium machine gun (MMG). Medium machine guns covers rifle calibre machine guns on a heavy, tripod or similar fixed mount. These can include some weapons that are otherwise categorised as LMGs on bigger, more stable mounts, and usually including more crew to carry the extra ammunition and equipment. For example, the German MG42 was used in the LMG role on a light bipod mount, and in the MMG role on a tripod mount. However, in the British army the LMG role was fulfilled by the Bren whilst the MMG role was taken by the Vickers, which was a heavier, water-cooled, maxim-style machine gun with a weighty brass tripod.
Heavy machine gun (HMG). Heavy machine guns are basically large calibre machine guns such as the American Browning .50 cal. These weapons fire big, powerful bullets and are usually considered too heavy to be carried by infantry. They are often found mounted onto vehicles for defence against aircraft.
Automatic cannons. Automatic cannons are rapid firing weapons that are typically found on very light tanks and armoured cars. They are also used extensively as anti-aircraft guns and examples include Bofors guns and the German Flak 38. These guns are divided into two categories in our game: light and heavy. Generally speaking, light automatic cannons are those with a calibre of 20mm or 25mm whilst heavy automatic cannons have a calibre of 37mm or 40mm.
Infantry anti-tank weapons. The anti-tank rifle was in widespread use at the outbreak of World War II but proved largely ineffective against modern armoured vehicles, being insufficiently powerful to penetrate more than about 20mm of armour. It remained useful against armoured cars, and lighter vehicles, as well as against emplaced or armoured infantry. The Russians persevered with a heavier calibre anti-tank rifle, producing the 14.5mm calibre PTRD-41 capable of piercing up to 40mm of armour at very short ranges. The remaining weapons of this category were designed to fire a shaped charge or HEAT round (High Explosive Anti Tank). This was a development of the hand held anti-tank grenade by the American military, the original and best-known example being the bazooka. The Germans copied the design and produced their own version, which they called panzerschreck or ‘tank terror’. The British developed their own design based on a spigot mortar; this was the Projector Infantry Anti Tank or PIAT. While all of these weapons were similar in concept, they varied sufficiently in effectiveness for us to give them distinct ranges and penetration values in our game. A further development was the one-shot disposable panzerfaust – ‘tank fist’ – that was issued to German troops in large numbers towards the end of the war. Captured panzerfaust were used by the Allies and especially by the Russians.
Anti-tank guns (AT guns). All anti-tank guns are designed to fire a projectile with as high a velocity as possible over a flat trajectory – enabling them to strike enemy tanks over long distances. The effectiveness of an AT gun depends upon its calibre, the velocity of the weapon, and the type of shell used. AT guns with longer barrels are more effective because they fire shells at a higher velocity. Armour penetration is closely related to the kinetic energy delivered by a shell: this being equal to the mass of the shot (weight of shell) multiplied by the velocity squared. In addition, as the war progressed shells were developed that were more effective at penetrating armour either because of their shape, or because they incorporated a dense core – usually tungsten. For our purposes we rate AT guns as light, medium, heavy, or super-heavy depending upon their overall effectiveness. Although this is closely related to calibre, some very high velocity weapons punch ‘above their weight’, such as the British 17pdr (calibre 76.2mm) and German 75mm L/70 as found in the Panther tank. The Army Lists explain which weapons fit into which categories, but as a general guide, light AT guns are those up to 50mm calibre, medium AT guns are those up to 75mm including weapons of 75mm of relatively low velocity, heavy AT guns are those of 75mm or greater including weapons of 75mm of relatively high velocity. Super-heavy AT guns are those of 75mm or greater with extremely high velocity or effectiveness, for example the German 88mm. Note that some weapons will fall into a higher or lower category because they were really less or more effective than their calibre alone suggests – and these are indicated in the Army Lists.
Flamethrowers. Flamethrowers were used by specialist troops and were primarily employed for clearing fixed defences such as blockhouses and bunkers. They were much feared by ordinary soldiers – so much so that captured flamethrower operators were likely to find themselves shot out of hand. We distinguish between man-pack flamethrowers and larger, vehicle-mounted weapons such as that of the Churchill Crocodile flamethrower tank.
Rifle grenade. Using an attachment fitted to standard rifles, most nations developed a small bomb that could be fired like a small mortar round. Going out of fashion in the mid-war period, the need to increase the firepower of the infantryman in the late-war period saw rifle grenades reappear in several nations’ infantry platoons.
Mortars. Mortars served as close support where artillery was either not available or was insufficiently mobile – mortar platoons formed part of infantry battalions, providing short ranged artillery support exactly where it was needed. All mortars lob an explosive shell above and onto their target, with larger and more powerful mortars having a longer range and firing a correspondingly heavier shell. We distinguish between light, medium and heavy weapons. Light mortars are very small weapons with a short maximum range – usually about 500 yards. They are used right at the front to either shell enemies hiding in cover, to lay smoke or to fire illuminating flares at night. Typical light mortars include the British 2”, German 50mm and American 60mm mortars. Medium mortars are larger support weapons and typically have a calibre greater than 60mm – often 80mm. They have a much longer range – over 3,000 yards – and a heavier shell, but they are much harder to move about and tend to operate as light artillery pieces at longer range. Heavy mortars are those of even larger calibre – these are really long-range support weapons and not likely to find their way to the front unless overrun by advancing enemy. The German 120mm mortar was a weapon of this type – itself a copy of the Russian 120mm mortar, a weapon with a range of over 6,000 yards.
Howitzers. We have used the term howitzers to cover the kind of combined gun-howitzer artillery pieces that were the usual field artillery design during World War II. These guns could fire over open sights at an enemy or they could lob shells at distant targets with a high trajectory. There were many different designs and sizes of gun – and we shall not concern ourselves with the very largest weapons used for coastal defence and long-range bombardment. For our purposes it is sufficient to make three distinctions. Light howitzers are mobile field guns with a calibre below 100mm. This includes the British 25pdr, the American 75mm pack howitzer, and various German 75mm field guns including those captured in some quantity from the French. Medium howitzers cover weapons under 150mm, such as the American 105mm gun, the British 4.5 inch, and Russian 122mm howitzer. Heavy artillery covers weapons of 150mm calibre and greater such as the German 150mm, Russian 152mm howitzer, and American 155mm Long Tom.
Tesla Cannon. The directed energy weapons conceived and developed by Nikola Tesla have had an immediate impact on the battlefield. Even heavily-armoured vehicles are vulnerable to electricity and with a dispersion setting, squads of infantry can be attacked just as easily. Whilst relatively short ranged and bulky, they are effective against both vehicles and infantry, which makes them popular with the tank crews that use them. Tactically the glow of the Tesla Cannon’s coils makes ambushes and fighting at night difficult, but the psychological effect of the electrical arcs on enemy soldiers is worth the side effects.
Schwerefeld Projektor. The gravity manipulation weapons employed by Germany have the ability to alter localised gravity, crushing targets under their own weight, our rapidly altering the gravity in a small space. This can cause rapid failure of mechanical parts and the aftershocks can disrupt a targets ability to operate for a significant time. The ability of the weapon’s energy field to manipulate gravity is linked to the target’s mass, making the weapon more effective against bigger and heavier targets. This has led to more of these weapons being employed on the Eastern Front than the in the west, to counter the heavy Soviet walkers and tanks.
Zvukovoy Proyektor. These Soviet-designed sonic shock cannons are brutally effective against infantry and unprotected vehicle crews, utilising ultra-low frequencies focussed into an energy pulse that behaves like a battering ram they can disrupt most targets they face. The beam dissipates rapidly through the atmosphere, but can disorientate and incapacitate swathes of infantry at a time. Being in an armoured vehicle offers little to no protection, with the crew highly vulnerable regardless of the armour between them and the firer.
The following special rules are used to represent the different types of weapons, or weapons mounted for specialist use, as indicated on the weapons chart.
This weapon suffers no penalty ‘to hit’ when moving and shooting. In addition, infantry armed with an assault weapon can make two attacks in close quarter fighting against other infantry and artillery units – see here. Note being armed in this way does not confer two attacks against vehicles at close quarters.
This is a disposable weapon that can be fired only once per game. For example, the panzerfaust is a rocket-propelled anti-tank grenade commonly used by late-war German troops. Once fired replace the model with another model that does not carry the disposable weapon.
This weapon is too heavy and cumbersome to be moved easily, it probably has a substantial mount and the chances are that its ammunition is equally hard to lug about. These weapons are ideally fired from a stationary position once set up, and if moved about usually take a while to get ready for action. Fixed weapons cannot be fired when a unit is given an Advance order. Teams armed with fixed weapons that make an advance action can only move – they cannot shoot as well. Fixed weapons can only target an enemy unit that lies at least partially within their front arc (i.e. within an angle of 45° to each side of their barrel as shown on the diagram opposite). Targets outside of this arc cannot be shot at.
A team weapon requires two or more men to shoot at full effect. Most team weapons form units on their own – for example a medium machine gun team, a bazooka team, or an artillery piece and its crew. The only team weapon carried by the typical infantry squad is the light machine gun. If a light machine gun is included in an infantry squad then any of the other infantrymen in the squad can serve as its second crewman; for example, a Bren gun team of firer and loader.
Aside from light machine guns, team weapons form individual units; for example an anti-tank gun and crew, a mortar and crew, or a heavy machine gun and crew. A team can consist of two, three, or more members comprising one man to fire the weapon and a number of loaders or other crewmen to help operate it, move it about, carry ammunition, or act as lookouts. All the members of the unit are fully occupied whether carrying equipment, serving the weapon, or keeping watch. Note that although in reality crewmen often carried small arms, and many crew models will undoubtedly do so, in the game crews of team-based units never fire these weapons and are therefore not allocated personal armament in the army lists.
A team weapon shoots at full effectiveness so long as there are at least two men to serve it. A minimum of two crew is always needed to fire at full effect. If only one man remains to serve a team weapon then the weapon can still be fired but suffers a –1 ‘to hit’ penalty. A weapon team unit reduced to just one man also suffers a –1 penalty to its morale value (in the same way as if an infantry squad had lost its NCO).
In the case of a non-artillery team weapon unit – such as a mortar, bazooka, and so on – when the model carrying the team weapon is destroyed the entire team is considered to be out of action. All remaining crew models are removed as casualties and the unit is destroyed. This might seem harsh but it avoids worrying about ineffective odd men and is only fair in terms of the removal of order dice and awarding of victory points as described later. Perhaps these odd crewmen have panicked and fled or else they have been caught in a catastrophic ammunition explosion and killed – either way we abandon them to their fate. Note that this rule only applies to team weapon units, i.e. to units that comprise a team weapon, and not to infantry squads that also include a team weapon; if an infantry squad’s team weapon is destroyed, surviving loaders simply revert to ordinary members of the squad.
The warhead of these rocket-propelled grenades can take out any tank it strikes head-on. These are very powerful weapons but rather inaccurate, so they suffer from an additional –1 penalty on all rolls to hit. On the other hand, as the shells don’t rely on velocity to penetrate armour, they never suffer the –1 penetration modifier for firing at long range.
A flamethrower hits automatically – no roll is made to hit the target and no modifiers are applied. This makes flamethrowers especially effective against troops in bunkers or behind cover. It also means that a flamethrower team reduced to one man can continue to fire at full effect, although he still suffers the –1 morale penalty as noted under Team. When shooting with a flamethrower the number of hits is determined randomly by rolling a D6 for man-pack flamethrowers, 2d6–1 for light vehicle flamethrowers and 2D6 for vehicle flamethrowers. Roll for damage in the usual manner.
Although flames cannot literally burn through armour, the penetration modifiers for shooting at armoured vehicles with heavy weapons do apply as described in the Vehicles section of the rules. This represents the vulnerability of rear-mounted engines to fire and the tendency of burning liquid to seep through hatches and other openings. The gun shield rule does not apply when shooting at artillery targets with a flamethrower. The extra protection rule does not apply when shooting at targets inside buildings with a flamethrower. In both cases neither building nor gun shield offers any additional protection against a flamethrower.
An infantry or artillery unit hit by a flamethrower takes 1 pin marker because it has been hit, and a further D3 pin markers to account for the unbridled terror unleashed upon it. As a flamethrower hits automatically, this means it will always inflict D3+1 pin markers on an infantry or artillery target. Note that vehicles take just the one pin marker for being hit. The target of a flamethrower must check its morale once firing has been worked out and pin markers allocated as described above. Note that a morale check is required regardless of the number of casualties caused and even if no damage has been suffered at all. A unit failing this check is destroyed immediately – its morale is completely shattered. Vehicles failing their morale in this way are abandoned and considered destroyed. After shooting with an infantry man-pack flamethrower roll a D6. On a result of 1 or 2 the flamethrower has run out of fuel and is now useless. If this happens the entire flamethrower team is removed as if it had fallen casualty. Although this might seem harsh, it does reflect the extreme risks run by troops carrying flamethrowers and introduces a level of unpredictability that balances the weapon’s effectiveness. Where an infantry flamethrower is carried on a vehicle, do not remove the vehicle if the flamethrower runs out of fuel.
After shooting with a vehicle-mounted flamethrower roll a D6. On a result of 1 the flamethrower has run out of fuel and is now useless. This does not otherwise affect the vehicle. When rolling on the damage effects chart against a vehicle equipped with flamethrowers, add an extra +1 to the roll to represent the increased risk from carrying around so much volatile fuel for the flamethrower. See the rules for vehicles.
This weapon can either shoot directly at a target drawing its line of fire ‘over open sights’ in the normal way, or it can shoot indirect fire as described later. When using indirect fire a howitzer has a minimum range of 24”; when firing over open sights it has no minimum range. This is shown on the charts as a variable minimum range of 0–24”.
This rule describes multi-barrelled rocket firing weapons such as the German Nebelwefer and Wurfrahmen, the Russian Katyusha and US Calliope. A multiple launcher counts as a heavy mortar, but its chance of hitting never gets any better than a 6. However, because of the extensive blast area all units (friend or foe) within 6” of the nominated target and not entirely within the weapon’s minimum range can be hit. Roll a die to hit for the target and a separate die for each unit within 6” of the target. Note that units that lie beyond the weapon’s maximum range can also be hit in this way – although the target unit itself must be within range.
The HE rule refers to weapons that can fire a high explosive shot. Some weapons, for instance anti-tank guns, can fire either anti-tank shots (using the Pen value indicated) or HE shots. The player must declare which type of shot the weapon is firing as he declares the target. Some weapons can only fire HE shots and their Pen value is indicated as HE. When shooting against infantry, artillery, or soft-skin vehicles, a hit scored by an HE shell is multiplied into a number of hits as indicated by the bracketed die or dice value shown on the weapons chart. For example, HE D6 will result in from 1 to 6 hits on the target, HE 2D6 gives 2–12 hits, and so on. When fired against an armoured target, HE shots are not multiplied in this manner; instead a single hit is resolved in the same way as with other weapons.
A target shot at by HE can react by taking an immediate Down action in the usual manner. Once the target has gone Down, the number of HE hits caused is halved (rounding down). This represents men who have ‘hit the dirt’ and who might be lucky enough to avoid the blast and flying shrapnel.
Hits by weapons with an HE value greater than D3 can result in extra pin markers on the target. This represents the terrifying effect of artillery shells exploding on and near the unit. The total number of pin markers is generated randomly by rolling a D2, D3, or D6 depending on the HE value of the shooter as shown on the chart below. For example, if hit by a shell with an HE value of D6 the target takes D2 pin markers – i.e. roll a dice with scores of 1, 2, or 3 = 1 and scores of 4, 5, or 6 = 2.
The penetration value of HE shells also varies with the HE values, with larger and more powerful shells having higher values. This is also shown on the chart below. HE shells don’t rely on the kinetic energy of the shell itself to penetrate a target’s armour, so they don’t suffer the –1 penetration penalty when firing at long range.
| HE | PIN | PEN |
| D2 | 1 | +1 |
| D3 | 1 | +1 |
| D6 | D2 | +2 |
| 2D6 | D3 | +3 |
| 3D6 | D6 | +4 |
When a unit capable of shooting HE or anti-tank shots is given an Ambush order the player must specify the type of round loaded. If this is forgotten then the default position is that anti-tank guns will load anti-tank rounds, whilst other guns will load HE rounds. The unit cannot change from one type of round to another until a further order is issued – though this could be another Ambush order if desired.
The indirect fire special rule refers to weapons that shoot ‘indirectly’, which is to say they lob a shot high in the air to land on top of the target, for example a mortar rather than a rifle that shoots ‘directly’ at its target. These indirect fire weapons cannot be fired at targets within their minimum range (see the weapon’s profile). If a target lies within this minimum range the shot misses automatically and is ignored. When using indirect fire a 6 is required to hit regardless of all modifiers. In the following turn, if the shooter fires at the same target, and if neither the shooter nor the target has moved from their position, a hit is scored on a 5+. This represents the shooter adjusting his aim by observing where shots are falling. If the shooter continues to fire, and neither unit moves, a hit is scored on a 4+ in the next turn, then 3+ and finally 2+ in all subsequent turns. If a hit is scored in any turn, the shooter is zeroed in on the target and as long as neither unit moves, all further shots hit on 2+.
The crew of an indirect firing weapon must still be able to see their target to shoot unless a spotter is employed – see the spotter rule in the nearby box. However, the crew can direct their fire against targets even if friends are in the way, as shots pass far over the heads of intervening friendly troops because of the high trajectory.
When fired against vehicles, hits from indirect fire weapons always strike the vulnerable top armour, counting the +1 penetration modifier to damage regardless of the actual position of the firer. If an open-topped armoured vehicle is hit by indirect fire add the +1 penetration modifier to the roll to damage, and also add +1 to the die roll on the damage results table.
Weapons cannot be fired indirect when given an Ambush order. Indirect fire is not accurate enough to use against rapidly moving or emerging targets. Howitzers and mortars can also fire smoke shells to lay a smoke screen – see here for rules covering this.
Tesla weapons have two penetration values, the lower value is used against infantry and artillery, the higher value is used against vehicles.
When targeting infantry and artillery the weapon arcs to nearby targets. After a successful hit is rolled, roll a d6, and this number of additional hits is inflicted on the unit. If the number of hits exceeds the number of models in the unit, any excess hits are lost.
Gravity pulse weapons have a penetration value listed but add +1 to that value when shooting at targets with a Damage value of 8 or 9 and a +2 when firing at targets with a Damage value of 10+. In addition, a unit that takes damage from a gravity pulse weapon cannot be given a Run order in its following activation.
When firing a shockwave weapon, draw a line from the barrel of the weapon in a straight line out to the weapon’s maximum range. Any unit with a model under the line is hit on a 4+ and suffers D3 pin markers. Infantry and artillery units that are hit also suffer D3 hits with a Pen value of +1. Vehicle models hit by the shockwave suffer a ‘crew stunned’ damage result from the damage results table.
Some indirect weapons teams can be provided with a spotter as indicated in the Army Lists section. A spotter is always a single model. The spotter is part of the mortar or artillery team but is always treated separately and is not one of the crew. He does not have to be placed with the weapon crew – his role is to lie in some forward position from where he can relay target coordinates to the crew, directing their fire using either a radio or fixed line. As the spotter forms part of the same unit as the weapon he is directing, no separate order die is provided for him. During a turn either the weapon crew can be given an order or the spotter can be given an order – but never both. If an indirect fire weapon has a spotter, then the crew are assumed to be able to see whatever the spotter can see. This can potentially enable a mortar or artillery piece to shoot at targets that lie on the other side of a hill, woods or in some other position that is invisible to the crew itself. The spotter and the crew are treated entirely separately in other respects – as if they were two units – and the spotter is not taken into account when it comes to determining whether the weapons team or artillery piece is destroyed. Should his associated weapons team or artillery piece be destroyed then the spotter is also removed as a casualty – he abandons his post and makes his way back to his own lines without taking any further part in the battle. If the spotter is destroyed this makes no difference to the weapon team or artillery crew, other than that their aim can no longer be guided by the spotter.
