The release of Konflikt ’47 is quickly approaching and along with the new rules are a host of new and updated plastic kits. Today we are taking a look at the updated Firefly Airborne Infantry. This unit is not new to K47. The original metal Firefly Jump Infantry have been around since First Edition. But, just like the K47 rules themselves, the Fireflies have been updated for a new age of warfare. Let’s jump in!

The Sprue

The “poster boys for American combat success”, the Fireflies are a specialist Airborne unit with access to the latest innovations in Rift-tech. Along with the repulsorlift, there are enough M1X Thompson SMGs, BARs, ATRDs and a Flamethrower on each sprue to give a serious close-combat punch. The box contains three identical sprues to build your 18 Fireflies. Each of the three sprues contains:

• 19 heads:
  • 5 bare heads
  • 6 with M5 personal oxygen masks and helmets
  • 6 with just helmets
  • 2 with flight caps
• 6 bodies:
  • 3 with legs attached
  • 3 without legs attached can be built as either:
    • elevated mid-jump or
    • on the ground
• 6 M1 repulsorlifts
• Weapons with arms/hands attached:
  • 6 M1X Thompson SMGs
  • 2 BARs
  • 2 ATRDs
  • 1 Flamethrower
  • 1 pistol
• Weapons with no arms/hands attached:
  • 3 ATRDs
• Various ammo pouches, grenades, empty hands, rockets, etc.

The quality of the sprue is excellent – right up there with the latest Warlord Games plastic infantry kits. I didn’t find any slippage and the mold lines were minimal. The only instance of a bad mold line was one running across the top of the M1Xs but it wasn’t difficult to clean up. I found the layout of the sprue easy to manage with like components all grouped together.

The Build

There are nine different leg poses for the bodies on each sprue – two running, two standing, two kneeling, three mid-jump. As the three mid-jump options are legs only, you do not have to use them. You can build your full squad with “boots on the ground” if that is your preference. I don’t think we’ve seen this level of choice when it comes to infantry from Warlord before. Having six different leg options for the three torsos is just awesome and will provide more variety than a typical infantry sprue. Above are all nine options on bases (I use “GW-style” lipped bases for my Bolt Action minis).

I added the three torsos on the spure to the “grounded” legs and set the mid-flight ones aside. For the weapons, I went with four M1X Thompsons, one BAR, and one ATRD. I like the look of the M1Xs a lot. They are just different enough from a WWII-era Thompson to give them that K47 flair. The BAR is … a BAR. The ATDR looks just like an M2 Law and fits perfectly with the style of the other weapons. All of the weapons I used already have the hands/arms attached and although it’s easier to have them all in pairs, I found the fitting more frustrating than other Warlord kits. Some of the arms just did not work with some of the torsos.

I think the ATRD looks awesome. But the kits did not include any loose M1Xs to attach to the Firefly with the ATRD. And the same goes for all the great additional single-arm options. There are single arms/hands that are pointing, holding a grenade, a pistol, binoculars, but only one weapon option to go with them: a BAR. Not having an M1X held in one hand feels like a miss given the other single-hand options on the sprue.

Now for some heads. With 19 heads per sprue, you are spoiled for choice. You can go fully masked-up, a bunch of helmetless options, or helmets with no masks. I went with a mix. Three masks with helmets, one mask with flight cap, one helmet with no mask, and one mask without a helmet. I do appreciate all the variety in the kit. You can go fully uniform or totally mix and match.

Final step – repulsorlifts and shoulder pads. Adding these jetpacks onto the Fireflies is what makes them Fireflies. I had been enjoying the build but I must admit the models were not “coming together” until now. Once the repulsorlifts were added, boom. Now we are talking! Now we’ve got ourselves come K47 infantry. The mix of the repulsorlifts and the oxygen masks gives that Atomic Age-vibe that I was looking for.

One minor gripe with the repulsorlifts; they are attached to the sprue right at the top of the rounded backpack. Even with the most precise snipping from the sprue you are going to have to file down where the connection was. But, being a curved jetpack, it’s far too easy to file or trim down just a bit too much and leave an ugly indent in the top of the repulsorlift. I am not a miniatures designer and I am sure there is an art to getting all the bits onto a sprue, but a spot for attaching other than directly at the top of a curved surface could have been found.

Adding some guides or indents on the backs of the torsos to indicate where to attach the repulsorlifts is another update I would have liked. Considering you’ll never build your Fireflies without their them, why not make it a little easier to get those repulsorlifts slotted in just perfectly? A minor quibble, to be sure, but it would have been a nice upgrade to ensure a snug fit.

Scale and Compatibility

One common question that arises when a new kit is released is, “How do they scale with the existing range?” Let’s take a look! Above we have three Fireflies next to Wargames Atlantic BEF, Warlord Games Late War British/Canadian, and Warlord US Infantry. I tried to use models that are all standing to get a better sense of the comparison. The Fireflies are very much 28mm Heroic scale, they have some chunk to them. I’ve got no issues with that. After all, they are going into battle against the massive Stahltruppen Heavy Infantry – and those are on 32mm bases!

As for compatibility, it’s possible with a bit of work. The scale of the Fireflies is close enough to the current range of Warlord plastics (especially the newer releases), but the fit is slightly off. The heads for the Fireflies have a long connecting bit that the WWII Warlord kits lack, so when I tried to add a US Infantry head on a Firefly body, it was totally sunken in. The scale was not an issue, but you’d need to make modifications on the neck to get the head into place. The same goes for adding US Infantry weapons. I wanted to add the BAR from the US Infantry onto a Firefly, but I couldn’t get the arms to line up. Again, the scale is not an issue, but you’d have to do some sculpting work to get the WWII arms aligned.

The Takeaway

Warlord needed to walk a fine line creating a fictional unit that had enough resemblance to WWII US Paratroopers to be recognizable, but also distinct enough to be unique to Konflikt ’47. They accomplished that difficult task. I am impressed with the kit. It has character. Warlord wants this unit to be “the poster boys for American combat success” and they pulled it off. There is a specific style they found that really works for their new K47 setting.

The weapon and head options are great. You’ve got enough M1X Thompsons to equip every model on the sprue along with two BARs, a Flamethrower and plenty of ATRDs. I would have like a single, loose M1X to give to the solider firing the ATRD (maybe instead of the second BAR?), but with all the other options already included, I get it.

Make no mistake, the quality of the kit is on par with the best we’ve seen from Warlord Games. Tons of options, easy to build, minimal flash and mold lines. If this is what we can expect from future Konflikt releases we have exciting times ahead.

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Thank you to Warlord Games for providing the Firefly Airborne Infantry featured in this article. The Fireflies are up for pre-order now along with the new Konflict ’47 Starter Set for a late-September release.

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More Konflict ’47 coverage:

• Chicago Dice Builds a Vogelspinne Light Walker
• Chicago Dice Builds Stahltruppen Heavy Infantry
• Konflikt ’47 Review
• Chicago Dice Builds a Linebacker Jump Walker
• Chicago Dice Builds a Panzer IV Ausf. X Walker Tank