Search
Review of 379 Kalsarikannit Road
Blurb from the publisher: '379 Kalsarikannit Road is a 2-bed house constructed in the contemporary style. With large feature windows on the rear aspect, an open-plan downstairs living area and stylish exterior cladding, Warmill Real Estate is confident this house will provide you with a home where sitting in your underwear getting drunk can be a daily pleasure.
This kit is a fantastic terrain piece offering large interior spaces and easy-opening doors for CQB scenarios in any 28mm modern day or future wargame. Made from laser-cut MDF, acrylic and coloured board, this model is easy to build and needs no painting. If you feel like painting the interior, the construction method allows for easy painting before finishing.
Product supplied unpainted, assembly required. Not suitable for children under 14 years due to small parts. This is not a toy. If sanding any parts, wear a dust mask or work in a well-ventilated area.'
What you get: Your GBP 38,99 will buy you 379 Kalsarikannit Road, 2-bed, 2-floor modern detached house that can serve as exterior and interior scenery for any kind of modern and sci-fi miniatures wargame. The house is part of the Ultramodern / Warfare line of Warmill, a publisher specializing in wargaming terrain. We will see more of its products shortly.
The building comes as a kit with hundreds of items in it. It is accompanied by extensive instructions, as well as advice on how to better assemble and glue everything.
The strong points: This is scenery that means business. There are not many companies that deal with contemporary scenery, and that is even more of a reason to like this house. This is not supposed to serve as a facade only, with your troops fighting it out in the garden. It is a fully functional house, with its doors, windows, (functioning) flight of stairs, internal doors and internal layout. The exterior of the house is extremely modern, like something you would expect to see in a suburb of a Scandinavian country. It is as moden in fact as to fit any period from the 1950s up to far future science fiction, and I mean modern in the literal, art-related sense of the world. This is an austere, formal style, that impresses with its clear lines and its right angles. If you are searching for non-Euclidean geometry or art deco, you will not find it here. The house does not have furnishings like a toilet and you will have to buy the furniture and other trappings elsewhere, that is however to be expected. Its upper floor is detachable, meaning that you can place the action there, or on the ground floor, or on the two simultaneously, by setting the one next to the other.
I really liked how one doesn't need to paint the house externally. As long as you fit the MDF pieces carefully and without any creases, the house will look painted as is. It is true that it might be a bit bland internally if you don't paint it. I did not myself, if only I could find the time. If you do, it is by far preferable to paint before you assemble. It will be easier, less messy, and will minimize the risk of damage to any of the house's elements.
If you are thinking that Kalsarikannit is a cool made-up name for a street, think again. Setting aside the silly spelling mistake (it should have been Kalsarikännit), this is the Finnish word for (and I shit you not) 'drinking at home alone in your underwear'. I hope that the units you field on this scenery are better prepared, I do however give bonus points to the publisher for naming a product with a name as clever and pertinent as this, for a house that could have been easily found in Finland. Guys, don't forget the ä when you reprint this.
The weak points: Just in case you are reading this drunk: this is not a plug-and-play item. It is the exact opposite of a plug and play item, and one of the most complex buildings that I have assembled myself. I don't wish to discourage the newest entrants in our hobby; it is totally doable. However, if you expect to finish this in a few minutes work and have it ready for your game later in the evening you are totally out of your mind. You will need a plan (to paint or not to paint), tools, patience, and precision. Standard fare stuff, if you are seriously investing into the wargaming hobby.
I wish the house was larger. It is good for 28 mm gaming, miniature bases however tend to take a disproportionate amount of space. Were I the publisher, I would have made oversized it so that it aims to accommodate the bases first instead of the actual body of each mini. This could have facilitated its use, especially if you intend to fill it with furniture.
Conclusion: I am very pleasantly surprised by 379 Kalsarikannit Road, nevermind the missing ä. This is a sturdy, pretty, well-designed piece of scenery, that you can use both for its interiors as well as its exteriors, and can easily become one of the showcase pieces in your collection. It is only natural that it requires devotion and love, in order to blossom into what makes it special.
To find out more about 379 Kalsarikannit Road, visit Warmill's website at https://www.warmill.co.uk.
Shameless plug: for more gaming news and content (including, for example, pictures of 379 Kalsarikannit Road that I am unfortunately not able to upload on RPG.net for the time being), and to better keep track of my reviews, subscribe to my Antonios S facebook and twitter page.
