Kerr & King Pioneer Set Review

Fortification - Pioneer Set (Item #KK-204) 25.50 USD
0.5 Gauge Scenic Barbedwire (10 metres) (Item #KK-080) 7.95 USD
By Brian
Recently a gaming buddy of mine decided to put in a large order with
Kerr and King (http://www.kerrandking.co.uk/). For those of you who
have not heard of them before they produce a wide range of wargames
scenery, terrain and accessories in various scales. Being in the UK
usually means high shipping prices across the pond. However, a minimum
order of £20.01 (about 32 USD) you get free shipping, whoot! That
being said I have had my eye on their Pioneer Set for some time. Due
to Battlefronts restructuring of their wildly popular Battlefield in a
Box range it has become ridiculously expensive (80 USD) to buy the
needed boxes to produce the elements of a Pioneer platoons
fortifications (3 Barbed wire, 1 Minefield). So if you are just
looking for the four obstacles for your Pio's this is a solid
investment.

       The Good.


As mentioned above I have loved the idea about being able to buy only the Pioneer elements and nothing extra. Furthermore it is really cool to see a manufacturer forgo the distribution route and only ship directly to the customer. Ok, ok onto the models. The set breaks down into three barbed wire bases, one mine field (your choice of blown up jeep or dead cows...I chose the jeep as my talent for painting mutilated livestock is average at best) and an assortment of strait or
x-shaped pieces to support the barbed wire or use to rope off the minefield. I was very pleased with the level of detail sculpted into the wreaked jeep and overall all four bases had a nice amount of texture which screamed for multiple levels of drybrushing.


The Bad.

Some assembly and a lot of trimming required.   For those of you who have grown accustomed to prepainted and mostly assembled terrain out of the box you might be in for a shock. Personally I do not mind some modeling so it was no big deal so spend about an hour
cutting away and trimming all of the posts. The bases also appear to be a bit warped but laid flat enough for me and looked find on the
table.








The Ugly.

Bubbles...yeah bubbles. The infantry on the barbed wire bases were plagued with air bubbles that distorted faces and limbs. This was a real shame since the level of detail in the sculpts was top notch and it was a shame to see that detail lost. Also it was a bit annoying to have to spend an extra 7.95 for the wire, although it is nice wire and you get a cubic butt ton of it.


Conclusions


If you are:
*Willing to put in some time to model and paint some terrain this is a solid set for the value.
*Looking for a unique set of terrain that your gaming buddies probably
don't have.
*Into mutilated cows.
*Into blown-up jeeps.


Then this is the set for you.


If you aren't:


*Willing to get you hand dirty with an hobby knife.
*Looking to just get a few field fortifications.


Then I would skip this.


Personally I was very pleased with how this set turned out.. However due to the issue with the bubbles I would be hesitant to drop a large amount of money without seeing the items in person
first.