CrackCon 21

On the French right the french cavlary reposition in preperation for a charge across the river being unable to join the combat in the center.

In the French center the advance halts to provide support to the onoging combat while still suppering from disorder inflicted by Prussian shooting.

On the French Left one battaltion of Austrians succeed in crossing the river, while the second battalion decides to take the opportunity to charge the Prussian Hussars!

The combat in the center continues with the Landwehr sustaining huge casulties but refusing to leave the fight.

The infantry charge against the Prussian cavalry while brave is repulsed in a close run fight with the Austrian Battalion force to retired back towards the farmhouse.

The Prussian Left continues to provide a stable firing line and remains in position.

In the center a battalion advances onto the bridge to provide support to the Landwehr.

On the Prussian Left the now split battalion strugles passing orders and remains in place unable to react to the advancing Austrians.

Pinned down by disorder the main french attack in the center has stalled and instead opts to regroup.

The French artillery continues to lay down fire on the Prussian Left flank on the riverbanks.

On the French right, the Austrians reform and open fire on the advancing cavalry, scoring casualties on the Landwehr.

The Prussian turn sees the begining of some agressive action, eager to take the opposite side of the river bank the charge begins.

Led by the brave landwehr battalion who set the example charging across the bridge into the oncoming french columns.

Seeing a gap in the French Line the Hussars opt to advance across the  river in preperation for a charge in the upcoming turn.

On the Prussian Left the 6th Line contine to deliver harassing fire to the french cavalry while the shutzen contine to hold up the main french advance.

The Landwehr Cavarly charge the French Austrians on the opposite riverbank, taking heavy fire before reaching the river they quickly rout and decide to retire from the battle as the first casualties for the game.

In the center, the Landwehr valiantly mange to stand their ground against the French attack with both sides suffering casualties.

The french cavlary decive to make there move, advancing around the hill an towards the advancing lines of prussian infantry.

Supported by their two artillery batteries on the hill which mange to pin down a battalion of the Prussians causing a disorder and casulties.

In the French center the remaining battalions reform and regroup in preperation for their continued advance.

On the French Left the Austrians are advancing towards the river, hoping to hold off the prussian cavalry charging towards them. A lucky volley scores a disorder and casulty on the Landwehr cavalry, effectivly putting them out of action for the turn.

The 2nd battalion of the 1st West Prussian Regiment moves up to support its fellows in the 1st on the riverbank, with the 6th reserve remain in standby in support should the french cavalry break through.

In the center, the Landwehr Battalion moves up advancing towards the bridge while the rest of the 10th infantry brigade continues the advance in the center.

The Schutzen continue to pester the French column in the center scoring another lucky disorder and disrupting the french advance for another turn.

On the Prussian right with the Landwehr pinned down by infantry fire the Hussars position themselves to flank the french/Austrians.

Overall the game is progressing well with us both starting to gain some familiarity with the Black Powder rules.

Currently, the French have the edge in damaged dealt but the shutzen continue to disrupt the French advance in the center through disorder.

Seemingly outnumbered (and very sporting of Jim) the French decide the best strategy is to get stuck in and launch into the attack advancing the infrantry on the left and center.

Having failed an order check the imperial guard remain in reserve (we did realise that assault columns get a free move but Jim decided to hold back), meanwhile the french cavarly hold back waiting for the moment to strike.

The French guns occupy the hill and remain out of range.

The Prussians meanwhile driven by their hatred of the french (A special rule we realized on the last turn of the game) charge forwards.

The 9th Infantry Brigade under Klüx advance on the left flank, positioning due to so very good order rolls the 1st west Prussian line infantry on the banks of the river, with the Shutzen taking up position in the small collection of buildings near the crossing and the 6th Reserve Regiment forming up in support.

In the center, the 10th Infantry Brigade advances at a slower pace, while on the right flank the cavalry spur forwards eager to close with the enemy

At the end of the first turn the armies are closing rapidly, highlighting the slightly huge movement ranges in black powder and the game has already set itself up to be a battle of the river.

Next up was finding my opponent for the day and the table, luckily this was right at the entrance to the store, so I didn’t have far to go.

Having challenged Jim from reapergames a bit over a month ago to a game we both realized we needed some armies and settled on Blackpowder, unfortunately, neither of us had played a game before so this was going to be a great learning experience.

Go check out Jim’s store, you can get some fantastic discounts on plastic crack and if he doesn’t carry the stock on the website email him and he will send a quote and timescales. He carries ranges from Warlord, Perry, and Victrix and is all round a great fellow.

For terrain, I’d brought along a load of trees which I picked up for £10 off wish and hot glued to round MDF bases, alongside two small buildings from Warbases Prussian Range, which were well-liked by the attendees.

The guys at Boards and Swords sorted us out with a river, some small fields, and what looked like part of la haye Sainte from Sarissa. Overall nothing two complex terrain-wise.

We decided the play the game using the narrow edges of the table, partly because of where the table was positioned. This actually worked great, having only a 6×4 to play on with black powder is pretty constrained but this way we got a bit of movement in before the armies met. The river proved an interesting point as you’ll see later on with a lot of action around it.

A short 40min drive down the M1 later I’d arrived at our or venue Boards and Swords Hobbies in Derby.

CrackCon took up the entire ground floor of the venue and the organization by the Plastic Crack Podcast Team and Boards and Swords was fantastic throughout the day.

With the army safely packed up in its RUBs (Really Useful Boxes) I needed something to carry them in, thankfully an IKEA bag was the perfect size, fitting 2 boxes side by side with enough wiggle room down the sides for a rulebook or two.

I use the 4 and 9 Litre boxes, both of which stack happily together.

The minis were stored on their movement trays in the boxes (no magnets) and arrived safe and sound with no damages!