QUICK FIRE!
Short, quick-read posts from Wi readers about their hobby projects, notes, news, and observations.
CRACKCON 4: A BROADSIDE OF CRACK
By Dom Cook
Crackcon, the now annual meetup for members of the Plastic Crack Podcast (PCP) community, started as a joke suggestion from the audience on our Monday night YouTube livestream. As the shutters come down on the fourth of our meetups, held on 21 October at Boards & Swords in Derby, it’s incredible to me that we continue with the ‘joke’.
It is not like other events. Crackcon’s not a convention, or a games day in the normal sense. Instead, it’s a meetup for, and by, the PCP community. We, the hosts of the show, organize the day, but the games themselves are largely put on and run by the people coming to the event. Some games are big, all-day affairs; others are drop-ins. The common theme, however, is people having a laugh and rolling dice.
So far, Crackcon has raised over £2,000 for charities, including MIND and, this year, Whizz Kids, through its entrance fee and raffle thanks to the kind donations of the community; Boards and Swords; and retailers like Warlord Games, Flags of War, and Warbases, to name a few. All profits go to charity or to the next meetup.
This year we saw some amazing games, including a massive refight of the Battle of Trafalgar, hosted by Boards & Swords owner Ian Mann; an equally big refight of the Battle of Tweksbury, 1471; Gangs of Rome; Blood and Plunder, and the bizarre Space Weirdos were a few of many other games played. Periods went from ancient history, through to sci-fi and included WWII, WWI, Napoleonics, and much more.
Despite the floods (it was the weekend Storm Barbet struck the UK) over 50 gamers attended Crackcon 4 and it was a joy to hear the dice roll and the laughter ring out around the store.
Immediately talk turned to when Crackcon 5 will happen and the good news, for those interested, is that it’s already in the planning stage and will be at Boards & Swords sometime in October 2024. But you’ll have to listen in to the PCP to find out exactly when!