Talking with Rich Kapustancek in the late stages of
the game, your editor commented that "I suppose its possible that I've seen a turnaround like this in a Dawn Patrol
game before, but in 22 years of playing I can't remember one." Rich agreed.
The 20th anniversary of
the Indy Squadron's famed Red Baron Fight was celebrated in style with a great, 10-player crowd at Rick's house on
Saturday night, May 2, 2009. After a brief warm up game of only three turns, everyone rolled percentile dice for airplane
choice and selected aircraft in much the same way as its been done since the spring of 1990. Red Baron Fight is unique in
that the event has evolved very little over its 20-year lifespan. The game today is very much the same as it was 20 years
ago, making historical comparisons and score evaluations very meaningful and fun. When aircraft and pilots were chosen, it
became apparent that RBF XX would be laden with aces and major pilots on both sides yet again:
Red
Baron Fight XX
British
Kevin Richeson
Lt. Collier
Smith
4/2
Camel 150
Rick Lacy
2Lt. Thaddeus Unger
18/2
Camel 150
Stephen Skinner
Lt. Peter Flanigan
23/9
Camel 150
Michael Morgan
Lt. John Wolfgang
3/1
Camel
150
Germans
Dory Oda
Unt. Reinhart Strauss
20/5
Fokker
DrI (Red Baron)
Ken Mrozak
Off.
St. Groucho Marx
26/11
Fokker DrI
Wesley Morgan
Edmond Reinhold
2/0
Albatros DVa (revised)
Stephen Dale Skinner
Unt. Johan Strauss
10/1
Albatros DVa (hi comp)
Wayne Richeson
Clause
Clam
10/7
Albatros DVa
Rich Kapustanczek
Sgt. Strauss
8/1
Albatros DVa
Two Germans, Stephen Dale and Ken, moved first. Stephen Dale wisely led them around behind their own flight in a retreating
pattern where they boxed up, secure in the knowledge that if any British followed them, they would get hammered. None did.
Rick moved first for the Brits and set a similar trap by swinging away from the Germans, only this time, someone took
the bait. Dory's all-red Triplane, flown by 20/5 ace and 15-year combat veteran Reinhold Strauss, took off in full pursuit
and hammered Rick's Camel from above for 9 hits. The Camels of Stephen and Kevin followed. Kevin missed but Stephen scored
7 hits. Michael, the final Allied player, followed his wingmen but was unable to fire.
The resulting situation
was just what the Brits wanted. Through no fault of their own, Stephen Dale and Ken had taken themselves out of the game when
they moved one way and the fight gravitated the other. Dory's Tripe was outnumbered four to one and taking damage and
the rest of the Germans were strung out in between the two main groups of planes. It was a picture perfect start for the outgunned
British.
On the second turn, Dory outrolled two of her pursuers and continued her attack on Rick's Camel. Her left Spandau machine
gun quickly jammed, but the other scored a vital blow to the British hopes. Rick's experienced Camel pilot, Thaddeus Unger
(18/2), took a critical wound and passed out. His airplane spun down out of control and crashed into No Man's Land, killing
the ranking pilot on Rick's entire roster.
Suddenly the British, for whom things looked so good after the
first turn, were outnumbered 6-3. They had lost the second-best pilot on their team and the situation had gone from reasonably
good to totally desperate after a burst from Dory's single machine gun.
Fortunately the Germans were still
strung out across 25 squares of the game board and in no position to mount a quick attack. The Camels of Michael and Kevin
began to mix it up with the Albatri of Wayne, Wesley, Stephen Dale and Rich. Ken's Tripe was fast closing the gap in an
attempt to rejoin the fight. Stephen continued to pursue Dory's Tripe and had managed to get on her tail as well. He fired
but missed. The window of opportunity was closing for the British. They had to do something to even the odds, and they had
to do it quickly.
Turn 3 passed with another exchange of gunfire between all parties while Ken continued to work his way back toward
the fight. Stephen managed a 4-shot burst at Dory without effect. Michael and Kevin's Camels were now badly outnumbered
and taking damage from the well-flown Albatri team. Another round or two like this and the outcome was a foregone conclusion,
like scores of other games that we've all seen before... the outnumbered team becomes totally defensive and isolated,
while the winning side chases them down and picks them off one by one. Perhaps a straggler will declare escape and make it
home, but the result is an overwhelming loss.
On Turn 4 and 5, Stephen's Camel ace closed in for consecutive
tail shots on Dory and fired a 5-hit burst, killing Fokker pilot Reinhardt Strauss instantly. After more than a decade at
the Dawn Patrol table, everyone was sad to see Strauss' Fokker spin into the ground and crash. Kevin also managed to put
a critical hit into Wesley's Albatros. Although no one knew it at the time, it was a propellar hit that would come back
to haunt Wesley just a few turns later. This certainly helped the British cause, but the Camels were still outnumbered 5-3
and in serious trouble.
Then Turn 6 arrived, and with it came one of the more remarkable comebacks in the history
of Dawn Patrol in Indianapolis. Wesley and Wayne's Albatri still had Michael cornered, but their shots were off the mark
and did no serious damage. That was the first stroke of luck for the Brits. Ken's Fokker was still too far from the fight
to engage, he had just rolled another set of lousy initiative numbers and would not fire a shot this turn. Lucky stroke number
two. Stephen's Camel jammed its right Vickers gun while he "maxxed out" on Stephen Dale's Albatros, which
had flown away from his wingmen and been caught off guard. Stephen's 6-hit burst put a light wound into Stephen Dale's
pilot and forced him to declare his escape... lucky stroke number 3. While Wesley's Albatros was fighting in the midst
of the frey, he fired a burst and shot his own propellar off... courtesy of the critical propellar hit inflicted by Kevin
a few turns earlier. Lucky stroke number four. And Michael's Camel supplied the coup de grace by firing at Rich's
8-mission Albatros veteran, inflicting a critical wound. Rich flew back toward German lines to bail out two turns later. He
survived the bail out attempt but his pilot was incapacitated for life.
All three of the British pilots had fired,
and all three had scored game-altering hits on their target. The Brits had lost Rick's Camel early in the game, but the
Germans were now on the defensive. Dory's Fokker pilot was dead. The Albatros pilots of Rich and Stephen Dale were wounded
and fleeing the fight. Wesley's game was over after his Albatros shot his own propellar off. Ken was still struggling
to get decent numbers and return to the fight. In a matter of moments a 6-3 slaughter had become a 3-2 advantage for the British,
and one of the truly incredible momentum swings in all of Dawn Patrol had taken place.
At this point it was Stephen's game to lose. He had scored a solo kill over Dory and it appeared as if his second victory
over Stephen Dale's fleeing Albatros was assured. But Kevin, frustrated over not getting kill credit and victory points
from Wesley's propellar mishap, risked an atrocity to dive on Stephen Dale's wounded Alb pilot. Ken finally rolled
a decent number and jumped on Kevin's tail. Both pilots were completely out of the running for the Silver Goblet and were
desperate to make something happen to alter their game.
Nursing a jammed gun and enjoying a wide points lead,
Stephen kept his Camel well above the descending battle and hammered away at his jammed gun. By the time he cleared it and
dove back toward the fray, the fight was nearly out of reach and he would spend the rest of the game trying to catch up.
After
three turns of Kevin firing on Stephen Dale's wounded Alb and being fired on by Ken's Fokker, Kevin finally sustained
a critical hit that forced him to bank right. Ken tried to follow, but could not have anticipated Kevin's battle damage...
he failed to pull a bank right card during tailing and lost his target. Meanwhile, Stephen Dale's 10-mission Albatros
veteran finally passed out at 200 feet and crashed to his death. This padded Stephen's points lead even more, since it
was he who had inflicted the wound several turns earlier.
Michael is all smiles after his big win.
Early action in Red Baron Fight XX
Michael's way cool new dice won in their first RBF outing
The Silver Goblet - the traditional prize of Red Baron Fight
Fate of the doomed - Dory reads a book after her untimely departure
No, its not Ken Mrozak III... its Wesley in a clever, Ken-like disguise
The top 4 finishers, L-R: Ken, Michael, Stephen, Kevin
Red
Baron Fight XX
May 2, 2009
Michael Morgan
Camel 150
135
Stephen Skinner
Camel
150
129
Kevin
Richeson
Camel 150
97
Ken Mrozak
Fokker DrI
97
Dory
Oda
Fokker DrI (Red Baron)
54
Wayne Richeson
Albatros DVa
45
Wesley Morgan
Albatros
DVa
24
Rich
Kapustanczek
Albatros DVa
5
Stephen Dale Skinner
Albatros DVa
0
Rick Lacy
Camel 150
0
Kevin finally cleared his jammed rudder and regained control of his battered
Camel. He joined forces with his wingman, Michael, and they began a new assault on the remaining Germans of Ken and Wayne.
Stephen dove hard to rejoin the fight, but it was getting late and the game was soon to be called on time.
On the game's final turn (15), Stephen fired a top shot at Ken and scored only
minimum damage while Kevin and Michael's Camels sandwiched Wayne's Albatros and delivered a fatal blow. Wayne's
pilot was wounded and forced to land behind German lines where he survived to fly again. The points credit was split between
both Camel flyers while the victory score went to Kevin.
Of
the original German flight that enjoyed at brief 6-3 advantage early in the game, only Ken managed to fly his plane back to
his home airfield while the death of Rick's pilot turned out to be the only British casualty. Michael earned points credit
for 1.5 kills while Stephen scored two solos, but Michael's fantastic shooting combined with Stephen's mid-game gun
jam made the difference in the game. Had Stephen rolled for just three more hit factors on his final burst on the game's
last turn, he would have won the Silver Goblet. Instead it went to Michael for a well-deserved victory. As always, good shooting
pays off.
Half of the pilots in the air for Red Baron
Fight XX were aces, and 70% of the pilots aloft had 8 or more missions. Even with this level of competition, Michael became
the first player to win RBF in his rookie year since Stephen Dale did the trick in 1999. And this particular event remained
in question through the final shot of the last turn.
After 20 years its evident that
Red Baron Fight remains a great draw that everyone looks forward to. The enthusiasm at the table was second to none, and the
game has not lost its momentum as one of the best events in Dawn Patrol.
Be sure to
check out the updated "Red Baron Fight" section of this site and see the RBF Records page for an updated look at the all-time statistics of this great game!
Indy
Squadron Dispatch Staff
Squadron
Treasurer: Rick Lacy
Editors Emeritus: Brian
Halberstadt, Terry Phillips
Editor-in-Chief:
Stephen Skinner
Credits, Volume 21
Number 3: Indy Squadron Archives
Visitor
Counter Parameters: Counts unique visitors only per two-hour period.
Does not count reloads, seperate page visits, or subsequent guest visits within two hours.
All content is copyright IndySquadron.com/Indy Squadron Dispatch,
1989-2008, and may only be used or reprinted by permission.