Dramatic Final Turn Ends Dory's 29-Year Title Drought ~ Shorter Games, Similar Scores Under New Ammo Rules ~ Original WWI Aviation Footage from Australian War Museum

Volume 37, Number 7

DRAMATIC FINAL TURN ENDS DORY'S 29-YEAR TITLE DROUGHT

​Bob, Jon, Ben Secure 4 of Top 5 Spots for Allies 

Dory, Rick and Bob were all within a single burst of winning the 37th Indy Squadron Armistice Day Fits Tournament last Saturday, November 8, in Lewisville, Indiana, but it was Dory who squeezed the trigger at the moment of truth. Seven players gathered to determine the 2025 squadron championship, with Rick drawing up yet another excellent scenario: ​

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Allies
Bob Meister, SPAD XIII 
Dory Oda, Morane Saulnier AI
Ben Shepherd, Camel 130 
Jon Shepherd, Ansaldo AI

Central Powers
Ethan, Siemens Schuckert DIII
Rick Lacy, Fokker DVI
​Stephen Skinner, Oeffag 253

The outnumbered Germans blew a golden opportunity on the game's first turn when they outrolled the entire Allied team. Ethan came through with a strong 7-hit burst on Dory's Morane, but both Rick and Stephen failed to score a single point. 

The situation was reversed on the following turn, with Dory's Morane and Stephen's Oeffag Albatros trading head-on shots from 300 feet, both scoring heavily. Simultaneously, Bob's SPAD hit Ethan's Schuckert DIII pilot with a No Effect wound, and worse yet, badly crippled his fighter with a forward fuselage critical hit that left it virtually helpless. At this point, Ethan made one of the most brilliant moves in the history of the Armistice Day tournament. 

He moved to the edge of the 12-square tourney box with Bob and Dory both tailing and completely focused on getting the kill. Ethan then pulled a "Climb" maneuver, tempting both Allies to follow him outside the box. When they realized that he wasn't returning, both Allied airplanes found themselves stranded outside the box and facing elimination. Only then did they realize that they could not dive back into the box, because they pulled a Climb maneuver and you can't climb and dive in the same turn (and at Indy, airplanes don't move backwards). 

Dory managed to make it back to the box by one square. Bob didn't. His only remaining option was to shoot at a target inside the box... and his only option was Dory, his wingmate. Fortunately, his 400 foot short burst missed, so he didn't shoot down his own wingman and was able to stay in the game. 

This left Stephen and Rick as the only two remaining Germans against four Allies.

Bob's SPAD, Ben's Camel and Dory's French Morane then fired simultaneously on Stephen's Oeffag Albatros and scored another telling hit. A tail critical forced the Alb to fly straight and level, but doing so would take Stephen outside the tourney box and end his game. Desperate to stay in the fight and help his wingman, Stephen deliberately spun his Oeffag Albatros into an out of control spin, which luckily ended inside the box, facing the right direction, where he would regain control two turns later. 

Now flying virtually alone against four Allied fighters, Rick put 9 bullets into Ben's Camel. Jon's Ansaldo flew in to help and hit Rick 6 times. The damage on Rick's Fokker DVI, Dory's Morane and Stephen's Oeffag Albatros was getting serious. 

Jon and Ben completely turned the tables on Rick and sent a total of 10 more hit factors through his Fokker on the following turn, while Bob sent another 9 shots through Stephen's badly damaged Oeffag, which by now was barely flying at all. 

The Germans did manage to dive away from Ben and Bob, the latter being robbed of a shot at the title by an initiative roll that separated him from the fray. Due to movement order, Bob would be forced to watch the climax of the fight from above. 

The final turn of the game was epic. Dory's Morane and Stephen's Oeffag were held together by a prayer. Rick's Fokker was nearly as bad and he was running out of ammo. The movement order allowed Dory her choice of shots. She chose a tail shot on Stephen's Oeffag Albatros. Her final burst put the 10th round in his left wing and as luck would have it, he rolled a critical hit... the 1/4 Wing Critical that adds 1 hit to damage already taken. The Alb's left wing collapsed and Stephen's pilot bailed out safely, awarding Dory the only confirmed victory of the game and her first Victory Medal since 1996. 

Dory's Morane limped home with 5 engine hits. Jon's Ansaldo had been in reasonably good condition until he took an engine critical that took him out of contention. Ben took good care of his Camel and returned safely. Ethan's Schuckert DIII landed at home and his pilot survived the wound. 

Dory now moves into a tie with Rick for second place on the Armistice Day all-time winners list. She remains the only player in squadron history to win three straight Armistice Day Tournaments (1994-95-96). Rick scored his 6th second place finish in the championship to go with four wins. 

Ben and Jon both logged their third appearance in the tourney, while Bob's third place finish equaled his best result since winning the title in 2019. Ethan had a disappointing game after his strong runner-up finish last year, and 10-time champion Stephen posted his second consecutive last place finish.  

The 2025 championship was held at Nelson's residence in Lewisville for the 6th year, making that location second only to the Indiana War Memorial (7) as the tourney's most popular venue. 

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Dory
Bob 
Rick
Jonathon
Benjamin 
Ethan
Stephen

Morane Saulnier AI
SPAD XIII 
Fokker DVI 
Ansaldo AI
Camel 130 
Siemens Schuckert DIII
​Oeffag Albatros series 253

93
79
69
33
33
29
28

​Shorter Games, Similar Scores Under New Ammo Rules

After two events under Indy's new tournament ammo rules it is already evident that games are significantly shorter while overall scores remain generally similar. 

In May 2025, the squadron passed a new house rule for tournament play giving each player 3 long, 3 interrupted and 2 short bursts per game, with gun jams automatically fixed the following turn. See House Rules for complete details. After two events (RBF and ADFT 2025) under the new rule, the early results are positive. 

The following data were generated by comparing the combined results of this year's RBF and ADFT tourneys to the last six twin-gun, 7-player Indy Squadron tourneys from recent years. 

• The new ammo rules produced an average of 32.1 hit factors scored by each player compared to 25.2 under standard ammo rules. 
• The new ammo rules produced an average winning score of 101 points versus 113.3 points under standard rules. 
• And most importantly, the new ammo rules shortened tournaments from an average of 14.8 game turns to just 10.5. 

There is no doubt that tournament games are substantially shorter under the new ammo rules. So our primary goal has been clearly and indisputably achieved. Shaving more than four game turns off each tourney shortens games by a bare minimum of 60-90 minutes. On this basis alone, the new ammo rules have been extremely successful. 

Hit factors scored per player are slightly higher while winning scores are now slightly lower. This counterbalance indicates that perhaps over time, both categories will find an equilibrium and settle in at about the same level. 

If the new rule continues to produce anything resembling the current data, it clearly transfers to a big success. 

Original WWI Aviation Footage from Australian War Museum