IndySquadron
Covering Dawn Patrol war gaming, Fight in the Skies Society,
Gen Con, Whosyercon, early combat aviation
and World War I historical research
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Armistice Day
  • Red Baron Fight
  • WhosYerCon Open
  • House Rules
  • Indy Squadron TV
  • Downloads

Fall Game Dates Set ~ Benjamin Scores Pair of Kills, Jonathon Learns to Fly ~ Video, Massive WWI Air Battle ~ Gen Con Removed From Indy Calendar ~ Book Review, Winged Sabres

10/30/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture

Volume 34, Number 6 

Fall Game Dates Set

​Indy Squadron gaming dates have been set through early 2023 and posted on the home page of IndySquadron.com. The fall season began in Lewisville, Indiana on October 29th with five players gathering for 4 games (see article in this issue).

The 34th annual Indy Squadron Armistice Day Fits Tournament will be held on Saturday, November 19th in Lewisville. We are expecting a large field of competitors this year, possibly as many as ten. This year's winner will receive the third of four medals from the historic Charles Becker collection from the 1950's.

The 9th Whosyercon Open is set for December 10th with the squadron's annual New Year's Day gaming tradition slated for January 1, 2023. The venues for these two game dates have not yet been established.
​

Picture
​Benjamin Scores Pair of Kills, Jonathon Learns To Fly
Gaming Report, Oct 29, 2022 


Game 1 featured two British SE 5 fighters (Benjamin, Stephen) on a balloon patrol against three German Albatri (Rick, Jonathon, Ethan). Stephen's pilot made a poor attempt at suppressing ground fire while Benjamin's pilot shot down the first of two German balloons on his second pass. The SE's were too beaten up to continue the attack on the second balloon and escaped from combat. Benjamin's pilot was credited with a balloon kill. 

Game 2 consisted of the same teams with different airplanes. Stephen and Benjamin were in 150 hp Camels, opposed by Rick's Pfalz DXII and the Fokker DVII's of Ethan and Jonathon. Rick and Jonathon made quick work of Stephen's Camel with double side attacks that gave him 5 engine hits, a critical and smoked his motor. Stephen was forced out of the game on Turn 2, leaving Benjamin alone against the trio of Germans. Ethan and Jonathon dove their Fokkers after the balloon and flamed it quickly (with Ethan winning the cut for victory credit). Benjamin wisely escaped to end the fight. 

Game 3 was a great matchup over the North Sea in December 1916 featuring a pair of British Short 184 torpedo bombers (Stephen, Jonathon) against two German Halberstadt D series fighters (Benjamin, Rick). Stephen's Short seaplane scored a direct torpedo hit on an escort ship, blowing it up and sinking it. His observer, CPT Cranbury Puddle, was awarded the Military Cross (pending approval from all players). Jonathon's Short seaplane overdove twice, making two rough landings on the open ocean and surviving each one, only to have his torpedo miss his target as well. He was able to get airborne again safely although his pilot's license is now under review by his superior officers. 

Rick and Benjamin's Halberstadts bravely gave chase and shot up Jonathon's Short 184, but eventually were forced to abandon the pursuit when RIck's gun jammed. All airplanes on both sides returned safely. 

Game 4 was a single turn affair with Rick and Benjamin's French SPAD 13's cornering Jonathon's Fokker DrI Triplane and firing on him from each side. The Triplane's engine was riddled and was instantly stopped by a fuel line hit. Jonathon saved his pilot by gliding down to a successful landing at an emergency field behind German lines. Stephen's Albatros DVa pilot (VZ Albert Hesselink, 12/1) squeezed off a quick burst at Rick's SPAD, scoring five right wings hits and a critical. Rick immediately escaped the combat and the game ended as fast as it had begun. Benjamin's SPAD pilot won the cut for sending Jonathon's DrI down with a dead motor, his second victory of the night. 

Picture
Gen Con Removed from Indy Calendar 

Gen Con games held under Indy Squadron rules will no longer count toward championship eligibility, and the Gen Con event will be removed from the Indy Squadron calendar. The move comes after Gen Con attempted to force 2022 attendees to use drugs associated with last year's pandemic narrative, and compel attendees to rebreathe their own bodily waste through the forced use of face masks. Ads supporting Gen Con are also to be removed from IndySquadron.com. 
​

Picture
Book Review: Winged Sabres by Robert Sellwood 
Pen & Sword Books 
Review by Stephen Skinner

It is rare that I find a deep personal connection in a book but such was the case with Winged Sabres, which recounts the exploits of 20 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I. I was fortunate to correspond with three surviving members of 20 Squadron in the late 1980's (Stanley Walters, John Purcell and John Boyd). Sellwood's new book on the unit is so thorough and detailed that I was able to read the book, consistently find the names of my former pilot friends and enjoy their adventures from a first person standpoint. 

20 Squadron was in the heat of combat on the western front from the spring of 1916 through the war's end in late 1918. These guys saw everything. The early members of the unit flew FE 2b's against Fokker Eindekkers. The late members of the squadron flew the legendary Bristol F2b against Albatri, Triplanes and Fokker DVII's. 

Sellwood's book is a day-by-day account of life on the western front, arranged in a chronological format that makes for easy browsing. Each pilot is given a brief biography to acquaint the reader with the squadron's main personalities at any given time in the conflict. The center photo section is excellent and the hardcover format allows the book to travel with you anywhere and withstand a beating.

Winged Sabres is a superb glimpse into the lives of British two-seater crews and a worthy addition to any military bookshelf. 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Reigning Champions

    Armistice Day Fits Tournament
    Stephen Skinner
    ​​
    Red Baron Fight
    Dory Oda
    ​​​
    Whosyercon Open 
    A. J. Meister

    Picture
    2022 Calendar

    February 19
    Official gaming 

    Lewisville IN

    March 26
    Official gaming
    Indianapolis IN 

    April 16
    Red Baron Fight XXXII 
    Lewisville IN

    May 14
    Official gaming 
    Union City IN

    October 29 
    Official gaming
    Lewisville IN 

    November 19
    Armistice Day Fits Tournament 
    Lewisville IN

    December 10
    Whosyercon Open 
    Venue TBA 

    January 1, 2023
    New Year's Day gaming
    ​Venue TBA
    Picture
    ISD Staff 

    Treasurer:
    Ethan Skinner 
    ​
    Editors Emeritus: 
    Brian Halberstadt
    Terry Phillips

    Editor-in-Chief: 
    Stephen Skinner

    All content is copyright IndySquadron.com/Indy Squadron Dispatch, 1989-2020, and may only be used or reprinted by permission.

    Submit product for review

    Contact the webmaster
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Picture
    Click here for Indy Squadron TV
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.