George Henion, champion of the 1st Whosyercon Open Volume 26, Number 3
WhosyerCon 2014 Report
by Rick Lacy
In keeping with my past feelings about supporting FitS at smaller conventions and to kick off the new IndySquadron gaming schedule, we once again attended WhosyerCon and ran several Dawn Patrol games. As a gaming group we feel that continuing to run the game at multiple venues to attract new players is something the Society should encourage.
The past weekend included 3 scheduled games and 3 pickup games. I scheduled 4 games but the third on Saturday morning had no players unfortunately. Details on the other three scheduled games are below.
WhosyerCon 2014 Report
by Rick Lacy
In keeping with my past feelings about supporting FitS at smaller conventions and to kick off the new IndySquadron gaming schedule, we once again attended WhosyerCon and ran several Dawn Patrol games. As a gaming group we feel that continuing to run the game at multiple venues to attract new players is something the Society should encourage.
The past weekend included 3 scheduled games and 3 pickup games. I scheduled 4 games but the third on Saturday morning had no players unfortunately. Details on the other three scheduled games are below.
Game 1: The War goes Airborne
Western Front, 21 March 1917
In this early war game, 2 British Sopwith Pup’s flown by Rick Lacy and a new player Eric went up against 2 Albatros D-IIIs flown by George Henion and a player from past cons named Larry.
This fight went much as you would expect. The Pups used their maneuverability to dance around the slower Albs, but were unable to capitalize due to the single gun they carried. The Albs on the other hand were able to deal some significant damage to Eric to the point where he broke off and left the fight. Rick continued for another turn until he took a severe critical hit in his right wing and broke off also. Both new players indicated they liked the system and enjoyed playing.
Game 2: Sub hunting in the North Sea
North Sea, 22 November 1917
Late in 1917 the French had intelligence indicating a submarine sortie in the North Sea, and they dispatched 2 Donnet-Denhaut DD.8 bombers (flown by Rick Lacy and Stephen Skinner) to try to sink the sub. They were joined by a British DH-5 (flown by another new player - I forget the name unfortunately) flying overwatch. As they approached the target zone they were engaged by 2 Albatros D-III aircraft flown by Stephen Dale Skinner and Ethan Skinner.
There was actually a bit of a dogfight right off the bat as the movement order denied the bomber crews the chance to box. However, they did manage to both get tail shots on one of the Albs and hit it for a decent amount of damage. After that both bombers dove for the deck and headed for the submarine to try to bomb it before it could submerge. Rick managed to line up and drop 2 “C” bombs on the sub, with one actually hitting to sink it. Stephen dumped his bombs and the bombers headed home, with Stephen Dale making one last attempt to do some damage but to no avail. The Germans flew off and the Allies headed home victorious.
Game 3: Alpine Adventures
Italian Front, 21 March 1918
(Canceled due to shortage of players)
Western Front, 21 March 1917
In this early war game, 2 British Sopwith Pup’s flown by Rick Lacy and a new player Eric went up against 2 Albatros D-IIIs flown by George Henion and a player from past cons named Larry.
This fight went much as you would expect. The Pups used their maneuverability to dance around the slower Albs, but were unable to capitalize due to the single gun they carried. The Albs on the other hand were able to deal some significant damage to Eric to the point where he broke off and left the fight. Rick continued for another turn until he took a severe critical hit in his right wing and broke off also. Both new players indicated they liked the system and enjoyed playing.
Game 2: Sub hunting in the North Sea
North Sea, 22 November 1917
Late in 1917 the French had intelligence indicating a submarine sortie in the North Sea, and they dispatched 2 Donnet-Denhaut DD.8 bombers (flown by Rick Lacy and Stephen Skinner) to try to sink the sub. They were joined by a British DH-5 (flown by another new player - I forget the name unfortunately) flying overwatch. As they approached the target zone they were engaged by 2 Albatros D-III aircraft flown by Stephen Dale Skinner and Ethan Skinner.
There was actually a bit of a dogfight right off the bat as the movement order denied the bomber crews the chance to box. However, they did manage to both get tail shots on one of the Albs and hit it for a decent amount of damage. After that both bombers dove for the deck and headed for the submarine to try to bomb it before it could submerge. Rick managed to line up and drop 2 “C” bombs on the sub, with one actually hitting to sink it. Stephen dumped his bombs and the bombers headed home, with Stephen Dale making one last attempt to do some damage but to no avail. The Germans flew off and the Allies headed home victorious.
Game 3: Alpine Adventures
Italian Front, 21 March 1918
(Canceled due to shortage of players)
Game 4: The End Approaches
1st Whosyercon Open
Western Front, 21 October 1918
This game was scheduled prior to the Indy Squadron adjusting it’s gaming schedule. Additionally, Stephen came up with the idea of making one of the games a scored game. So this game became the 1st annual WhosyerCon Open, a scored event. The sides were:
British:
3 Sopwith Camel 150 piloted by Stephen Skinner, Ethan Skinner and Rick Lacy
German
3 Fokker D-VII (high compression engines) flown by George Henion, Stephen Dale Skinner, and Bob Meister, another new player.
All pilots were considered 3rd mission for this game.
The game started out with the Germans surprising the Allies. George and Bob attacked Rick while Stephen Dale attacked his dad, Stephen. However, the dice gods smiled on Rick and his damage was not catastrophic.
Initiative the next turn favored the Allies however, and the tables reversed. George and Stephen were racking up points but not decisively so, until Rick overcame bad numbers and came in for a tail shot on Bob, who had boxed with George. George opted to take the HO defensive fire and Rick altered his shot to return fire. George’s long burst hit, while Rick's missed. Five of George’s shots hit the engine and it promptly blew up.
Now, with George firmly in the lead, Stephen concentrated on Stephen Dale’s plane and managed to give him a light wound. As numbers allowed, Stephen Dale opted to cut his engine and dive away in escape. Stephen followed him down and watched as the Fokker pilot passed out at 2300 feet. He did manage to wake up before hitting the ground, and recovered his spin. He unfortunately crashed on landing however, and died in the crash, giving Stephen a kill.
Ethan had also flown away with 2 critical hits and 11 left wing hits, leaving Bob and George alone in the air as victors.
Scoring for the 1st Whosyercon Open:
1st Whosyercon Open
Western Front, 21 October 1918
This game was scheduled prior to the Indy Squadron adjusting it’s gaming schedule. Additionally, Stephen came up with the idea of making one of the games a scored game. So this game became the 1st annual WhosyerCon Open, a scored event. The sides were:
British:
3 Sopwith Camel 150 piloted by Stephen Skinner, Ethan Skinner and Rick Lacy
German
3 Fokker D-VII (high compression engines) flown by George Henion, Stephen Dale Skinner, and Bob Meister, another new player.
All pilots were considered 3rd mission for this game.
The game started out with the Germans surprising the Allies. George and Bob attacked Rick while Stephen Dale attacked his dad, Stephen. However, the dice gods smiled on Rick and his damage was not catastrophic.
Initiative the next turn favored the Allies however, and the tables reversed. George and Stephen were racking up points but not decisively so, until Rick overcame bad numbers and came in for a tail shot on Bob, who had boxed with George. George opted to take the HO defensive fire and Rick altered his shot to return fire. George’s long burst hit, while Rick's missed. Five of George’s shots hit the engine and it promptly blew up.
Now, with George firmly in the lead, Stephen concentrated on Stephen Dale’s plane and managed to give him a light wound. As numbers allowed, Stephen Dale opted to cut his engine and dive away in escape. Stephen followed him down and watched as the Fokker pilot passed out at 2300 feet. He did manage to wake up before hitting the ground, and recovered his spin. He unfortunately crashed on landing however, and died in the crash, giving Stephen a kill.
Ethan had also flown away with 2 critical hits and 11 left wing hits, leaving Bob and George alone in the air as victors.
Scoring for the 1st Whosyercon Open:
- George Henion +101 – Winner of the 1st WhosyerCon open
- Stephen Skinner +85 – 2nd place
- Ethan Skinner +35 – 3rd place
- Bob Meister: +25
- Stephen Dale Skinner +16
- Rick Lacy +8
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