The Spirit Squadron playing last week in Wichita. Brad (L) and Scott (not seen) will join us for RBF XXIX. Volume 30, Number 4
RBF XXIX Schedule, Venue Announced
Red Baron Fight XXIX will be held on the precise 100th anniversary of the death of Germany's famed ace, Manfred von Richthofen. Our commemorative gaming day will be held:
Warm up gaming will be held on Friday night, April 20 as well. Details will be announced soon.
RBF XXIX Schedule, Venue Announced
Red Baron Fight XXIX will be held on the precise 100th anniversary of the death of Germany's famed ace, Manfred von Richthofen. Our commemorative gaming day will be held:
- Saturday, April 21, 2018
- Hometown Comics & Games, 1506 N State St, Greenfield, IN
- Gaming begins at 12 noon
- One brief warm up game will be held prior to RBF
Warm up gaming will be held on Friday night, April 20 as well. Details will be announced soon.
Who Reads ISD?
Your editor generally doesn't pay much attention to statistics because the Indy Squadron Dispatch is written and designed specifically for members of the Indy Squadron Dawn Patrol gaming group. We hope that our content will interest outside readers and many times it does, however, the newsletter remains true to its original mission - to keep Indy players informed of upcoming gaming days. Nevertheless, we have some data that might be of interest.
Volume 30 Issue 2 of ISD drew 616 unique readers. Since this statistic tracks individual readers, and since the Fight in the Skies Society currently has 82 members, it is clear that at least 87% of our readers come from outside the Dawn Patrol community.
Your editor generally doesn't pay much attention to statistics because the Indy Squadron Dispatch is written and designed specifically for members of the Indy Squadron Dawn Patrol gaming group. We hope that our content will interest outside readers and many times it does, however, the newsletter remains true to its original mission - to keep Indy players informed of upcoming gaming days. Nevertheless, we have some data that might be of interest.
Volume 30 Issue 2 of ISD drew 616 unique readers. Since this statistic tracks individual readers, and since the Fight in the Skies Society currently has 82 members, it is clear that at least 87% of our readers come from outside the Dawn Patrol community.
That issue appears to be below average compared to most. For instance, the previous issue (Vol 30, No 1) covering New Year's Day gaming was read by 959 individuals. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that there was a slightly longer gap between the publication of issues 2 and 3 than between issues 1 and 2. Logically, longer exposure at the top of the page makes for a broader reach to more readers.
However, the importance of the game being covered has a clear impact on readership as well. ISD's coverage of major events invariably draws more readers, as would be expected. Some issues that cover bigger events reach well beyond a thousand unique readers.
IndySquadron.com receives 4,672 page views per month, but this number spikes considerably (and predictably) during special events such as April's Red Baron Fight and the Armistice Day Fits Tournament in November. This indicates that the same readers are clicking on more pages during these time periods to get information on the events.
These numbers appear to be better than expected for a newsletter that is designed for a small group of perhaps twenty people, which is part of an umbrella organization of less than one hundred. Longevity has probably helped as well, since IndySquadron.com has been online constantly for fifteen years under the same URL.
However, the importance of the game being covered has a clear impact on readership as well. ISD's coverage of major events invariably draws more readers, as would be expected. Some issues that cover bigger events reach well beyond a thousand unique readers.
IndySquadron.com receives 4,672 page views per month, but this number spikes considerably (and predictably) during special events such as April's Red Baron Fight and the Armistice Day Fits Tournament in November. This indicates that the same readers are clicking on more pages during these time periods to get information on the events.
These numbers appear to be better than expected for a newsletter that is designed for a small group of perhaps twenty people, which is part of an umbrella organization of less than one hundred. Longevity has probably helped as well, since IndySquadron.com has been online constantly for fifteen years under the same URL.
Book Review
Hitler's D-Day Defences
By Philip Kaplan
Review by Pen & Sword Books
176 pages, hardback, $39.95 US
Order here
Following nearly two years of planning and exacting preparation, Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of the Nazi-dominated European continent, was mounted in the early hours of 6th June, 1944. It was to be a pivotal event leading to the end of the Second World War and victory for the Allied forces.
The invasion itself was centred on the largest amphibious landing operation in history. It involved 7000 naval vessels, 3000 aircraft, 17,000 American and British paratroopers and thousands of additional military personnel. What awaited the Allied landing forces - many of them suffering the effects of sea sickness when they were delivered into the surf of the five main landing beaches on the Normandy coast of France - were key elements in the formidable defences of Hitler’s vaunted ‘Atlantic Wall’.
The Wall was a 2500-mile chain of various types of fortifications stretching from the North Cape to the Bay of Biscay. That portion of the German defences between Caen to the east and Cherbourg to the west was particularly menacing, due largely to the planning and implementations of Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel, appointed by Hitler to take charge of the Atlantic Wall defences.
D-Day Defences revisits many of the locations within the five-beach landing area of the invasion forces, focusing on the various aspects of the German fortifications, the types of defensive systems employed against the American, British and Canadian invaders, and the results experienced by both invaders and defenders in the Allied struggle to gain and hold possession of that pathway to Berlin.
Hitler's D-Day Defences
By Philip Kaplan
Review by Pen & Sword Books
176 pages, hardback, $39.95 US
Order here
Following nearly two years of planning and exacting preparation, Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of the Nazi-dominated European continent, was mounted in the early hours of 6th June, 1944. It was to be a pivotal event leading to the end of the Second World War and victory for the Allied forces.
The invasion itself was centred on the largest amphibious landing operation in history. It involved 7000 naval vessels, 3000 aircraft, 17,000 American and British paratroopers and thousands of additional military personnel. What awaited the Allied landing forces - many of them suffering the effects of sea sickness when they were delivered into the surf of the five main landing beaches on the Normandy coast of France - were key elements in the formidable defences of Hitler’s vaunted ‘Atlantic Wall’.
The Wall was a 2500-mile chain of various types of fortifications stretching from the North Cape to the Bay of Biscay. That portion of the German defences between Caen to the east and Cherbourg to the west was particularly menacing, due largely to the planning and implementations of Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel, appointed by Hitler to take charge of the Atlantic Wall defences.
D-Day Defences revisits many of the locations within the five-beach landing area of the invasion forces, focusing on the various aspects of the German fortifications, the types of defensive systems employed against the American, British and Canadian invaders, and the results experienced by both invaders and defenders in the Allied struggle to gain and hold possession of that pathway to Berlin.
In Their Own Words; Three WWI Aviators Speak
RSS Feed
