Volume 38, Number 3
Stephen Takes Top Saturday Score at Milwaukee Mini-Con
This report is presented from the perspective of the Indy Squadron. Subscribe to AERODROME journal for the official report from the society in an upcoming issue.
The Fight in the Skies Society's annual Dawn Patrol Mini-Con returned to the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Milwaukee Airport the weekend of April 16–19, and the Indy Squadron had a pair of representatives in the field. Rick and Stephen made the trip north to Milwaukee, joining a field of 31 competitors from across the country for four days of Dawn Patrol at one of the hobby's longest-running and most beloved face-to-face gatherings.
The Mini-Con has been a fixture of the Dawn Patrol calendar since 1990, drawing players from across the Midwest and beyond. The event runs from Wednesday through Sunday with continuous gaming, a competitive scoring format across both days of the main tournament, and the deep well of camaraderie.
Stephen posted the highest average score on Saturday. When the final standings were tallied across the full field, Stephen finished 10th overall in a room that concentrates some of the most experienced Dawn Patrol players anywhere.
Rick was in contention until his dice deserted him on Saturday, dropping him to 21st overall. Nevertheless, his presence alongside Stephen meant the Indy Squadron had two pilots in the mix at a national-level event. John Buckland scored the overall win.
The Mini-Con remains one of the best opportunities in the Dawn Patrol world to test your pilots against unfamiliar opponents, absorb new tactical ideas, and spend a long weekend in the company of people who take the game as seriously as you do. Congratulations and thanks to George Henion for another well-run event.
Stephen Takes Top Saturday Score at Milwaukee Mini-Con
This report is presented from the perspective of the Indy Squadron. Subscribe to AERODROME journal for the official report from the society in an upcoming issue.
The Fight in the Skies Society's annual Dawn Patrol Mini-Con returned to the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Milwaukee Airport the weekend of April 16–19, and the Indy Squadron had a pair of representatives in the field. Rick and Stephen made the trip north to Milwaukee, joining a field of 31 competitors from across the country for four days of Dawn Patrol at one of the hobby's longest-running and most beloved face-to-face gatherings.
The Mini-Con has been a fixture of the Dawn Patrol calendar since 1990, drawing players from across the Midwest and beyond. The event runs from Wednesday through Sunday with continuous gaming, a competitive scoring format across both days of the main tournament, and the deep well of camaraderie.
Stephen posted the highest average score on Saturday. When the final standings were tallied across the full field, Stephen finished 10th overall in a room that concentrates some of the most experienced Dawn Patrol players anywhere.
Rick was in contention until his dice deserted him on Saturday, dropping him to 21st overall. Nevertheless, his presence alongside Stephen meant the Indy Squadron had two pilots in the mix at a national-level event. John Buckland scored the overall win.
The Mini-Con remains one of the best opportunities in the Dawn Patrol world to test your pilots against unfamiliar opponents, absorb new tactical ideas, and spend a long weekend in the company of people who take the game as seriously as you do. Congratulations and thanks to George Henion for another well-run event.
RICK LACY SUPPLIES SQUADRON WITH CUSTOM CAMEL COUNTERS
When the reigning Red Baron Fight champion takes time away from winning Silver Goblets to craft something for his fellow pilots, the squadron takes notice. Rick Lacy has done exactly that, producing a set of custom, personalized Sopwith Camel counters for every Indy Squadron member.
The counters were born from a simple but pointed question Rick put to Stephen: if one airplane had to stand as the symbol of the Indy Squadron, what would it be? The answer came without hesitation. The Sopwith Camel, Britain's most lethal fighter of the First World War and arguably the most storied single aircraft in the Indy Squadron's long history of gaming, was the obvious choice. The color scheme was equally decisive. PC10, the warm khaki-brown dope that characterized so many RFC machines in the latter years of the war, was preferred by both players over PC12, which Rick dismissed as looking "like mud."
When the reigning Red Baron Fight champion takes time away from winning Silver Goblets to craft something for his fellow pilots, the squadron takes notice. Rick Lacy has done exactly that, producing a set of custom, personalized Sopwith Camel counters for every Indy Squadron member.
The counters were born from a simple but pointed question Rick put to Stephen: if one airplane had to stand as the symbol of the Indy Squadron, what would it be? The answer came without hesitation. The Sopwith Camel, Britain's most lethal fighter of the First World War and arguably the most storied single aircraft in the Indy Squadron's long history of gaming, was the obvious choice. The color scheme was equally decisive. PC10, the warm khaki-brown dope that characterized so many RFC machines in the latter years of the war, was preferred by both players over PC12, which Rick dismissed as looking "like mud."
The result is a counter set that every Indy pilot can take pride in placing on the board. Each one represents not just a Camel, but a machine that has been tailored to the squadron and its players — the kind of detail that separates a casual gaming session from a genuine occasion.
The Camel has earned its distinction at Indy through decades of memorable flying. Rick's own most celebrated Camel pilot, Neville Higham, carries an extraordinary record of 29 missions and 12 victories, and it was Higham that Rick drew upon for the September 2025 "Fighter Battle Over the North Sea" scenario. Stephen's contribution to the Camel tradition is no less formidable — Squadron Commander Christopher Foxxe, whose record of 77 missions and 61 kills stands as one of the most decorated pilot careers in the game's history, while his backup pilot, Capt. Purvis Leiter, stands at 52 missions with 32 kills. Kevin Richeson flies Lieutenant Collier Smith, a 14-mission ace with 6 victories to his name, who demonstrated his fighting quality most recently at RBF XXXVI. These are the pilots the new counters will carry into battle, while honoring past aces such as Dory's Lt. Edward P. Stove and Scott Jones' Lt. Lawrence Tepan.
The counters made their debut at the February 28th gaming day in Lynn, Indiana, appearing on the board in the final game of the evening when Rick and Jon flew their 150 hp Bentley Camels in a rear-guard action against Stephen, Ben, and Ethan's Pfalz D.XII fighters. It was perhaps not the most glamorous debut — the Camels opted for a strategic withdrawal that evening — but the counters looked magnificent doing it.
The Indy Squadron Dispatch extends its sincere gratitude to Rick for this generous contribution to the squadron's game table. The craftsmanship and care that went into these counters reflects the spirit that has kept the Indy Squadron flying for nearly four decades.
The Camel has earned its distinction at Indy through decades of memorable flying. Rick's own most celebrated Camel pilot, Neville Higham, carries an extraordinary record of 29 missions and 12 victories, and it was Higham that Rick drew upon for the September 2025 "Fighter Battle Over the North Sea" scenario. Stephen's contribution to the Camel tradition is no less formidable — Squadron Commander Christopher Foxxe, whose record of 77 missions and 61 kills stands as one of the most decorated pilot careers in the game's history, while his backup pilot, Capt. Purvis Leiter, stands at 52 missions with 32 kills. Kevin Richeson flies Lieutenant Collier Smith, a 14-mission ace with 6 victories to his name, who demonstrated his fighting quality most recently at RBF XXXVI. These are the pilots the new counters will carry into battle, while honoring past aces such as Dory's Lt. Edward P. Stove and Scott Jones' Lt. Lawrence Tepan.
The counters made their debut at the February 28th gaming day in Lynn, Indiana, appearing on the board in the final game of the evening when Rick and Jon flew their 150 hp Bentley Camels in a rear-guard action against Stephen, Ben, and Ethan's Pfalz D.XII fighters. It was perhaps not the most glamorous debut — the Camels opted for a strategic withdrawal that evening — but the counters looked magnificent doing it.
The Indy Squadron Dispatch extends its sincere gratitude to Rick for this generous contribution to the squadron's game table. The craftsmanship and care that went into these counters reflects the spirit that has kept the Indy Squadron flying for nearly four decades.
A NEW SYSTEM FOR GAME REPORTS
Anyone who has watched Stephen attempt to record audio notes during a Dawn Patrol session has witnessed something between an art form and a minor crisis. The phone comes out. Someone makes a crucial move. The phone goes away. A critical hit is rolled. The phone comes out again. By the end of a full gaming day — four games, five players, a dozen pilot records, and several rules disputes — Stephen has accumulated somewhere between thirty and forty individual recordings of varying length, clarity, and completeness, all of which must be sorted, transcribed, and assembled into coherent prose before the next issue of the Dispatch goes to press.
It is, to put it charitably, an inefficient system. Stephen has endured it for years, but change is coming.
Beginning at the next official gaming day, each player will record a single, collective post-game report directly into Stephen's phone immediately after each scenario concludes, without stopping the recording. One recording per game which includes all players. Rather than Stephen attempting to capture everything himself in real time while also flying his aircraft, debating rules questions, and keeping score, the reporting burden is distributed to the people who actually know what happened to their pilots.
To ensure consistency, each player will pass around a sheet of paper listing exactly what to cover -- your name, your pilot's name, rank, aircraft type, mission number, kill count, any medals applied for or awarded, and your pilot's fate among other details. The sheet exists for a reason. Players are strongly encouraged to use it in precise order, covering every item listed, and resist the temptation to improvise.
A particular note on names -- spell them. If your pilot is Vizefeldwebel Garthibus Poss or your observer answers to Oliver Kangaroo, say so clearly and then spell it. Stephen cannot transcribe what he cannot decipher, and a garbled recording produces a garbled game report. Ranks matter as well — a Leutnant and a Hauptmann are not interchangeable, and the Dispatch has always taken pilot records seriously. Rank is the one facet that players continuously fail to record.
The sheet is not a suggestion. It is the script. Please follow it precisely, speak clearly, and the game report writes itself. Deviate from it, and Stephen is back to thirty recordings and a long night.
The squadron's thanks, in advance, for everyone's cooperation. See Post Game Recording Sheet below.
Anyone who has watched Stephen attempt to record audio notes during a Dawn Patrol session has witnessed something between an art form and a minor crisis. The phone comes out. Someone makes a crucial move. The phone goes away. A critical hit is rolled. The phone comes out again. By the end of a full gaming day — four games, five players, a dozen pilot records, and several rules disputes — Stephen has accumulated somewhere between thirty and forty individual recordings of varying length, clarity, and completeness, all of which must be sorted, transcribed, and assembled into coherent prose before the next issue of the Dispatch goes to press.
It is, to put it charitably, an inefficient system. Stephen has endured it for years, but change is coming.
Beginning at the next official gaming day, each player will record a single, collective post-game report directly into Stephen's phone immediately after each scenario concludes, without stopping the recording. One recording per game which includes all players. Rather than Stephen attempting to capture everything himself in real time while also flying his aircraft, debating rules questions, and keeping score, the reporting burden is distributed to the people who actually know what happened to their pilots.
To ensure consistency, each player will pass around a sheet of paper listing exactly what to cover -- your name, your pilot's name, rank, aircraft type, mission number, kill count, any medals applied for or awarded, and your pilot's fate among other details. The sheet exists for a reason. Players are strongly encouraged to use it in precise order, covering every item listed, and resist the temptation to improvise.
A particular note on names -- spell them. If your pilot is Vizefeldwebel Garthibus Poss or your observer answers to Oliver Kangaroo, say so clearly and then spell it. Stephen cannot transcribe what he cannot decipher, and a garbled recording produces a garbled game report. Ranks matter as well — a Leutnant and a Hauptmann are not interchangeable, and the Dispatch has always taken pilot records seriously. Rank is the one facet that players continuously fail to record.
The sheet is not a suggestion. It is the script. Please follow it precisely, speak clearly, and the game report writes itself. Deviate from it, and Stephen is back to thirty recordings and a long night.
The squadron's thanks, in advance, for everyone's cooperation. See Post Game Recording Sheet below.
FROM ROOKIES TO CONTENDERS: THE RISE OF BEN AND JONATHON
There are two ways a new player announces himself to the Indy Squadron. The first is by surviving. The second, considerably less common, is by winning. Ben and Jonathon Shepherd have been doing both with increasing regularity, and the numbers in the pilot record books make a compelling case for how far they have come in a relatively short time.
When both Shepherds first appeared in the ISD's game reports, their pilot rosters told the story of men still learning the game's rhythms. In the October 2024 gaming day, Ben was flying an unnamed second-mission Frenchman in one game, and Hans Schnickelfritz — a one-mission, zero-kill Albatros pilot — in another. Jonathon showed Ernst Reichensberger at a modest three missions and no kills. A rookie Pup flown by Jon that same day was shot full of holes and captured for the duration. These were not the records of men who had found their footing.
The improvement since then has been steady and, by late 2025, unmistakable. ISD's preview for the 36th Armistice Day Fits Tournament noted the change in plain terms: "Jon and Ben are sharp and well-practiced," the Dispatch observed, adding that Benjamin had survived every mission at the preceding October gaming day — a feat that requires both skill and the sound judgment to disengage before survival becomes negotiable.
The tournament itself confirmed the assessment. When the November 2025 Armistice Day championship was decided, Bob, Jon, and Ben combined to secure four of the top five finishing spots for the Allied side — a solid showing for two players who, little more than a year earlier, were losing pilots to capture and logging their first career missions. The final standings put Dory at the top of the leader board, with Rick and Bob just behind, but the mid-pack presence of both Shepherds was not lost on anyone at the table.
Recent gaming days have shown what their improving pilot records reflect. Ben demonstrated composure in the February 2026 Train of Gold II mission, putting a burning Fokker Dr.I into a controlled landing at a German airfield rather than dying in the fire — the kind of decision that only comes with experience at the controls. Jonathon, flying in the Voss Experimental that same day, showed the coordination instincts that four SE.5a pilots genuinely required, tracking multiple threats rather than simply chasing the nearest target.
The M/K trajectory says what the narrative confirms. Players who arrived with pilots at 1/0 and 2/0 now carry records that reflect dozens of combined missions, confirmed kills, and the tactical awareness to compete in the squadron's marquee events. They have not won a Silver Goblet yet. But anyone watching this squadron for any length of time knows what that means, and what is likely coming.
FILM DIRECTOR PETER JACKSON'S WW1 TREASURES
Recent gaming days have shown what their improving pilot records reflect. Ben demonstrated composure in the February 2026 Train of Gold II mission, putting a burning Fokker Dr.I into a controlled landing at a German airfield rather than dying in the fire — the kind of decision that only comes with experience at the controls. Jonathon, flying in the Voss Experimental that same day, showed the coordination instincts that four SE.5a pilots genuinely required, tracking multiple threats rather than simply chasing the nearest target.
The M/K trajectory says what the narrative confirms. Players who arrived with pilots at 1/0 and 2/0 now carry records that reflect dozens of combined missions, confirmed kills, and the tactical awareness to compete in the squadron's marquee events. They have not won a Silver Goblet yet. But anyone watching this squadron for any length of time knows what that means, and what is likely coming.
FILM DIRECTOR PETER JACKSON'S WW1 TREASURES
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