Volume 36, Number 1
February 4, 2024
Summer games return to Indy
Welcome to the 36th year of uninterrupted publication of the Indy Squadron Dispatch!
For the first time in more than a decade, the Indy Squadron will host gaming throughout much of the summer with games in May, June and September. These games sometimes attracted fewer players and were dropped from the calendar. But with Stephen's lighter travel schedule this year, we will expand into summer just a bit more than usual.
See the entire 2024 Indy Squadron Calendar on the right sidebar of our home page, including all special events and specific game slots for the upcoming Whosyercon event.
February 4, 2024
Summer games return to Indy
Welcome to the 36th year of uninterrupted publication of the Indy Squadron Dispatch!
For the first time in more than a decade, the Indy Squadron will host gaming throughout much of the summer with games in May, June and September. These games sometimes attracted fewer players and were dropped from the calendar. But with Stephen's lighter travel schedule this year, we will expand into summer just a bit more than usual.
See the entire 2024 Indy Squadron Calendar on the right sidebar of our home page, including all special events and specific game slots for the upcoming Whosyercon event.
New Year's Day Gaming Report
Oppenheimer Killed,
Meinhart Narrowly Escapes,
Stuart Logs 34th Mission
Game 1
Six players attended gaming at the Meister's home in Thorntown, Indiana on New Year's Day for three games. New players Zach and Joshua Chase joined us for their first-ever Dawn Patrol games. Zach flew with Ethan and Rick in single-gun Nieuport 27's against Bob, Josh and Stephen in Albatros DIII's for a dogfight that occurred miles out over the North Sea. Josh's rookie Albatros pilot was hit with a serious wound in his right shoulder by Rick's Nieuport on the first turn. The German passed out and crashed into the water, perishing instantly.
Zach's Nieuport pilot was trying to guard Ethan's tail and found himself in a head-on exchange with Stephen's 6-mission Albatros pilot. Guns rattled and smoke poured from the Nieuport's cowling as the engine coughed to a stop. Zach was forced to ditch his Nieuport and wait for help that never came. He was last seen waiving from the water to his wingmen but is now presumed lost at sea.
Ethan's long time French ace, Jean Fabio, logged his 9th mission to go with his 5 kills (and his 2011 Armistice Day title), but the gun jams he suffered while shooting at Bob's Albatros prevented him from exploiting his ace advantages. Ethan got a momentary fright when Stephen's Albatros scored a pilot hit on Fabio, but it turned out to be a No Effect wound and the French ace landed safely at home. Stephen and Rick were both credited with confirmed kills.
Game 2
The 150 hp SPADs of Bob and Josh were the stars of the second game when they successfully defended Stephen's Breguet XIV against a pair of Albatri (Ethan, Rick) low over enemy lines. Although Bob suffered a gun jam early that hindered his effectiveness, he continually maneuvered his plane undernearth Stephen's Breguet to protect his blind spot against German attack.
Josh's SPAD stuck nearby the two-seater as well, continually popping off shots at approaching Germans until the artillery spotting mission was successfully completed. Rick noted that Josh “did very well” in protecting his wingman, while his own LTN Rathmann logged his 11th mission. There were no casualties and both sides escaped into the clouds after the Breguet completed its task.
Game 3
The final game of New Year's Day 2024 was a tough one for Bob, whose 11-mission Albatros pilot, Rudy Oppenheimer, died just one mission short of experienced status. Ethan's top Albatros ace, Dolf Meinhart (16/6) flew with Bob in an “Aces High” mission with well known and successful pilots on both sides.
Stephen's experienced British DH 4 crew consisted of pilot LT Dennis Woodbridge (14/1) and observer 2LT Stephen Clay (13/2). Their escort was an SE 5a flown by LT Percival Stuart (Rick, 34/7). The flights met at low altitude over No Man's Land with a German balloon and two Allied balloons hanging within sight on each side of the lines.
The Germans dove on the nearest Allied balloon but the defensive fire was devastating. Ethan's Albatros ace took three engine hits along with heavy damage throughout his airplane. Bob's luck was even worse. His 11 mission pilot took a No Effect shoulder wound followed by a hit that unbalanced his propeller low over enemy lines. Despite his best efforts, the propeller failed and he crashed to his death.
It was not Oppenheimer's first time to be shot down. He was sent down over enemy lines and taken prisoner on his 4th mission but managed to escape. He was credited with three kills in his colorful 11-mission career.
The Germans did manage to down one of the Allied balloons and credit will be determined at the next gaming event. Ethan was fortunate to make it home and save his 16 mission ace. Both British planes also made it home safely.
Oppenheimer Killed,
Meinhart Narrowly Escapes,
Stuart Logs 34th Mission
Game 1
Six players attended gaming at the Meister's home in Thorntown, Indiana on New Year's Day for three games. New players Zach and Joshua Chase joined us for their first-ever Dawn Patrol games. Zach flew with Ethan and Rick in single-gun Nieuport 27's against Bob, Josh and Stephen in Albatros DIII's for a dogfight that occurred miles out over the North Sea. Josh's rookie Albatros pilot was hit with a serious wound in his right shoulder by Rick's Nieuport on the first turn. The German passed out and crashed into the water, perishing instantly.
Zach's Nieuport pilot was trying to guard Ethan's tail and found himself in a head-on exchange with Stephen's 6-mission Albatros pilot. Guns rattled and smoke poured from the Nieuport's cowling as the engine coughed to a stop. Zach was forced to ditch his Nieuport and wait for help that never came. He was last seen waiving from the water to his wingmen but is now presumed lost at sea.
Ethan's long time French ace, Jean Fabio, logged his 9th mission to go with his 5 kills (and his 2011 Armistice Day title), but the gun jams he suffered while shooting at Bob's Albatros prevented him from exploiting his ace advantages. Ethan got a momentary fright when Stephen's Albatros scored a pilot hit on Fabio, but it turned out to be a No Effect wound and the French ace landed safely at home. Stephen and Rick were both credited with confirmed kills.
Game 2
The 150 hp SPADs of Bob and Josh were the stars of the second game when they successfully defended Stephen's Breguet XIV against a pair of Albatri (Ethan, Rick) low over enemy lines. Although Bob suffered a gun jam early that hindered his effectiveness, he continually maneuvered his plane undernearth Stephen's Breguet to protect his blind spot against German attack.
Josh's SPAD stuck nearby the two-seater as well, continually popping off shots at approaching Germans until the artillery spotting mission was successfully completed. Rick noted that Josh “did very well” in protecting his wingman, while his own LTN Rathmann logged his 11th mission. There were no casualties and both sides escaped into the clouds after the Breguet completed its task.
Game 3
The final game of New Year's Day 2024 was a tough one for Bob, whose 11-mission Albatros pilot, Rudy Oppenheimer, died just one mission short of experienced status. Ethan's top Albatros ace, Dolf Meinhart (16/6) flew with Bob in an “Aces High” mission with well known and successful pilots on both sides.
Stephen's experienced British DH 4 crew consisted of pilot LT Dennis Woodbridge (14/1) and observer 2LT Stephen Clay (13/2). Their escort was an SE 5a flown by LT Percival Stuart (Rick, 34/7). The flights met at low altitude over No Man's Land with a German balloon and two Allied balloons hanging within sight on each side of the lines.
The Germans dove on the nearest Allied balloon but the defensive fire was devastating. Ethan's Albatros ace took three engine hits along with heavy damage throughout his airplane. Bob's luck was even worse. His 11 mission pilot took a No Effect shoulder wound followed by a hit that unbalanced his propeller low over enemy lines. Despite his best efforts, the propeller failed and he crashed to his death.
It was not Oppenheimer's first time to be shot down. He was sent down over enemy lines and taken prisoner on his 4th mission but managed to escape. He was credited with three kills in his colorful 11-mission career.
The Germans did manage to down one of the Allied balloons and credit will be determined at the next gaming event. Ethan was fortunate to make it home and save his 16 mission ace. Both British planes also made it home safely.
Gen Con, Spring Mini Con Fears Were Unfounded
It would be wonderful if we could just enjoy gaming and ignore this. In fact, this should have absolutely nothing to do with Dawn Patrol. But unfortunately, thanks to the panicked overreaction of Gen Con and a few within the Fits community, it does.
Fears of "superspreader" events caused mass public hysteria during the narrative known as "Covid 19" to the extent that Gen Con president David Hoppe announced that forced masking and demands of an immunization that offered no immunity would be used against all attendees in 2021-2022. Some within the Fits community pushed for the same dictates at the local level while ridiculing anyone who suggested caution or skepticism.
A tidal wave of hard evidence continues to prove that "superspreader" fears were a blatantly false narrative from day one.
As pointed out by researcher Tom Woods, events like Gen Con, the Super Bowl, the college football national championship, the May 2021 Canelo Alvarez fight (over 73,000 attendees) and the return to full stadiums for the Texas Rangers were all feared as "superspreader" events.
They were all supposed to be followed by mass death, and nothing of the sort happened.
In fact, it so didn't happen that even the Today Show, that mainstream standby, pointed it out: "It never happened. Cases are now in steep decline in every college football state across the south. Including Florida, where hospitalizations fell 64 percent last month, even as some 90,000 fans packed the [University of Florida] Gators' stadium."
Well, now we have a study of political events during 2020-2021, and again: no evidence of a "superspreader" effect exists.
The study was recently published in the Nature Human Behaviour science journal, and it's called "Mass gatherings for political expression had no discernible association with the local course of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA in 2020 and 2021." A summary:
Here we examined five types of political event in 2020 and 2021: the US primary elections, the US Senate special election in Georgia, the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, Donald Trump’s political rallies and the Black Lives Matter protests. Our study period encompassed over 700 such mass gatherings during multiple phases of the pandemic. We used data from the 48 contiguous states, representing 3,108 counties....
There were no statistically significant increases in cases, deaths or a measure of epidemic transmissibility (Rt) in a 40-day period following large-scale political activities. We estimated small and statistically non-significant effects, corresponding to an average difference of −0.0567 deaths (95% CI = −0.319, 0.162) and 8.275 cases (95% CI = −1.383, 20.7) on each day for counties that held mass gatherings for political expression compared to matched control counties. In sum, there is no statistical evidence of a material increase in local COVID-19 deaths, cases or transmissibility after mass gatherings for political expression during the first 2 years of the pandemic in the USA.
At the very least, this means the players who screamed at you for two years were full of hogwash and owe their fellow gamers a sincere apology.
Again, we shouldn't have to talk about this at all. We should be talking about game results and upcoming Dawn Patrol events. But unfortunately, the paranoid fear-mongering and propaganda forced its way into the gaming community and as a matter of common decency and integrity, we need to re-examine what was done, what persons within our society promoted these irrational and debunked fears, and what the scientific evidence actually shows.
Book Review
Fighting for the French Foreign Legion;
Americans Who Joined the First World War in 1914
by Nils Elmark
I would normally be suspect of a Danish author of English lineage writing a book on the attitude and adventures of Americans in the French Foreign Legion more than 100 years ago, but in this case, such misgivings are entirely unwarranted.
Author Nils Elmark tackles the life and times of several notable Americans – primarily aviator Eugene Bullard, poet Alan Seeger and North African adventurer David Wooster King – against their impact on the war and their personal exploits while never losing sight of the overall context in which these events occurred. It is well written, easy to read and woven together as a single fabric.
WWI aviation enthusiasts will be delighted with the first person input of many famed American flyers including Kiffin Rockwell, James Norman Hall and Lafayette Escadrille financier Edmond Gros. But perhaps the greatest achievement of this book is Elmark's use of foreign histories, documents and personal accounts that have escaped most previous American writers. This book reads differently and brings new data to light because it is largely based on sources not sought out by domestic authors. And that alone makes this a worthy addition to your library.
New WW1 Documentary Released
Fighting for the French Foreign Legion;
Americans Who Joined the First World War in 1914
by Nils Elmark
I would normally be suspect of a Danish author of English lineage writing a book on the attitude and adventures of Americans in the French Foreign Legion more than 100 years ago, but in this case, such misgivings are entirely unwarranted.
Author Nils Elmark tackles the life and times of several notable Americans – primarily aviator Eugene Bullard, poet Alan Seeger and North African adventurer David Wooster King – against their impact on the war and their personal exploits while never losing sight of the overall context in which these events occurred. It is well written, easy to read and woven together as a single fabric.
WWI aviation enthusiasts will be delighted with the first person input of many famed American flyers including Kiffin Rockwell, James Norman Hall and Lafayette Escadrille financier Edmond Gros. But perhaps the greatest achievement of this book is Elmark's use of foreign histories, documents and personal accounts that have escaped most previous American writers. This book reads differently and brings new data to light because it is largely based on sources not sought out by domestic authors. And that alone makes this a worthy addition to your library.
New WW1 Documentary Released
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