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

Wesley Captures First Victory Medal in Thriller

11/11/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
Volume 24, Number 8 

Indy Squadron Championship Goes to Wesley!

The most elite club in Indiana Dawn Patrol got a little bigger when the 2012 Armistice Day Fits Tournament produced another new winner. Wesley Morgan became only the 12th holder of the Indy Squadron Victory Medal in the game's 24-year history when he won a nail-biter over Stephen Dale and Rick, both of whom were also seeking their first Indy title.


The teams for this year's Armistice Day Tournament stacked up like this:

Allies
  • Ian Cunningham, French Morane-Saulnier A1
  • Dory Oda, Sopwith Dolphin (Vickers only)
  • Rick Lacy, Sopwith Snipe
  • Wesley Morgan, Camel 150
Germans
  • Stephen Dale Skinner, Fokker DVIII
  • Ethan Skinner, Fokker DVII 185
  • Stephen Skinner, Fokker DrI Triplane

Picture
The game began precisely as the outnumbered Germans had hoped. Ian's Morane was double-attacked from above by Stephen's DrI and from below by Stephen Dale's DVIII. The firing phase resulted in the game's first major turning point when Stephen Dale hit Ian's pilot with a fatal wound. Both Dory and Rick missed, leaving the Allies with virtually no offense in Turn 1. 

Stephen Dale had jammed a gun during the attack, but by drawing first blood, the Germans had evened the odds and now fought a three-on-three battle. 

Dory's Dolphin sparred with Ethan's Fokker DVII, while Rick and Stephen Dale exchanged fire over the next few turns. Wesley continued to fire and was unable to score a kill, but every shot he fired seemed to score heavy damage. He was racking up more points than anyone could imagine. 

Picture
Numbers favored the Germans on Turn 5. While Dory, Rick and Ethan were caught out by gun jams and poor initiative, Stephen and Stephen Dale had a golden opportunity to double-attack Wesley's Camel. Stephen missed entirely, and Stephen Dale's single gun was only able to score minor damage. It retrospect, this was perhaps the best opportunity for the Germans to really turn the tide in their favor but they failed to capitalize. 

Shortly afterward a burst from Wesley's Camel scored 4 hits in the engine of Ethan's Fokker DVII, forcing the 2011 Indy Squadron champion to retire from the fight with 5 total engine hits. Ethan was fortunate to make it back to his own lines and save his pilot. 

Picture
Dory's luck was little better. Plagued by misses in what should have been solid shots, she spent the latter part of the game pelting Stephen Dale's Fokker DVIII. 

Now only the German planes of Stephen and Stephen Dale remained in the air with the Sopwith fighters of Dory, Wesley and Rick. Stephen Dale had already bagged a kill and was a clear contender despite flying all day with just one operating machine gun. Wesley's incredible shooting had vaulted him into contention. Rick had flown well and had finally cleared his guns. A kill would put him in contention for the Victory Medal as well. Stephen had 5 engine hits, two criticals, and few available options. 

 Due to initiative rolls, if Stephen had fled the game it would have left his lone remaining wingman, Stephen Dale, with three attackers. His best option was to draw as much fire as possible, hope he could win numbers before he was shot down, and leave Stephen Dale in a position to score more points in a one-on-one fight with Dory. 

The plan didn't work. After evading his opponents for two turns, Rick pounced on Stephen's tail and inflicted a critical forcing him into a Left Bank. Two turns later Rick's Snipe shot out the DrI's left wing and put him in a dead heat with Stephen Dale and Wesley for the Indy Squadron title. 

At that point the game broke up. Stephen Dale deliberately escaped the game believing that he had enough points to win the championship. And he almost did. 

When the final scores were tallied, Wesley - who had to be talked into playing and was eligible only on the strength of his lone February appearance - won the closest Armistice Day Tournament since 2005. 
  1. Wesley Morgan, Sopwith Camel 150, 109 points 
  2. Stephen Dale Skinner, Fokker DVIII, 99 
  3. Rick Lacy, Sopwith Snipe, 89 
  4. Dory Oda, Sopwith Dolphin (Vickers only), 41 
  5. Ethan Skinner, Fokker DVII 185, 33 
  6. Stephen Skinner, Fokker DrI, 23 
  7. Ian Cunningham, Morane-Saulnier A1, 0 

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.