Volume 25, Number 4-5 

Rick Claims 2nd RBF Title 

The 24th annual Red Baron Fight was held at Arsenal Game Room in Indianapolis on April 13th and for the second straight year, the player flying the Red Baron's all-red Triplane took home the Silver Goblet. 

Like last year's game, Red Baron Fight XXIV featured just five players, marking the first time since 1997-98 that RBF drew five players in consecutive years. 

Dice were rolled for choice, and the sides stacked up like this: 

• GERMAN: Stephen Skinner, Albatros DVa high compression 
• GERMAN: Dory Oda, Albatros DVa high compression 
• GERMAN: Rick Lacy, Fokker Dr I, all red 
• BRITISH: Stephen Dale Skinner, Sopwith Camel 130 hp 
• BRITISH: Ethan Skinner, Sopwith Camel 130hp 

Dory's Albatros moved first on Turn 1, but somehow emerged unscathed when the other four airplanes all attacked each other. Rick's Dr I took a first-turn pounding, and Stephen's Albatros managed a 9-hit burst on Stephen Dale's Camel and appeared to be an early contender. Five of those hits went into the Camel's left wing, inflicting a fabric tear critical hit that would later have telling results. CLICK "READ MORE" TO CONTINUE

Volume 25, Number 3 

Whos Yer Con Hosts Official Indy Games 

For the first time, the Indy Squadron merged its March gaming session with the Whos Yer Con gaming convention held on the west side of Indianapolis each spring. 

Each of the games, both scheduled games through the Con and pick up games, were considered official Indy Squadron games that counted toward championship eligibility for 2013. 

Indy's Rick Lacy judged Dawn Patrol games in several time slots throughout the weekend and submitted the following report: 

Volume 25, Number 2 

Stephen Dale's Alb Heroics Holds Off Two Camels
Ethan's Observer Survives 9,000-foot Free Fall Without Parachute 

Game 3 

The most exciting game played by the Indy Squadron on Feb 16th was the third and final mission of the night, featuring two 130 hp Sopwith Camels (Rick, Stephen) against one LVG two-seater (Ethan) and his escort, an Albatros DVa (Stephen Dale) in March 1918. 

Stephen's Camel pilot (Lt. Darian Donahue, 7/3) picked up his third confirmed kill when he shot the pilot of Ethan's LVG dead with a head wound. Ethan's two-seater plummeted for more than 9,000 feet before smashing into No Man's Land. His observer crawled from the wreckage unhurt and returned to his own lines safely. 

Rick's experienced Camel pilot, Lt. Christopher Ridley-Scott (13/3) tackled Stephen Dale's well-flown Albatros and began a 2-on-1 fight that lasted for 11 amazing turns. Both Rick and Stephen's Camels were plagued by gun jams, and the two Sopwith's took turns tailing the lone German. Each time Stephen Dale would evade his pursuer and renew his attack. After nearly an hour of playing time Stephen Dale was still alive and kicking, and according to Rick, played some of the best Dawn Patrol of his career. 

Volume 25, Number 1

Indy Squadron Plays First Online Vassal Games 

The Indy Squadron rang in the new year with a pair of enjoyable online games utilizing the popular Vassal gaming system. The New Year's Day games were originally scheduled at the Lacy's house, but due to an illness it was decided that we should play online instead. 

Game 1
October 1917

The day's first game featured an Italian front mission with two Oeffag Albatros 153's (Rick and Ethan) against a pair of 150-hp SPAD VII's (Stephen Dale and Stephen). The Austro-Hungarian Oeffags double-attacked Stephen's SPAD, scoring 13 hit factors in the first two turns. 

Although he wasn't yet in serious trouble, Stephen chose to escape since the Italians were flying single-gun airplanes against twin-gunned Oeffags. The flight quickly broke up after his departure with no casualties on either side.

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
  

Volume 24, Number 7

Once More, With Feeling... 
New Indy Champ to be Named at Armistice Day Fits Tournament, November 10

The 24th annual Armistice Day Fits Tournament is coming on Saturday, November 10th, at 11 am to the Skinner's house! 

Must I remind you just how big this event really is? For nearly a quarter century, the Armistice Day tourney has crowned the Indy Squadron champion. Its winner receives the coveted Victory Medal, the highest award the squadron can bestow. The tourney is among the longest running and most respected local squadron awards in all of Dawn Patrol. 

By popular demand, here is this year's handicap of the top ten players most likely to compete in this year's event. If you are committed to playing in this year's title match and are not listed here, please let us know and we'll include you in this handicap. And remember... it's just for fun!  

Volume 24, Number 6

It was supposed to be a small, informal session but some big names took to the air during Indy Squadron gaming on July 7. 

Five players showed up for three games, with five kills scored, two pilots reaching experienced status and two more nearing acehood. 

Game 1
Oct 1918

Ethan and Stephen Dale flew British SE 5a's against the Fokker DVII's of Dory and Rick, who were escorting the DFW CV two-seat recon plane flown by Stephen. 

The game lasted only three turns with both SE's going down. Stephen Dale's rookie was fatally pilot hit by Dory's 5th-mission DVII pilot, while Ethan flew his SE in for an attack on the DFW and was downed with a head wound. 

Rick's pilot, Horst Weigel, disregarded a nasty critical hit in the tail of his Fokker and hung in the fight. He was the ranking pilot in the game and returned safely from his 11th mission. 

Volume 24, Number 5

Gen Con returns to Indianapolis on August 16-19, and the Fits Society's complete Gen Con gaming schedule is to be released soon here at ISD. 

We anticipate daily gaming slots at 9 am, 12 noon, and 5 pm. George Henion and Indy's Rick Lacy are expected to be among the GM's running scenarios throughout the week. 

ISD will once again carry complete coverage of Gen Con, including: 

• Photos of all Dawn Patrol and Fight in the Skies events
  
• Video coverage of special DP events on Indy Squadron TV 
• Coverage of Rick Lacy's Fits scenarios 
• Special coverage of oddities such as the costume march, etc., as we have in the past 

Dawn Patrol remains the only game in the history of Gen Con to be represented at every convention since the birth of the con.  

Volume 24, Number 4

It didn't seem like much of a shot at the time. Even Ethan didn't think much of it when his Fokker Dr I pilot took at 200-foot tail shot on Rick Lacy's Camel. One of Ethan's guns was already jammed. The shot scored only two hit factors of damage. 

But it was enough.  

That single bullet turned out to be the margin between victory and defeat in one of the most bizarre Red Baron Fights in the game's 23-year history.   Dice were rolled and the sides stacked up like this:

• Dory, Sopwith Camel 130
• Rick, Sopwith Camel 130 (CPT Gordon Firth-Hewitt, 4/0)
• Ethan, Fokker Dr I (Citrudes Mercedes, 1/0)
• Stephen Dale, Albatros DVa [rev] (Alex Godfrey, 2/0)
• Stephen, Albatros DVa [rev] (OF ST Sabine Schorst, 7/1)

Volume 24, Number 3

For the first time in more than two decades, Dawn Patrol fans can read Volume I of the Indy Squadron Dispatch in its entirety. 

As far as Dawn Patrol goes, this is actually pretty special. The first volume of the Dispatch is a time capsule that embodies everything and everyone who helped make the Indy Squadron a reality nearly a quarter century ago. 

Issue No. 1, dated July 28, 1989, was little more than an announcement of the next gaming day. Issues 2 and 3 still referred to the organization by its full name, the "Indianapolis Squadron," although that name is never used today. Issue No. 4 is the first to ever be identified as the "official newsletter," and the first time the publication used its longstanding name, the "Dispatch." 

Number 4 also contains the full story of Indy's legendary Cambrai Road Balloon Mission, which remains one of the most amazing and bizarre games ever played in Dawn Patrol. Even at that early date in the squadron's life, we knew that mission was something special. And remember, these were days when having 5 missions to your credit ranked your pilot among the best in the state. Given the status of our rosters at the time, this was a very high-stakes game.