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Rick Dominates Late to Beat Stephen Dale in RBF XXXVI ~ New Ammo System Adopted for Special Events ~ Ethan, Kevin Save Triple Crown ~ May 17 Gaming Report

5/18/2025

Volume 37, Number 4

Rick Dominates Late to Beat Stephen Dale in RBF XXXVI

For a while the 36th Red Baron Fight didn't really feel like Red Baron Fight. The largest field since 2018 gathered at Nelson Skinner's house in Lewisville, Indiana on May 17th for the annual event that featured new ammunition rules for the first time. Each pilot was allotted 3 long bursts, 3 interrupted bursts and 2 short bursts with gun jams rolled as usual - although all jams were automatically fixed for the following turn (see New Ammo System Adopted in this issue). The sides for the seven-player game were:

Kevin Richeson, Camel 130 (LT Collier Smith, 14/6)
Bob Meister, Camel 130
Stephen Skinner, Camel 130

Dory Oda, red Fokker Dr1
Rick Lacy, Fokker Dr1 (UNT Lawrence Reiter, 31/7)
Ethan Skinner, Albatros DVa 180 hp revised stats
Stephen Skinner, Albatros DVa 200 hp

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Red Baron Fight Coming May 17 ~ Re-Thinking Indy's Participation at Whosyercon ~ Whosyercon 25 Report ~ 2025 Mini Con Report by Rick Lacy

4/25/2025

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Volume 37, Number 3

Red Baron Fight Coming May 17

Indy's popular and long-running special event, the Red Baron Fight, is scheduled for Saturday, May 17, in Lewisville, Indiana at 12 noon.

As always, the 36th Red Baron Fight will recreate the dogfight in which Manfred von Richthofen lost his life in April 1918. The airplanes, altitudes, weather conditions and landscape are all carefully designed to match the historical air battle. This is very much like the Fits Society's "Pages From The Past" scenarios printed in each issue of Aerodrome, except we've been doing it for 36 years.

Everyone is welcome, participation is always high, and it is common to see some of the best aces in the squadron being flown. The winner receives the Silver Goblet, which is a pretty accurate recreation of the silver cups that Richthofen had made by a Berlin jeweler to represent each of his aerial victories. This year's cup has already arrived and awaits it's new winner - see photo above. The lower photo is an actual Red Baron cup from 1916.

Watch for the location to be announced within a week, and the date is set for May 17th. See you there!

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World Record Ground Fire Wrecks Both Teams ~ Gaming Report, Feb 8, 2025 ~ The Red Baron's First Albatros ~ Best Von Richthofen Book in Decades

2/9/2025

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Volume 37, Number 2

Four players gathered for four games in Lewisville on Saturday, February 8th for the Indy Squadron's second gaming day of the new year. Present were Rick, Ben, Jon and Stephen while Nelson served us a great snack smorgasbord as well as lunch and dinner.

The final game of the night was wrought with mayhem and unbelievable ground fire carnage, so we'll start at the end of the night with our report on Game 4.

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Society Desperate to Copy Instant Start's Success ~ Stephen Dale Dominates Gaming After 3 Year Absence ~ Fly In a WW1 Airplane ~ 2025 Indy Calendar Released

1/2/2025

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Volume 37, Number 1

Society Desperate to Copy Instant Start
Sarcasm Rating, 7/10

Rather than simply adopting the Indy Squadron's existing Instant Start system that is faster, starts flights closer together and provides better limited intelligence, the Fight in the Skies Society has wisely chosen to alter the system that was already producing inferior results. George Henion shared the news that the Society will now begin halving Quick Start's ridiculously large altitude differences to make it more like Instant Start, because everyone knows that propping up a deficient system is better than changing What We've Always Done.

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Rick Edges Ethan To Claim 3rd Indy Crown ~ Rule Changes Considered for Armistice Day

11/13/2024

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Volume 36, Number 10

Rick Edges Ethan to Claim 3rd Indy Crown

Rick scored a pilot hit and inflicted a fatal wound. Ethan scored a pilot hit but the result was a no effect wound. That was the difference between a landslide victory for Ethan and a narrow win for Rick in the Indy Squadron's 36th annual Armistice Day Fits Tournament held on November 9 in Lewisville, Indiana. The sides rolled up as follows:

Dory Oda, Sopwith Snipe
Stephen Skinner, Sopwith Camel 150 hp
Ethan Skinner, SPAD XVII

Bob Meister, Fokker DVII 185 hp
Rick Lacy, Seimens Schuckert DIV

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Special Preview, Nov 9 Armistice Day Tournament ~ Last of Historic Victory Medals to be Awarded

11/2/2024

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Volume 36, Number 9

Special Preview!
Nov 9th Armistice Day Tournament

The 36th annual Indy Squadron Armistice Day Fits Tournament is slated for 12 noon, November 9, 2024 at the home of Nelson Skinner in Lewisville, Indiana. Please bring $12/person if possible to cover food. Meals and snacks will be served all day.

Everyone is welcome to vie for the tourney title, and those who have participated in an official Indy Squadron game in calendar year 2024 are eligible to win the local squadron championship. See complete eligibility details here.

Zach and Joshua are among the new players eligible this year after participating in New Year's Day gaming early in the season. While both of them must be considered long shots for the title, they wouldn't be the first rookies to win it and both seem adept at gaming.

Jon and Ben are sharp and well practiced. They both played at last month's game day and Benjamin survived every mission. 2019 Victory Medal winner Bob Meister is seeking his second title but he's been missing from the table since spring and may need a game to get back in the groove. The same goes for Kevin Richeson, holder of three Victory Medals who joined us before the summer break.

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Ethan Dominates Season Opener, Ben Survives Every Mission ~ Armistice Day Set for Nov 9 ~ Restored and Colorized: SPADs, Sopwith's and More in France, 1918 ~ Superb New Book on Dreadnoughts

10/13/2024

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Volume 36, Number 8

Ethan Dominates Season Opener, Ben Survives Every Mission
October 12, 2024 Gaming Report

Fall gaming kicked off on October 12th at Stephen's 1917 Room in Union City. There was plenty of action on the table with five kills being scored in three games.

Game 1

The first scenario matched the Pfalz DIIIa's of Ernst Reichensberger (Jonathon, 3/0) and LTN Nathanael Spadinger (Stephen, 11/2) against the French Nieuport 17's of Achilles de LaCroix (Ethan, 5/1), Martin Boulee (Rick, 19M) and Benjamin's yet-to-be-named 2nd mission Frenchman.

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RBF Champ Crowned in Lowest Scoring Game ~ May 18 Gaming Report ~ Fokker DrI Triplane in Pennsylvania

5/25/2024

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Volume 36, Number 7

RBF Champ Crowned in Lowest Scoring Game Ever

(Click here for updated RBF records) A game laden with aces and outstanding pilots gave us one of the closest finishes in the history of Red Baron Fight, yet produced no kills and the lowest score in 35 years. The Germans appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the 5-player scenario:

Rick Lacy (UNT Laurence Reiter, 30/6), red Fokker DrI
Bob Meister (HPT Ralph Seid, 5/1), Albatros DVa
Ethan Skinner (Dolf Meinhart, 18/7), Albatros DVa

Dory Oda (Maxwell Sorgis, 5/3), Camel 130
Stephen Skinner (CPT Purvis Leiter, 52/32), Camel 130

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Red Baron Fight XXXV Preview ~ Photos from Sun-n-Fun Air Show

5/12/2024

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Volume 36, Number 6

Red Baron Fight XXXV Preview

The 35th anniversary edition of the Indy Squadron's Red Baron Fight is to be held Saturday, May 18 at the Skinner home in Lewisville, IN beginning at 12 noon. Seven players have said they are likely to attend with several other possible attendees yet to confirm.

The field includes former champions Rick, Dory, Stephen and Ethan (one of only three players to ever win RBF in an Albatros). Bob, Benjamin and Jonathon are seeking their first RBF titles, and George and Kevin also remain possible competitors.

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Indy Player 2nd in Milwaukee Cup ~ Spring Mini Con Review ~ How to Deal With Loud Players ~ Actual Footage, Nieuport 28 Crash ~ Red Baron Fight, May 18 ~ Book Review: The Red Baron & The High Price of Glory

5/6/2024

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DOUBLE ISSUE
Volume 36, Number 4-5

Indy Player 2nd in Milwaukee Cup

The 5th annual Milwaukee Cup Dawn Patrol Game was held at the AmericInn in Delafield, Wisconsin on Saturday evening, May 4th with 18 of the world's finest players competing for the championship.

The top honors went to Michael Wollan, who flew brilliantly. Ten-time Indy Squadron champ and 2002 Spring Mini Con winner Stephen Skinner finished a close second after shooting down Joe Kapustanczek's pilot with a critical wound. Still, Stephen lost by a six-point margin because he received six hit factors in his Macchi MV flying boat while fighting in the thickest part of the dogfight. Since taking enemy fire draws a penalty in Society scoring, those hits were the difference in the game.

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NEXT GAMING DAY:
May 17, 2025
Red Baron Fight XXXVI
Lewisville IN

Reigning Champions

Armistice Day Fits Tournament
Rick Lacy

Red Baron Fight
Rick Lacy

Whosyercon Open
Stephen Skinner

2025 Calendar

January 1
Official gaming
Indianapolis IN

February 8
Official gaming
Lewisville IN
11 am

April 2-5
Society Mini Con
Comfort Suites Milwaukee

April 18-19
Whosyercon Open
Indianapolis Marriott East

May 17
Red Baron Fight XXXV
Lewisville IN
12 noon

September 6
Official gaming

October 4
Official gaming

November 8
Armistice Day Fits Tournament
Lewisville IN

December 6
Official gaming

January 1, 2026
New Year's Day gaming

ISD Staff

Treasurer:
Ethan Skinner

Editors Emeritus:
Brian Halberstadt
Terry Phillips

Editor-in-Chief:
Stephen Skinner

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