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Indy Squadron Dispatch
Volume 11, Number 14
November, 1999
STEPHEN WINS RECORD 4TH TITLE
Defending Champ Graham Out With Pilot Hit
Barton, Dory, Stephen Dale Fight for Runner-Up
Spot
11 November, 1918, No Man's Land (11/13/99, Indiana War Memorial):
The 10th annual Armistice Day Fits Tournament was fought in the Indiana War Memorial's MacArthur Hall on November 13th and
produced the first 4-time winner. Eight players made for a large, even battle. Percentiles were rolled with the highest roller
choosing first from among 12 planes; sides stacked up as follows:
Graham Shepfer
Fokker
DrI |
Scott Jones
Fokker DrI |
George Cunningham
Pfalz DXII |
Brian Halberstadt
Pfalz DXII | |
vs. |
Dory Oda
SPAD XIII |
Stephen Dale Skinner
SPAD XIII |
Stephen Skinner
Sopwith Camel 130 |
Barton Stano
Sopwith Camel 130 | |
 The early fighting became scattered and disorganized after the 12 square tourney box
expanded to 18. Brian tailed Stephen Dale's SPAD and scored a total of 15 hits before switching to shoot at Stephen's Camel
and jamming a gun. Dory's SPAD tailed Scott all over the sky but the Triplane refused to go down. Thinking she must be near
a sure kill, Dory started overheating her guns after scoring 24 hits into Scott. Stephen Dale was having a tough time and
shot very little in the first half of the dogfight, spending most of his time dodging lead from several different attackers.
Barton's Camel relied on long bursts the entire game and spent most of it with gun jams. Yet another pilot had gun jams in
the early going when George's Pfalz locked up a Spandau on turn 1!
Both sides had sparred for 7 turns with little to show for it and to this point
no one appeared to have any appreciable lead at all, when suddenly it all hit the fan at once. Stephen's Camel pulled up underneath
Graham's wounded and desperately climbing Triplane. He could only manage a 200' shot with 4 hits, but one of them killed the
pilot instantly! The defending Indy Squadron Champion's DrI smashed into theground as the game's first kill. Brian's Triplane,
already brutalized by the incessant fire of Bart's Camel, took yet another burst and got stuck in a left bank. Both Camels
- Stephen and Bart - closed in for the coupe de grace and gave Brian another critical. no banks permitted! Seconds later the
game's remaining DrI ripped its wings on the way down, with Stephen and Barton splitting the points (Bart would later win
the cut for kill confirmation). Scott Jones' Pfalz, pounded to powder by Dory's SPAD, was in terrible shape when Stephen Dale
dove in for a shot. Scott overdove on the following turn and ripped his wings, so the credit and points went to Stephen Dale.
Scott was inclined to give up his survival points and used his parachute to no avail. it opened all right, but his pilot still
wound up a POW for the duration. George, who had terrible numbers and a jammed gun for the entire game, flew
 admirably but couldn't overcome the dice. Dory's SPAD chased him down and gave his Pfalz pilot a light wound. Although
it would not count as a kill for points, George dove out of the fight and was later credited to Dory as a kill under the Kill
Confirmation Chart. So Graham, Scott and Brian were dead or POW. George barely survived an emergency landing with a wounded
pilot, Dory's guns were white hot, Bart jammed both guns and took a vicious critical hit in his Camel's right wing, and Stephen
and Stephen Dale came out relatively unscathed with kills to show for it.
For the first time in at least 5 years, the game
was not close. Stephen took the championship by the widest margin in recent years, and for the first time ever, guest players
from other squadrons played in the Indy Squadron Championship. The results:
| FINAL RESULTS |
| Stephen Skinner |
121 |
| Barton Stano |
81 |
| Dory Oda |
73 |
| Stephen Dale Skinner |
67 |
| George Cunningham |
37 |
| Scott Jones |
36 |
| Brian Halberstadt |
30 |
| Graham Shepfer |
22 |
FRENCH BOMBER FLIGHT DECIMATED; UNABLE TO REACH TARGET
Umbright Claims First Kill; Strahle Gets 4th in 19 Missions
13 July, 1918, Over German Lines (11/13/99, Indiana War Memorial):
The Breuget 14 bombers felt reasonably secure. After all, they had two Nieuport 24's as escort and they were only probing
a mile or so inside Hunland. A quick flight over the target, release the bombs and get out. Or so that was the plan.
Ltn.
Walter Strahle's flight (Stephen, 19/4) flew an interception course and engaged the Frenchmen half a mile short of their target.
Ltn. Paul Umbright's DrI (Brian, 2/1) was the best dogfighter aloft, and he zipped under the nearest Breuget and opened fire.
Though one of his Spandau's jammed immediately, his burst still had a telling effect. Lt. Louis Martin (Graham) slipped his
Breuget, hoping to give his observer, Lt Pierre Lafitte, a good shot. Umbright closed in again and further damaged the bomber.
Meanwhile flight leader Walter Strahle dove his Pfalz DXII underneath the other Breuget and fired. His first shot missed,
but Strahle and Vz. Louis Heiner (Scott) fired again and riddled the French plane. One of |
Strahle's bullets hit the pilot with a fatal chest wound and the first French
bomber spun down to crash. While SLt. Marcel Louis Dequere III (Dory, N.24bis) fought bravely to hold off the German onslaught,
his wingman (George), who shall remain nameless, shamefully climbed into the clouds. Outnumbered and still well short of the
bombing target, the remaining Breuget of Lt. Martin decided to climb for the clouds and cut his losses. As he pulled back
on the stick Umbright fired again. the Breuget's climbing ability was cut and he was still 50' below the cloud bank! Lafitte
watched carefully but had no shot all as Umbright closed in for the kill. Vz. Heiner and Umbright shot together and Martin
was hit with a critical wound. He immediately passed out and both pilot and observer plunged to their deaths. Deguere was
able to hit Heiner with a flesh wound, but it was too little too late. Both N.24's zoomed into the clouds and made for home.
Heiner assisted in the downing of both Breugets, but Umbright and Strahle received the official credit. |
FARNSWORTH DOUBLES FOR 3RD KILL IN MASS SLAUGHTER
Edwards Mops Up By Burning Balloon Kessler Dead, Weinberg Makes Emergency Landing As
Only Two Planes Get Home
| 13 April, 1918, in German lines (11/13/99, Indiana War Memorial):
Six fighters and a balloon went aloft, but two shot up Camels were the only ones to return after a bitter defense by a trio
of Germans intent on protecting the observation balloon. Three Albatros DIII's intercepted an equal number of British Camels
just inside German trenches and engaged the invaders while they were still nearly a quarter mile short of their target. Lt.
Kyle Edwards (Brian, 3/3) dove his Camel onto the tail of Ltn. Roland Kessler (Stephen 7/2) and scored several hits; Nigel
Farnsworth (George Cunningham, 3/3) also tagged the Alb pilot. Wounded, Kessler dove for a nearby emergency field and managed
a landing, but died later in the hospital from blood loss. Ltn. Heilman Weinberg (Scott J., 13/1) fought an uneven battle
against the Sopwiths for several minutes before taking severe damage to his wings and a critical hit. Farnsworth again dealt
the fatal blow when Weinberg cut his engine and glided to a bumpy landing to avoid certain death. Manfred (Stephen Dale),
the last German aloft, nosed his Albatros |
down for a 150' top shot on (Barton's) Camel and fired, scoring only two hits.
The DIII pulled away, surprised to see the British fighter stagger and dive for its own lines with its engine barely ticking
over at low throttle. (Barton's) Sopwith ran out of sky over No Man's Land and crashed into the mud nose first. The rookie
pilot only survived as a prisoner of war for the duration. Moments later Manfred's Albatros was also spinning down out of
control, again the work of Edwards and Farnsworth. Their Camels were the only planes left when the smoke cleared, so they
courageously dove headlong at what they knew was a heavily defended balloon.
Farnsworth sent 8 slugs through the balloon
along with another burst from Edwards, but it refused to burn. Undaunted, Edwards wheeled his Camel around the plugged it
again, and this time it went down. Farnsworth collected two kills for the day's efforts while Edwards won the cut for the
balloon... both made it home with heavy damage from the dogfight and the anti-aircraft defenses. |
GOLDBERG LOGS 12TH MISSION
Klink Downed By Pesky Pups
| 13 August, 1917, No Man's Land (11/13/99, Indiana War Memorial): A
flight of 4 Sopwith Pups led by FSL Austin Scott (Stephen, 7/2) scrambled to meet 3 Albatri over the lines. Outgunned 6 to
4, the Pups put up a surprisingly good show when John King (Stephen Dale, 2/0) jumped on the tail of Vz. Emmanual Klink's
Albatros DIII (Brian, 1/0). FSL Scott latched onto the tail of Heinrich Schwartz (Dory 2/0) and lead began flying. The fight
dragged on for several minutes with the Pups seemingly getting the better of things, save the early gun jam of Lt. Eric Smithson
(Barton, 1/0). As Vz. Klink tried to keep FSL Scott in his sights, he was attacked by three Pups at once. King, Smithson and
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(George Cunningham) pounced together and poured 11 slugs through every part
of the Albatros. Bluish smoke issued from the cowling and Klink checked his gauges. An oil leak serious enough to warrant
a quick escape. As Schwartz and Goldberg tried desperately to hold off the wave of Sopwiths, Klink turned for German lines,
wisely climbing as much as possible in anticipation of his engine seizing. Sure enough, it did, and Klink was just able to
glide to an emergency field inside friendly lines. Goldberg was still fighting to clear a gun jam and Schwartz had taken enough
damage to cause concern, so the Germans broke off the fight while they were able. |
TEN YEARS AGO
A Decade of Dawn Patrol
| This is the final installation of a series that has brought great reviews from
old timers and new recruits alike... thanks for the comments and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
November 11th, 1989 fell on a Sunday. Even though the sun shone brightly it was still windy and cold.
It remains the only Sunday in Indy Squadron history when a local gaming event has been held, but this was a special day. It
was the inaugural Armistice Day Fits Tournament. Clark, Dory, Scott Jones and Stephen gathered for a small, four player event...
and yes, the first gold Victory Medal hung on its standard red ribbon was there as the award. Camels and Triplanes fought
the duel with Stephen's Camel eventually coming out on top for the title. It was a small event with minimal fanfare, but it
meant something to us and that was all that mattered. Little did we know that a |
decade later we would have guests from two states honor us by attending the
biggest tourney ever at the Indiana War Memorial. Little did we know that ten years later any of us would still love and play
this game. Many players and friends have come and gone since then... Shawn, Clark, Clark II, Scott Halberstadt, Jason, Chad
and others... several of them have disappeared completely while some still come around on occasion, but all have left their
mark on the squadron legacy and bring enjoyable memories.
When we all left Clark's apartment later that afternoon, we sort of thought "well, it was fun and now
its over." We had named our first champion, ate all the chips and thought we might play again in a few weeks. We had no idea
it was just the beginning. |
MORE PICTURES FROM THE TOURNAMENT
THE LATEST DIRT
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For the sake of getting this late issue out ASAP, we will forgo the usual full column in this edition.
However, you should hide the children prior to the next issue when the Latest Dirt returns in all its glory. Hey... did you
know that the "Best of the Latest Dirt" is now available on a separate page of the Indy Squadron Online web site? It has several
of the most memorable columns of TLD and you are invited to punch it up and have a laugh at our expense.
One more small
note this time around... on Armistice Day, we had a number of instances where our movement rules and timing rules were blatently
violated (and it was NOT just our out of town guests, who certainly had good excuse on their |
first visit with us). We're not complaining, we're all still friends and it
is not a major issue with anyone, but we have to ask ourselves if we're going to abide by our own rules or not. If so, then
we need to go by them. If not, then we need to officially rescind the rulings and be done with it. I do, however, see a long
term conflict of interest in holding a rule on our books and not abiding by it. Movement rules, by their very nature, are
of no use whatsoever if they are not strictly upheld on a regular basis. Inconsistent application is setting the stage for
a very upsetting situation, and its only a matter of time before someone gets a raw deal over it. Something to talk about
at December 4th gaming. Until next time... |
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