Sad days indeed

[albpilot]

I'd say the Indy Squadron has given up any pretense of being a premier DP group anymore. None of us showed up at warm up gaming, we don't travel to support the Society, and our gaming days have taken third seat to life. Granted, making a living is important, but we just don't seem to make the effort we once did to play. And several of our most regular players no longer attend.

What can we do to reduce this sad decline?

[bergovoy]

Rick, you did travel this year, to both the mini con and ran events at Origins

[albpilot]

Aug 19, 2009 21:18:20 GMT -5 bergovoy said:

Rick, you did travel this year, to both the mini con and ran events at Origins

Granted, but I myself do not compose the squadron.

[btaylor]

Rick, it was good to see you at Gen Con. Stir up the nest and get the bees busy.

Blake

[albpilot]

Aug 20, 2009 21:23:22 GMT -5 btaylor said:

Rick, it was good to see you at Gen Con. Stir up the nest and get the bees busy.

Blake

Apparently not much of a nest to get stirred up....

[albpilot]

See what I mean? Nary a reply...it's like a ghost town...

[btaylor]

Since the Con, I've been catching up on the sites issues. Looks like you have some young guns in the area. Keep your head up, and check your six!


Blake

[albpilot]

Aug 24, 2009 19:40:33 GMT -5 btaylor said:

Since the Con, I've been catching up on the sites issues. Looks like you have some young guns in the area. Keep your head up, and check your six!


Blake

Yes, the Richeson Squadron has done very well carrying the flag, I must admit. Kudos!

[Stephen]

Every DP group is a premier group. The simple act of existing makes one a premier group. I don't know of another local squadron in the country that plays even twice a year. Kankakee is gone. Ohio is gone. Black Sheep are history. One MI group is gone, another plays its championship and that's all. AZ is finished. The Region is non-existent anymore. The Ghost Jasta is on life support and has been silent for two years - their last forum post was March of 2008 (you think its quiet here?!!). The Inviolable guys from England are done. The Frank Luke outfit is finished. VDP is dead. Lilac group is gone. The Australian group has disbanded. The Morris gang quit.

Indy is not strong right now, and much of that is due to my work schedule. I've been out of town for 8 straight days, and until last night the best night of sleep I've had since mid-August is 4 hrs. I'd worked nearly 75 hours the week of Gen Con so that I could get to play World's Largest and the Open - only to arrive and be accused of not supporting the game - before flying out Monday morning to the most important show of my career. So yes, a lot of it is my fault, and yes, that's just the way it is right now.

On the other hand, Indy exists. We are still here, when scads of squadrons have come and gone. The Richesons bring in the most players, but that's no crime. There was a time when the Skinners - me, SD, Dory and Alice - brought in the most players. So what. At least we had players when other squadrons couldn't find a game or manage to stay in existence for more than six months.

If you occasionally feel like the lone ranger, I understand and heartily welcome you to the club. I've felt that way off and on for 20 years.

The first challenge to any DP group is to exist. That alone is more than most can manage. The second challenge is to hold games. The third is to have some sort of medium, forum, newsletter or communication method that can reach its players and sustain enthusiasm.

Indy has all three. We have for 21 years. I am not satisfied with the state of the squadron either and I also hope for improvement and better times. But your criticism is unwarranted and the basic components of a successful squadron still exist in Indy, and after 21 years we are justified in saying that Indy is still the most successful local squadron model that DP has ever produced.

[albpilot]

Well said.

So, what can we do to change things, or is it an inevitable result of life moving us on?

[noski]

The Freikorps gets together for more than just the tournaments. Not as often as I'd like but we 're still here after 32 years. MC has sometimes wondered why I am the only one who ventures to other arenas of play. The simple anwer is the rest of the Freikorps feels we're the only group who "plays" the game. You have to 'fly' your plane here. No table talk. Period.You move your plane into a square it stays there. No adjustment. You move too far, you just dove your a/c. You forget your a/c can climb 400 ft instead of the 300 ft you just climbed you are stuck with the 200 ft bottom shot. No one on your team will tell you you have a 400 ft climb until the game is over.(if you don't figure it out) The one time I brought a team (1989) from Kalamazoo for the tourney, they were underwhelmed. Dave Johnson summed up their feelings.
"Heck. The way they play, they can stay home on the phone and say 'I can get there ' or 'mind if I place' or if they screw up a move someone else is there telling them how to move their a/c and then they roll their dice !"
We have never considered ourselves a premier group in the DP world and are rather snobbish. But I still think Indy is the glue holding the Society together in many ways.
BTW, Arizona is playing 5 (thats right , 5) times a week !
As long as Indy gets together a few times a year, you are a premier squadron in my book.

[AP]

Aug 25, 2009 13:36:02 GMT -5 Stephen said:

I don't know of another local squadron in the country that plays even twice a year.

It was brought to my attention that there were some bold statements being made on this website, and after reading Stephen’s post I think the facts should be set straight in case any regular players see this thread and get confused…
AERDROME #155 was just released in the past few weeks, celebrating its 40th Anniversary. It contains reports of not only regular gaming in the community, but mini-cons have been held in AZ, MN, PA, Canada & Australia in the past year!! The AZ group is by far the most active and plays multiple times a WEEK, the MN group has a weekly game, and with the success of last years MN mini-con, a second has been planned for this fall to celebrate our 32nd straight year of playing. There is a FL group that has been very active playing with miniatures and post reports on the DP website, and email games have drawn players in from across the country. In fact this weekend Mike Carr is hosting a session that has drawn so much interest he is planning on setting up two tables! So there is PLENTY of activity still worldwide…
The official DP website has been up and running strong for over a year, with over 200 members and more joining almost daily. Players are popping up on the forum with questions about play from around the country and it is exciting to see renewed interest in the game. Active groups are not only playing, but contributing to the FitS Society as well - through articles for the AERODROME, the official DP website, creating random scenario generator tools, custom counter creation tools, online pilot rosters, handheld device DP apps, even custom DP dice are now available – the list goes on - all thanks to the community of players!
The latest AERODROME included an insert with all current FitS Society members, and I noticed that Rick Lacy was the only Indy player on the list…Stephen you may want to re-up your membership and catch up on what is actually happening in the DP community… there is even a very nice article promoting your book by Mr. Carr. Now if we could only get that elusive 8th edition in the works, I don’t think any group would have problems with gathering a regular foursome!

[AP]

Aug 26, 2009 9:14:45 GMT -5 noski said:

The simple anwer is the rest of the Freikorps feels we're the only group who "plays" the game. You have to 'fly' your plane here. No table talk. Period.You move your plane into a square it stays there. No adjustment.

Dan I thought you would appreciate a story from a mission a few weeks back... It was the typical last game of the night & being sleepy I decided to climb in the wrong bracket...of course Carl spotted it, and after falling out of control for a turn and not being able to break the spin for a few more... my 7M pilot plummeted to an early demise ...so i feel your pain!! ;D

We are considering eliminating our 'house' rule that forces a plane to fall out of control if a crit cuts its turn speed below its stall speed... found out recently that most other groups allow a player to fly straight instead. Is the Freikorp harsh on crits as well?

[noski]

AP,
In the early days, we were pretty rough on ourselves. If a wing took 4 hfs, we 'd roll 3 times for crits. 5%,10% and then 15%. Not just one roll of 15%. Thank goodness we got that changed! We don't have a negative for over climbs, just an adjustment . We have always used the straight speed figuring once a pilot had escaped, he could cut to low throttle to turn to go home and then fly straight again. The Friekorps considers the new crits harsh enough w/o needing any help!

[KevinR]

I think for the Indy Squadron better days are still ahead. It's easy to say it's dead when we haven't had any scheduled gaming days since RBF. (Correct me if I'm wrong on that)

There are several new players who have been frothing at the bit for months for an official Indy gaming day including the Morgans and Ian Cunningham. I think the lack of having a game every month has led to this decline as much as anything. But summer is usually dead around here. We have never had a strong presence at Gen-Con, but that shouldn't be a measure of how strong Indy participation is. Think about how many players turned out for RBF, that was a pretty good turnout and it was our last official event. I think the next few months should see us return to steady playing numbers.