Introducing a newcomer to Dawn Patrol, John Palchak.  Here, Bob Stiegel and Chris Janiec watch as John makes his first move ever.  He did very well during the three games he was able to play with us, scoring one victory and not losing any pilots (or causing anyone else to get lost).

John learned quickly to enjoy the sort of humor that Jim Barber brings to the table.  In this shot, Jay Mischo (off camera to the right) tell John as he gets up to fetch a drink, "You can make lunch too, Jim's got the first move."

Chris looks at some photos that Bob brought along.  One was of a reconnaissance photo of a French aerodrome.  Another, the one they're looking at here, contained photos taken revolving around a Zeppelin raid on Britain.

Our first mission pitted three Albatri (Bob, Chris, and John) against three French one-gun SPAD VIIs (Jay, Jim, and Marco) in the summer of 1917.  The Germans' mission was to flame one of the French balloons, which Chris and Bob did quite handily (credit went to Bob).  Unfortunately, flak took out half of Bob's engine, and Jay's marksmanship took out the other half, forcing him to land in the river he was attempting to follow home.  He was captured and Jay got credit for Bob.

  In this photo, Bob and Chris thoroughly enjoy being the bread in a Marco sandwich in the first turn of our second mission of the day involving a dogfight between Albatros D.IIIs (Marco, John, and Jim) and Belgian Nieuport 17s (Bob, Chris, and Jay).   The end result of the sandwich was only five hit factors, failing to bring down Marco's Alb.

Marco asked Jay about the racial background of his Belgian pilot.  He decided to do a little character development right there in the middle of the battle.  He rolled a die and determined that he was a Walloon. . . .

. . . John got right into the swing of things and fit right in.  John commented regarding Jay's mid-game pilot development that since Jim was up to move, "You might as well; you have some down time."

Upset about his Albatros D.IIIs inability to avoid contact with the nimble Belgian Nieuports, Jim commented, "Sticking Nieuports - think they own the skies."

Chris moves his gliding Nieuport.  John, in his first victory ever, shot out Chris' prop.  We started far over German lines, but from 17,000' there was just enough altitude for Chris to glide across the wide expanse of No Man's Land and attempt to set down in Belgian territory.  His landing was less than perfect, flipping his machine end-over-end.  Fortunately, his pilot was unhurt.  When seeing his demolished machine, his pilot was said to have commented, "Well, that one's a write-off."

Jim contemplates the implications of Bob's pilot reversing Jim's tail.  Jim's Albatros started smoking, resulting in his later missing a shot on the two remaining Belgians due to the smoke.  Jay and Bob escaped from the battle, the day going to the Germans. 

In our Mid-Atlantic Squadron Italian Front mission of the day, two Austro-Hungarian Aviatik Berg C.Is (John and Marco), escorted by an Öffag D.III series 153 (Chris) were tasked with a visual reconnaissance of a troop concentration in bivouac behind the Italian lines during the Piave Counterattack in June 1918. . . .

  . . . Lined up to prevent them were two Italian SPAD XIIIs (Bob and Jim - Jay had to leave early).  The long days are tough on Jim.

Here we see Chris selecting cards.  He spent most of the mission going first, and absorbing as much lead as the Eye-Ties could dish out, which was considerable.  In the end, he had more lead than wood or fabric in his right wing, but managed to get his beaten Öffag home.

After the Austro-Hungarians saw what they needed to see over the Italian bivouac, they set out for home.  Sergente Julio Gallo, Bob's 6-mission Italian pilot originally rolled up some time in the 1970s, attempted to catch John's Berg flown by Feldwebel Fritz Kramer as it fled at 100' off the deck.  Sergente Gallo over-dove his SPAD by a mere 50 feet to take a bottom shot on the Berg.  Unfortunately, he rolled nine and tore the wings off, sending Julio Gallo into the river at over a hundred miles per hour.  The death of Julio would have far-reaching implications to the wineries of northern California.

Bob said as he pulled his SPAD counter off the board, "I think I'll quit this stupid game."  It was his second loss of the day.  The Austro-Hungarians all managed to escape with their vital information, but only one Italian pilot made it back to Italy.

John left before the fourth and last mission of the day and so missed out on the fun: two Sopwith Camels (Chris and Jim) cruising along at 16,400' ran into two Albatrosses (Bob and Marco) during the offensive of Polygon Wood in September 1917.  Bob flew the ancient square-winged Albatros D.II while Marco flew the newer but equally as clunky Albatros D.V.  At that altitude, both Hun machines performed like bricks with wings.

The mission was short as both Chris and Jim teamed up to sandwich Bob after he rolled poorly in the initiative roll.  Here Bob rolls up the first of much damage that will be done to his machine before it finally quits.  The Brits' first volley made his engine smoke.  Their second volley would have made it smoke even more (if that were possible) in addition to making his machine unable to fly greater than stall speed at our starting altitude.  Bob shut his engine off at the end of turn two and glided away, hoping to turn it back on when he reaches the thicker air below the clouds.

(And in case you were wondering, those ARE fried pork skins Bob was eating.  The ingredients are fried pork skin and salt.  They tasted like a cross between a pork chop and styrofoam.  Where does he find these things?)

That left Jim and Chris to attempt to make a "missing man" formation with Marco's untouched Albatros D.V with Marco being the missing man.  A tag-team tail kept him from escaping on turn three, but he did get away from Chris on turn four.  Jim, who admitted he went for the kill too soon and should have "played with his food more" got in too close which limited the number of cards he could choose.  Marco beat Chris' snake-eyes initiative roll on a roll-off, then evaded Jim's tail attempt in order to escape . . . barely.

 Jay Mischo and John Palchak both split first place, each with one kill and no pilots lost:

Jay Mischo - one victory (Bob's Albatros), none shot down

John Palchak - one victory (Chris' Belgian Nieuport 17), none shot down

Jim Barber - no victories, none shot down

Marco Fabiani - no victories, none shot down

Bob Stiegel - one victory (French balloon), one pilot captured, one pilot killed

Chris Janiec - no victories, one pilot shot down but survived