I've always loved ships, especially sailing ships and galleys. As a kid I had some wonderful books on the subject, and read avidly about biremes, triremes, carracks, galleons and the rest. Yet somehow I never really got into naval wargaming, at least with miniatures. I bought the Avalon Hill 'Trireme' games and 'Wooden Ships and Iron Men' rather than buying ships. I still bought rules, though for the most part they were so detailed as to be unplayable except by the dedicated. I'm not into masses of record keeping and charts. One exception was a set I picked for the grand sum of 50 pence at a show in Nottingham. It was a very short set from WRG for C16th naval warfare. I thought it looked fun, and bought half a dozen ships to have a game. Over time, I acquired a few more ships. I liked the period, and looked at other rules, but never really liked them as much. I left all the ships at my parents' when I came to Japan.

Then I picked up a copy of Roger Crowley's 'Empires of the Sea' on a trip home. Somehow it reignited my interest in a big way. I dug out my old ships, brought them back and managed to persuade some of the gamers in Tokyo to give them a try. The game was a success, and I sent of to Navwar for more ships. So I now have a pile of lead to sort out paint. Eventually, I'll have Holy League and Ottoman/Barbary fleets to face off. New ships are being assembled and painted, some old ones repainted. Just for a taster, here's the Holy League's Genoese squadron in the shipyard.

These are also on my other blog, The Kapudan Pasha's Blog, with some old pictures of some ships in action.