Thank you for the warm reception gentlemen, it is an honor to be around such fine shipmates. I truly have waited a long time for an in depth naval game set in 17th to 19th centuries, probably the most adventurous in human history. I have the Master And Commander board game from Front Porch Classics, and while it is a very nice game, it lacks the scope to what SOG delivers, not to mention the fine ship models. I feel with a little imagination, and resource aids SOG could be legendary. If the sea is a vast unknown even today, imagine how it was two and three hundred years ago! Minus pollution, over fishing,etc., who knows what was swimming below the depths? Or what lurked in the steamy jungles? One thing is for sure...they knew how to party.