Donald Featherstone's Naval War Gaming -
Foreword By David Manley

This is the foreword kindly written by one of most active naval wargamers in the world today (2009). It is included as it was omitted by error from the first ten copies of this new edition of Donald Featherstone's work and the personally I think the words are of potential interest to all wargamers.

I have been a naval wargamer in some form or another for practically all of my life. I suppose the greatest influence on me in this regard was my father, who regaled me with stories of his time in the Far East during WW2 on battleships, carriers, cruisers and minesweepers of the Royal Navy, and it was this that had me collecting Airfix 1/600 warships when my friends were building 1/76 Shermans and Tigers. The second was Donald Featherstone's "Naval War Games", the latest edition of which you are holding now. Don's books were a great inspiration to most, if not all wargamers of my generation, but for most it was his land based books that did this; for me inspiration came in finding a dusty copy of "Naval War Games" in the school library just before the start of the summer holidays. During those eight school-free weeks every page was eagerly devoured, rules transcribed (and amended - even at that age I was "tweaking" published rules) and encouraging my friends to take part in "proper" wargaming, on the simulated high seas rather than on land. It was my entry point in to the world of detailed naval wargaming, and from there I never looked back.

Since 1990 I've been lucky enough to have had over a dozen sets and editions of naval rules published, and have contributed to many more that are in circulation today, but if I'm in a mood for some naval wargaming nostalgia, or want a good book to read to get the inspirational juices flowing I come back here every time. I hope you enjoy this latest edition of Don's fine work.

As I write this I am looking out over the North Sea and the Frisian Islands. To my right a ferry is crossing to the island of Texel. To my left a Belgian frigate is exercising and a Dutch submarine is taking on sea riders from a tender. Overhead, Lynx helicopters are conducting an air-sea rescue exercise. It is a salient reminder that what we push around on those blue cloths represents something tangible, crewed by men and women who are there to do a job that most readers wouldn't dream of doing. Today its calm, but the sea can be a savage place- I know, I've been there in a warship in situations where, for a few seconds, you realise that you might not be coming back from this one. And indeed in situations where not everyone made it home. They are brave souls. Remember them when your model fleets take to the blue cloth oceans.