By far the best support I've experienced is by Firelock games. Sure, skirmish level pirate games are bound to attract lots of players but their stuff, especially ships, are expensive. Still, that doesn't seem to stop anyone. Firelock's "corporate" Facebook has 24K followers. There are 7,500 in the 28mm skirmish group, "Blood & Plunder - Buccaneering across the Spanish Main". Fair enough, but they also have "Oak & Iron", 1/600 battles - closer to SoG; and that Facebook gamer group has 2,500. Plus there are a few supplementary groups like "Blood & Pigment", etc. that provide articles and Youtube videos analyzing factions, tactics, how to scratch build stuff, etc. That's just to show what is possible despite. I think the key is a critical mass of passionate people. Full credit to Firelock for building that critical mass and keeping it going.