Military
Population
The Dutch have 146 population to spend! Thats pretty nice. This means vs a Dutch player you need to delete 45 of your villagers in order to have the same population on the battlefield, which is essential for NR55. As Dutch you need to always be draining your enemy because you will drain regardless. A strong army of Skirmishers and Caribeeners coupled with 5 or more Horse Artillery ensure you always have the upper hand. Sensual.
Composition
Skirmishers
The Dutch have powerful Skirmishers, which should make up a large part of your composition. In NR55 range is a large part of your military and civs that excel at this (Such as Portugal) are very good choices for NR55. As Skirmishers have a long range and can stop Cavalry, provided they are supported, relatively well. Dutch Skirmishers are the 2nd best in the game and should never be underestimated. With 36 attack and 288 hitpoints they are great for fodder and as a base for your composition.
Caribeeners
They are stylish, fast and short-ranged. Do not underestimate them! 32 attack for one population, thats 32 ranged attack, for one population is quite lovely indeed. My royal friend KingNassau loves to mass these - for good reason. They pack a punch, especially when protected by Skirmishers as fodder. Remember NR55 is all about range and micro. Hand Cavalry and Hand Infantry will struggle to get into contact with a decent Caribeener and Skirmisher mass.
Halberdiers
In the even you play vs a Hand Cavalry civ - such as Britain or France. This is where their Hand Cavalry units are so strong they are worth the walk over to your units in order to tank and damage your Skirmisher mass. In another scenario your opponent may spam hand cavalry which will break your composition at a large cost for both sides. It's a good idea to have a few halberdiers every now and then. You should utilise the infinite shipment card that Dutch have - you save resources and it is quick. If you don't have any shipments then it is fine to make a few. Dutch have very strong Halberdiers, the best in the game. You can use them in a similar fashion to Dopplesoldners. Sprinkle a few to the front of your composition. They are a decent tank unit and should serve to hold the Hand Cavalry at bay.
Hussar
Dutch have the weakest Hussars in the game. They are sad, slow and fat with a meagre 64 Attack. They are still however Hussars. In the event your opponents Artillery are exposes or you need to counter a Lancer unit they can still be useful. A Lancer unit is a Hand Cavalry unit with a smaller Attack and Hitpoints than a Hussar but with a multiplier vs. Light Infantry or all Infantry. Hussars are useful as a tank unit and can counter them effectively as a buffer while your Caribeeners provide a punch to the Lancer unit.
Horse Artillery
Dutch have 150 pop to play with - nice! This means you can stock up on the most effective unit in the game. You should consider Horse Artillery to be part of your composition. A good Dutch player should have at least 5 shooting at the enemy. This means a better trade for your resources and your Skirmisher mass will live longer. Remember Orinoco is a small crossing - as Horse Artillery have decent spread and cause a lot of damage a mass of them an have great effect. In playing versus civilisations with better Skirmishers and greater economy - Spain, France, Britain, Germany, Japan etc, you will need a large amount of Horse Artillery.
Mortars and Culverins
For Mortars and Culverins you should use as many as necessary. For Orinoco 5 mortars are fine and often ample. I usually like to have 8 culverins as you don't want to be left on the wrong side of the Culv war as Dutch - your composition of Skirmishers and Caribeeners are very vulnerable to cannon fire. You might be able to get away with 6 if you can micro well. Dutch do not follow the rule of 4 culverins for an Engineering School civilisation and 6 Culvs if not. You have extra pop and you need your cannons alive and shooting.
Jakey's Dank AF 55 Boom.
Discovery Age
Gather your crates 1 vill per gold crate then the rest to a close mine. Once all the gold crates have been gathered send 4 villagers to gold and the rest to wood while leaving one to gather the other crates. This will be enough to continue production depending on crates. Adjust when needed but early on if you think you will run out before your first bank. It is essential to keep villager production with Dutch. Prioritise it over everything else. Build a House then a Market and get all the economy upgrades. First wood upgrade, then coin upgrade, then food. Send two villagers to food and send villagers from the TC to wood. Send food trickle as your first shipment. Build your first bank ASAP. Send two villagers from your coin mine once that bank is up to food. Build a house. Build a second bank ASAP and once build send the coin villagers to either food or wood depending on your needs. Once you have around 10 villagers on Wood send them to food from your TC. Build a third bank. Age once you get 800f after your third bank with the 400w politician. In transition build another bank and send all villagers to food. Send the discovery bank cards
Colonial Age
Overrated. Go straight to Fortress age with the fast age option. Send the advanced church card. Get the second Wood upgrade and send all villagers to wood and some on food. Build a church and get the +2 bank upgrade. We need at least 600 wood for our first TC and 350 food for a sneaky bank. Around two villagers on food and the rest on wood should be fine. Get the second food upgrade when you can.
Fortress Age
Build three TC's ASAP, then the rest of your banks. Keep vill production at all costs and queue all villagers. Once your banks are up send all villagers to food. Make sure two TC's are two vills head of one. Use the one without the extra two villagers to age ASAP with the 4 villager and 5 Ruyter politician. Your age should finish at the same time or slightly after those two villagers are done. You now have 54 villagers
Industrial Age
Send Bank upgrade and two factories. Set factories to coin. Age ASAP. Upgrade wood from market and put villagers on Wood - ensure you have enough food for Capitol coin upgrade and Plantation upgrades as well as 700f for two more banks. Upgrade Factories and make and upgrade a plantation. Get Mercantilism ASAP. Get coin upgrades from the home city.
Imperial Age
Build a capital ASAP and send one vill to gather your 2000c. Get the coin upgrade from the Capital and build two banks. Send 10 villagers to your Plantation and rest of villagers on wood. Keep building plantations until you have 4 villagers left on wood. Send them to a mine if there are any left or send them on a hunt. Send Wood Trade once you have a shipment ready after all your coin cards. You should get around 70-80k wood. Build four mills and put 7 villagers on each of them. Split up your remaining villagers on your plantations - you should have 5 per plantation. Send food upgrades from the home city. Get the TP upgrades now. Using one villager, build a Stable, Barracks, Artillery Foundry and a Arsenal. Use the same villager to then build all your houses. Upgrade Skirmishers, Halberdiers, Ruyter, Hussar, Culverin, Mortar, Horse Artillery, Church, Capital and Arsenal upgrades. Make your military units and send Church and Town Centre overpop. Your shipments now should be AA and then the training cards. You don't have time for any other cards before 55. Don't be a silly NR40 player and send the caribs before 55 so you have a larger army.
After 40
Get all the TP ups and set up your front base. You need 5 Barracks, 3 Stables, 4 Artillery Foundries. Setup your outposts how you want. Have a forward Mill and Town Centre. Send the Minutemen from the new town centre and add to your existing. Bring your military up to your front base. Make all envoy as well. You are now ready to fight as Dutch!
Other Stuff
- Don't forget explorer spam and envoys. Both can tank well. Use crackshot efficiently.
- For a fun start utilise your Dutch population by making Heavy Cannons during your boom. You can get away with around 10 for a very pushy start. Remember to get the Imperial upgrade.
- Use your villagers as efficiently as possible. Don't delete any unless you have to
- You have a very limited eco and will drain no matter what - even if you are winning. So you better push hard and fast.
Deck
Like everything I do please point out if i have said anything wrong or messed up.
Roma non uno die aedificata est!
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