The Asian Dynasties

Introduction

Fighting battles on water-based maps such as Amazonia or Carribean can often be tricky, but is an essential part of a Dutch player's game. Knowing how to control the sea, and properly attack your enemy from across it is a skill worth mastering. The Dutch have much potential to excel on water maps, due to their ability to easily produce war ships early, and their ability to boom very quickly and very effectively.



Table of Contents:
-Ships
-Cards
-Build Orders
-Tactics
-Replays

This post has been edited by MoOnY: Dec 17 2005, 17:40 PM

Ships

The following is a list of your available ships, and a description of how they should be used:


Fishing Ship
° The Fishing Ship is your basic Naval gatherer unit. It can be used to gather food from fish, and gold from whales. Because it costs only 100 wood(50 with the schooners card), it is a cheap, easy way to expand your economy. Once you have gained control of the sea, make sure you start making fishing ships in order to further bolster your economy. Also, don't forget about the Fishing Ship gathering upgrades at the Dock!

Caravel
° The Caravel is your basic early naval warship. It can be used for fishing, fighting, and transporting troops. It is often a good idea to create at least 2-3 Caravels to combat enemy naval ships early in the game. When you're not fighting with your Caravels, be sure to task them on some nearby fish in order to pick up some extra resources.

Fluyt
° The Fluyt is a ship, similar to the Galleon, that is unique to the Dutch. It is a warship with more hitpoints and a slightly stronger attack than the Caravel, and has the ability to train troops when it is near the shore. The Fluyt can be parket on the enemy shoreline and used to create troops to attack the enemy. This is often a better alternative to building on the enemy's shore because the Fluyt has an attack, is mobile, and can train all barracks and stable troops, plus grenadiers.

Frigate
° The Frigate is the most powerful warship in the game, and is not available until the Fortress Age. Because of its large attack and hit points, you are only allowed to create 3 Frigates. If you feel yourself losing the naval battle in the Colonial Age, it is often a good idea to advance to the Fortress Age, and start producing Frigates. They are extremely hard to kill, and can really tear up a lesser navy.

Monitor
° The Monitor is a siege ship, and is not available until the Industrial Age. It can be used to attack buildings far inshore, without taking damage. While the Monitor is effective vs enemy ships, it is best used to weaken coastal defenses, clearing the way for you to mount an assault with your land-based troops.

Privateer
° Privateers are small ships that can be shipped from your Home City. Although they have similar Hit Points to a Fluyt, they have the most broadside attack of any ship in the game. The ability to summon them in early Colonial makes them extremely useful in gaining control of the sea in early parts of the game.

This post has been edited by MoOnY: Dec 17 2005, 17:27 PM

Cards

The following is a list of all available Dutch Water Cards, and a description of how they should be used:



°Ship Privateers: Privateers are some of the strongest naval units in the game. They have the most broadside attack of any ship, but low hit points. Summoning 2 privateers early game can give you a huge naval advantage, and 4 privateers or 2 team privateers late game can give you just the extra firepower your navy might need. Remember that, because they are mercenaries, privateers will cost you gold to summon.


°Ship Caravels: Shipping Caravels early is often a very good move, espescially if you don't want to pay the 500 gold. Caravels are a very diverse early game ship. Because they can both attack and fish, this card is sort of an "all-purpose" card, because it can summon fishing ships and battle ships in one.


°Ship Fluyts: The Fluyt, like the Caravel, is a very diverse ship, which makes this a very useful shipment. A very good tactic is to ship the 1 Fluyt card early in the Colonial Age, instantly giving you means to create troops and raid the enemy's shore. In the Fortress Age, the 3 Fluyt card can be useful to create many units at once, or simply supplement your navy.


°Ship Frigates: The Ship Frigates card is an excellent card to capitalize on reaching the Fortress Age. Frigates are the strongest warships in the game, and being able to quickly build your limit of them can be crucial in an intense naval battle. Use this card to give you a quick military advantage early in the Fortress Age.


°Ship Monitor: The Ship Monitor card is an espescially useful card for breaking the opponent's coastal defenses. Because of the large cost of Monitors, this card can save you money by giving you an excellent seige ship for free.


°Improved War Ships: This card increases War Ship Hit Points and Damage by +20%. This might seem like an insignificant card, but it is one that can really give you an edge in battle. Because of the limit on the number of naval ships you can create, small things like this can make the difference in a large battle. This card is best used in a close match, in which you just need something to edge out the enemy. Combine this with upgrades from the Dock and you can have quite a strong naval force.


°Admirality: Admirality increases the number of War Ships that can be built. This may seem insignificant, but Admirality is one of the best water cards available. The increased build limit gives you an unbelievable advantage over your enemy. If you use this and your enemy does not, you will have an instant advantage in your ability to take control of the sea and hold it. Keep this in your water deck every game.


°Advanced Dock: The Advanced Dock card increases Dock attack, makes ships heal faster, and makes ships train faster. This is a very interesting card, and it is debatable whether it should be included in a good water deck. The extra attack and healing capabilities make it extremely useful in a close battle situation. Then again, it could be better to ship new ships instead. It really boils down to personal preference as to whether you prefer to play defensively/heal your ships rather than keep creating new ships and be a bit more offensive.


°Fish Market/Rendering Plant: These cards increase your Fishing Boat's workrate for fish and whales by 20%. This is an excellent card to use when you are booming, as a 20% increase in production is huge. Combine that with upgrades from your Dock, and you can have an extremely efficient economy from Fishing Boats alone. Play this card every time you have a formidable fleet of Fishing Boats.


°Schooners: Schooners reduces the cost of Fishing Boats by -50%. This can be used very effectively if you plan on creating alot of Fishing Boats. It is best used if you have multiple Docks, so you can essentially create 2 boats for the time/price of 1. This is another boom card that can be put to good use if properly played.

Sample Deck:



This post has been edited by MoOnY: Dec 21 2005, 22:57 PM

Build Orders

Here is my recommended build order for Dutch on Water Maps:

1) 4 settlers to gold, 3 to crates then food

2) Cue your first settler to gold and build a house, next settlers to food.

3) Ship 3 settlers.

4) Cue vills until you have 11 on food and 7 on gold.

5) Advance using 500 wood politician. During advance put 4 on wood from food and 2 on gold.

6) Once advance is complete, ship 2 privateers and build a dock, market, and houses.

7) Cue villagers to gold and produce warships/fishing ships. Create caravels to supplement your fighting force, and a fluyt to create units to raid the enemy.

8) Ship 4 villagers as your next shipment. Water maps are the Dutch's chance to boom. Start getting up banks mid-Colonial to boost your econ. Also, maintain water control and spam fishing ships.

*If your troops from the Fluyt are enough to take down the enemy, keep producing. If necessary, advance to Fortress Age and start making Frigates and Falconets. This is a good time to use the Admirality card
*The good thing about water maps is that you don't have to worry about a rush, which is the Dutch's main weakness. Use this to your advantage, and boom the heck out of your enemies. Try to get to the bank and settler limit as fast as possible.

This post has been edited by MoOnY: Dec 21 2005, 03:36 AM

Tactics

In order to play water maps successfully, there are several small, but significant factors to keep in mind:

Coastal Defenses: A major part of playing water maps successfully is knowing how to defend your coastline, and break the defenses of your opponent's coastline.
*Outposts: An easy way to protect your coast or dock early in the game is to ship the 2 outpost card. Spread them around your coast, or put them in one key location for excellent defense. On the offensive, it is best to avoid outposts with your ships if at all possible. It is not recommended that you take on outposts with ships until you have Frigates. Another tactic that can be used for breaking an outpost defense is to quickly land an army along with several Falconets. You can then use the falconets to bombard the towers, with the help of your naval fleet.
*Town Centers: Town Centers are some of the best shoreline defenses possible. These are espescially a factor when you are playing against a Portuguese opponent, who plants his free TC's along the shore. The Dutch have the ability to get a Town Center card in the Fortress Age, and the Dutch Explorer can be used to build Town Centers, although outposts might be a better investment. It is recommended that you take on Town Centers with either Frigates or Monitors.
*Forts: The Fort is by far the strongest defense available. However, your enemy only gets one, so try to spot it while its being created to hopefully destroy it. It is nice to put the Fort in a key place, for instance next to a Dock or Town Center. When killing a Fort, note that Frigates and Monitors both have longer range than the Fort, so make use of the range to take the Fort down. On the other hand, make sure you have some Falconets to protect your Fort from the same bombardment.

Raiding: A good tactic to use early in the game is to park a Fluyt on the enemy's shoreline and quickly make 5 hussars for raiding the enemy's villagers. If your Fluyt is in a secure location, you can then continue to produce Skirmishers and ultimately Grenadiers from the Fluyt to destroy the enemy's base. This is the easiest way to win a naval match, but is not possible if your enemy has invested funds in a navy.

Booming: A great way to gain the upper hand in a naval match is through out-booming your opponent. Because of their Banks, the Dutch are great at doing this. Concentrate the bulk of your resources on producing villagers, fishing ships, upgrades, and a strong navy for defense. Make sure your Town Center is never idle. Put about 15 villagers on gold, and then start gathering wood to create Banks. Late game, I recommend maxed banks, 10 villagers on a plantation, 20-30 on Mills(depending on your fishing), and 10-20 on Wood.

Finishing the Enemy: One of the hardest things to do on a water map is to penetrate the shoreline and finish the enemy. Sending reinforcements is often difficult, because they must be transported by ship. The best way to get your troops to the enemy shoreline is through Frigates. Make sure you have multiple Frigates, so your enemy won't know which to target. Load lots of Falconets(5+), Skirmishers, Ruyters, Halberdiers, and whatever else you think you will need. If necessary, launch a fake assault on another part of the island to distract the enemy's military. Then, rush your 3 Frigates over, drop the troops, and hold your ground.

This post has been edited by MoOnY: Dec 21 2005, 03:56 AM

Replays

-Coming Soon-

This post has been edited by MoOnY: Dec 21 2005, 03:37 AM