Netherlands (Rise of the Moderns)/Strategic Overview

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===Strengths===
*Innovative navy
*Good economic bonuses and early-game defence
*Population repression bonus
===Weaknesses===
*Diminished anti-air and counterintelligence support - kraals can detect enemy units, but cannot fire on aircraft
*Poor mid- to late-game land army
The Netherlands are a faction dedicated generally towards amphibious defence. With a powerful defensive structure, units capable of crossing water in record time, and an extremely hardened light ship line capable of protecting units from attrition, the Netherlands have one of the most powerful bonuses. Perhaps, some would say, a bit too powerful.
At the sea, the Dutch can count on a variety of units to dominate and control sea lanes: first of these should be the misleadingly named "light ship" line. The Dutch ships are also sufficiently powerful enough to take apart the more thin-skinned but cheaper Muslim shipping, and can also be used to bully the far less developed navies of Mexico and Siam in the early game.
On land, the Dutch also have another interesting feature: the kraal. This is a hardened defence as strong as a Martello cannon tower, and is also capable of generating happiness from select resources, just as how a salon does as well. Kraals, however, are not cheap and so their placement requires some micro-management. Also, the Dutch lack access to anti-aircraft batteries or outposts, and must rely on the costlier Kraal line for point defence structures. The Kraal, nevertheless, being able to create food from merchants and happiness from pelts, wool, horses and bison, is still powerful enough to give most enemies pause. Rare resources are of vital importance for the Dutch, because their merchants are more effective in exploiting them in comparison to other powers.
So the best game for the Dutch in any normal setup is the early game, where the Dutch ought to conquer islands as fast as they can, using their superior swimming and sailing abilities to take key resources and seize strategic areas, which can then be expanded further using the abilities of the kraal. This is vital since unlike other factions, the Dutch ability to gather more resources from rares means that trade and mercantile colonisation can be capitalised on for economic growth. Diplomacy is also key too, due to the poor quality of Dutch defences in later eras - you will need to create your own agents and airplanes for surveillance and air defence. This all feeds into a strategy of early booming and strategic rushing to acquire the resources you need, and then outbuilding your opponent, while denying him or her further ground using your powerful kraal until your larger and more superior army can save the day