Welcome to the Guide to Dutch Politicians discussion thread. Here you can read detailed commentaries and post your own comments about the Dutch politicians in Age of Empires. For the basic version of this guide, click here.
At the time of writing, the current version of Age of Empires 3 is version 1.01, and the commentaries below were written with this in mind.
Colonial Age
The Governor 1 Outpost Wagon and Chests of 200 Coin Level 50
If you want to play defensively, advance to the Colonial Age with the Governor. The outpost wagon helps to secure resources, while the 200 coin that he provides can help pay for market upgrades or for extra settlers.
Although he is the best politician to use against rushes, he is only available to the Dutch at level 50. This is somewhat ironic, since lower-level players tend to have more problems stopping a rush than higher-level players.
The Quartermaster Cords of 500 Wood Level 1
The Quartermaster is similar to the Philosopher Prince, except that he provides 500 wood instead of 500 food. However, since wood is gathered at a much slower rate than food, 500 wood is actually worth more than 500 food.
500 wood gives you a lot of options. It can help pay for the cost of a barracks and a stables; just add 50 more wood. With it you can build 2 trading posts or 4 advanced trading posts. In maps with water, you can use it to build a dock.
If you don't plan on advancing to the Fortress Age quickly, choose the Quartermaster.
The Naturalist 4 Cows Level 10
The Naturalist is the worst politician in the current version of Age of Empires 3 (1.01). It takes too long to fatten the four cows that she provides.
In casual team games, if your town center is far away from the frontlines, you could potentially gain four times as much food as the Philosopher Prince provides.
The Philosopher Prince Crates of 500 Food Level 1
A much better politician that the Naturalist. He provides only 500 food, 1/4 of what the Naturalist could potentially provide, but you can benefit from what he gives you much, much faster. It is for this reason that the Philosopher Prince is the politician of choice for those who want to quickly advance to the Fortress Age.
Fortress Age
The Gentleman Pirate 2 Corsairs and 1 Privateer Level 20
The Gentleman Pirate gives you two Barbary corsairs and a privateer. The corsairs are excellent against cavalry and are actually super rodeleros. Although they are much more powerful than rodeleros, you only get two of them, so they don't really add much to your army. The privateer, on the other hand, is what makes this politician very useful.
Ships are much faster than land units. Loading your army into a ship and then sending it somewhere near the enemy base is much, much faster than letting your army march to the same destination. By doing this, you can get to the enemy base before the enemy army can get to yours.
Admiral of the Ocean Sea 1 Caravel and Cords of 400 Wood Level 30
The Admiral of the Ocea Sea is the best politician for island games. The 400 wood helps pay for your first frigate, and the caravel serves as a transport, fishing boat, or warship. Very versatile. If you're playing on Amazonia or Caribbean, choose this politician. Otherwise, choose another one.
The Exiled Prince Ages up very fast. Level 1
The Exiled Prince is unique in that he doesn't give you units, resources, or both. Instead, he lets you advance to the Fortress Age very quickly, letting you get there before your opponent. The Exiled Prince is also a good choice for those who want to catch up with an opponent who is already in the Fortress Age.
The Sergeant at Arms 6 Halberdiers Level 1
The Sergeant at Arms gives you archaic infantry. In this case, you get 6 halberdiers, which isn't much. They are useful in protecting your falconets from enemy cavalry, but you'd probably be better off choosing another politician.
However, if you're on a land map and you don't have a lot of resources, the Exiled Prince will not be a wise choice. In this case, choose the Sergeant at Arms.
Industrial Age
The Tycoon Chests of 1000 Coin Level 1
The 1000 coin "rebate" that you get from the Tycoon brings down the cost of advancing to the Industrial Age to just 2000 food and 200 coin. You can use this to build more artillery, maybe even mortars or monitors, to help break a stalemate. Or maybe you could spend it on upgrades, or extra settlers.
The Cavalry Marshal 9 Ruyters Level 60
The Cavalry Marshal, as his name suggests, gives you cavalry. In this case, you get 9 ruyters, which you can use to protect your artillery from enemy cavalry. In terms of what he gives you, the Cavalry Marshal is the best Dutch Industrial Age politician. However, he is the last to be unlocked, so for your first 59 levels, you'll have to choose another politician.
The King's Musketeer 8 Skirmishers Level 1
Similar to the Adventurer, the King's Musketeer gives you ranged infantry. Despite his name, he actually gives you skirmishers instead of musketeers, since the Dutch normally don't get musketeers.
Although skirmishers are very useful in the Colonial Age and the Fortress Age, they start to lose their usefulness in the Industrial Age. The Industrial Age is all about large armies in general and artillery in particular. Once you have 100+ population worth of units, micromanaging skirmishers becomes quite difficult. Also, falconets are already very good against infantry, making skirmishers redundant.
The Viceroy 4 Settlers and 5 Ruyters Level 40
The Viceroy gives you 4 settlers and a few military units. For the Dutch, he gives 5 ruyters.
However, he isn't very useful to the Dutch, or the other empires. Mediocre bonus; high level requirement. By this time, you probably have all the settlers and banks that you need, or you couldn't have advanced at all. Even worse is that he's only available at level 40.
Imperial Age
El Presidente Chests of 2000 Coin. Most unit Shipments can be sent again. Level 1
El Presidente gives you 2000 coin, which is much better than the General's infantry and artillery. This 2000 coin can help pay for capitol upgrades, especially Spies (which reveals all enemy units) and Blockade (which prevents enemy players from sending shipments). Since the main point of advancing to the Imperial Age is to get capitol upgrades, el Presidente is the best Imperial Age politician in Age of Empires 3.
The General 10 Skirmishers and 1 Heavy Cannon. Most unit Shipments can be sent again. Level 1
The General gives you infantry and your empire's most powerful artillery. In this case, you get 10 skirmishers and a heavy cannon. However, if you can actually afford to advance to the Imperial Age, you probably have all the musketeers and rockets that you need. In the current version, the General is not worth using.
Revision History
1.01a (November 26, 2005) - I rewrote the guide, "standardizing" so I can finish it faster, since most politicians belong to more than one empire. Having to type a different description for each politician can lead to inconsistency. Each politician's basic description is the same, but each entry will have empire-specific notes, e.g. "For the Russians...", "In this case...", etc.
Also, I modified the version numbering. The "1.01" in the version number stands for the current version of the game. The "a" means that this is the "first" version of this guide. The next revision will be 1.01b, and then 1.01c. Once the 1.02 patch will be released, the version numbers will be 1.02a, 1.02b, etc.
This post has been edited by Joseph Silver: Nov 27 2005, 02:46 AM
Damn. I forgot. While writing about the Governor, I was thinking of the British, since the British also have this politician. Thanks, by the way.
And about the Viceroy, if you have max settlers at the time you advance to the Industrial Age, you probably don't need more, so I still won't recommend that politician.
But if you find him useful, e.g. your deck can benefit from him, then go for him. Different decks and politicians for different players.
by Joseph Silver
Welcome to the Guide to Dutch Politicians discussion thread. Here you can read detailed commentaries and post your own comments about the Dutch politicians in Age of Empires. For the basic version of this guide, click here.
At the time of writing, the current version of Age of Empires 3 is version 1.01, and the commentaries below were written with this in mind.
The Governor
1 Outpost Wagon and Chests of 200 Coin
Level 50
If you want to play defensively, advance to the Colonial Age with the Governor. The outpost wagon helps to secure resources, while the 200 coin that he provides can help pay for market upgrades or for extra settlers.
Although he is the best politician to use against rushes, he is only available to the Dutch at level 50. This is somewhat ironic, since lower-level players tend to have more problems stopping a rush than higher-level players.
The Quartermaster
Cords of 500 Wood
Level 1
The Quartermaster is similar to the Philosopher Prince, except that he provides 500 wood instead of 500 food. However, since wood is gathered at a much slower rate than food, 500 wood is actually worth more than 500 food.
500 wood gives you a lot of options. It can help pay for the cost of a barracks and a stables; just add 50 more wood. With it you can build 2 trading posts or 4 advanced trading posts. In maps with water, you can use it to build a dock.
If you don't plan on advancing to the Fortress Age quickly, choose the Quartermaster.
The Naturalist
4 Cows
Level 10
The Naturalist is the worst politician in the current version of Age of Empires 3 (1.01). It takes too long to fatten the four cows that she provides.
In casual team games, if your town center is far away from the frontlines, you could potentially gain four times as much food as the Philosopher Prince provides.
The Philosopher Prince
Crates of 500 Food
Level 1
A much better politician that the Naturalist. He provides only 500 food, 1/4 of what the Naturalist could potentially provide, but you can benefit from what he gives you much, much faster. It is for this reason that the Philosopher Prince is the politician of choice for those who want to quickly advance to the Fortress Age.
The Gentleman Pirate
2 Corsairs and 1 Privateer
Level 20
The Gentleman Pirate gives you two Barbary corsairs and a privateer. The corsairs are excellent against cavalry and are actually super rodeleros. Although they are much more powerful than rodeleros, you only get two of them, so they don't really add much to your army. The privateer, on the other hand, is what makes this politician very useful.
Ships are much faster than land units. Loading your army into a ship and then sending it somewhere near the enemy base is much, much faster than letting your army march to the same destination. By doing this, you can get to the enemy base before the enemy army can get to yours.
Admiral of the Ocean Sea
1 Caravel and Cords of 400 Wood
Level 30
The Admiral of the Ocea Sea is the best politician for island games. The 400 wood helps pay for your first frigate, and the caravel serves as a transport, fishing boat, or warship. Very versatile. If you're playing on Amazonia or Caribbean, choose this politician. Otherwise, choose another one.
The Exiled Prince
Ages up very fast.
Level 1
The Exiled Prince is unique in that he doesn't give you units, resources, or both. Instead, he lets you advance to the Fortress Age very quickly, letting you get there before your opponent. The Exiled Prince is also a good choice for those who want to catch up with an opponent who is already in the Fortress Age.
The Sergeant at Arms
6 Halberdiers
Level 1
The Sergeant at Arms gives you archaic infantry. In this case, you get 6 halberdiers, which isn't much. They are useful in protecting your falconets from enemy cavalry, but you'd probably be better off choosing another politician.
However, if you're on a land map and you don't have a lot of resources, the Exiled Prince will not be a wise choice. In this case, choose the Sergeant at Arms.
The Tycoon
Chests of 1000 Coin
Level 1
The 1000 coin "rebate" that you get from the Tycoon brings down the cost of advancing to the Industrial Age to just 2000 food and 200 coin. You can use this to build more artillery, maybe even mortars or monitors, to help break a stalemate. Or maybe you could spend it on upgrades, or extra settlers.
The Cavalry Marshal
9 Ruyters
Level 60
The Cavalry Marshal, as his name suggests, gives you cavalry. In this case, you get 9 ruyters, which you can use to protect your artillery from enemy cavalry. In terms of what he gives you, the Cavalry Marshal is the best Dutch Industrial Age politician. However, he is the last to be unlocked, so for your first 59 levels, you'll have to choose another politician.
The King's Musketeer
8 Skirmishers
Level 1
Similar to the Adventurer, the King's Musketeer gives you ranged infantry. Despite his name, he actually gives you skirmishers instead of musketeers, since the Dutch normally don't get musketeers.
Although skirmishers are very useful in the Colonial Age and the Fortress Age, they start to lose their usefulness in the Industrial Age. The Industrial Age is all about large armies in general and artillery in particular. Once you have 100+ population worth of units, micromanaging skirmishers becomes quite difficult. Also, falconets are already very good against infantry, making skirmishers redundant.
The Viceroy
4 Settlers and 5 Ruyters
Level 40
The Viceroy gives you 4 settlers and a few military units. For the Dutch, he gives 5 ruyters.
However, he isn't very useful to the Dutch, or the other empires. Mediocre bonus; high level requirement. By this time, you probably have all the settlers and banks that you need, or you couldn't have advanced at all. Even worse is that he's only available at level 40.
El Presidente
Chests of 2000 Coin. Most unit Shipments can be sent again.
Level 1
El Presidente gives you 2000 coin, which is much better than the General's infantry and artillery. This 2000 coin can help pay for capitol upgrades, especially Spies (which reveals all enemy units) and Blockade (which prevents enemy players from sending shipments). Since the main point of advancing to the Imperial Age is to get capitol upgrades, el Presidente is the best Imperial Age politician in Age of Empires 3.
The General
10 Skirmishers and 1 Heavy Cannon. Most unit Shipments can be sent again.
Level 1
The General gives you infantry and your empire's most powerful artillery. In this case, you get 10 skirmishers and a heavy cannon. However, if you can actually afford to advance to the Imperial Age, you probably have all the musketeers and rockets that you need. In the current version, the General is not worth using.
1.01a (November 26, 2005) - I rewrote the guide, "standardizing" so I can finish it faster, since most politicians belong to more than one empire. Having to type a different description for each politician can lead to inconsistency. Each politician's basic description is the same, but each entry will have empire-specific notes, e.g. "For the Russians...", "In this case...", etc.
Also, I modified the version numbering. The "1.01" in the version number stands for the current version of the game. The "a" means that this is the "first" version of this guide. The next revision will be 1.01b, and then 1.01c. Once the 1.02 patch will be released, the version numbers will be 1.02a, 1.02b, etc.
This post has been edited by Joseph Silver: Nov 27 2005, 02:46 AM
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