14 DAY TRIAL // The focus of the new Res Publica expansion for Europa Universalis IV is on the Dutch and their political system, which is an Elective Monarchy with some unique twists, and that means that I was drawn to actually test out the faction for the first time since I first got access to the Paradox-made grand strategy title.
The area of the map where the modern country rests is initially occupied by small principalities linked to the Holy Roman Empire, and as the years and centuries go by, they also fall under the domination of Austria and Spain.
Independent Netherlands emerges via rebellion in 1579 and it is initially a rather classic Feudal Monarchy which needs to deal with the Spanish threat in order to retain its status and then worry about its form of government.
Keeping the emerging Dutch victorious in the 80 Years’ War is hard to do in Europa Universalis IV because they have rather limited resources, while the Spanish can blockade their ports and quickly get more troops to the Low Countries in order to take back territory.
The strategy should revolve around hit-and-run attacks against spread out armies while the bulk of the invading forces loses men to sieges and attrition, and the victory conditions do encourage such an approach.
But although I tried to win the war a number of times I was unable to, because, for all its complexity, Europa Universalis IV cannot simulate all the elements that made the Dutch victorious in the long term, including outside pressure from other great powers and the nationalism that animated them.
The best result I was able to deliver in the game was a peace settlement that was unfavorable to the Netherlands but allowed the country to focus inward rather than be constantly under the threat of the Spanish.
A better idea for those who want to run a full game with the country is to start a game as Spain and simply allow a Dutch rebellion to succeed in full before switching to the newly-created country.
Once the Netherlands is at peace, an event that triggers the switch to the new government form added in Res Publica fires and introduces the two factions, the Orangists and the Statists, who are competing for power.
The country is also then able to focus on trade and colonization efforts in order to get a solid income while trying to develop enough from a tech standpoint to decide what its long-term aims are.