This article is an analysis of the Oak & Iron Dutch faction. Learn more about the faction initiative cards, admirals, and strengths & weaknesses. The Dutch are one of the 5 Factions contained in the Oak & Iron Core Rules Boxed Set.
Historical Background
The direct heir of its Sea Beggar forbears, the Dutch navy begins as the implacable enemy of Spain but soon reigns as the fierce competitor of the English for control of the northern seas. During the second half of the 17th-century Dutch fleets are equal to the English, and the several Anglo-Dutch wars forge their commanders and crews in the crucible of brutal fleet actions, creating two of the great navies of history, and some of the greatest admirals as well.
Times change and by the last decade of the 17th-century, the Dutch navy is diminished in number of ships, allied with the English under the Dutch Prince of Orange, now King William III of England &c, and reigns no more as one of the two greatest navies in the world. Although each commander has his preferred tactics, the Dutch, in general, may be said to balance gunnery with boarding actions. The Dutch do not fear a fight, but are wise and experienced enough to avoid foolhardiness. As with sea-going states, the Dutch send privateers, known as kapers, to sea in time of war. So intertwined with the sea are all Dutch that some observers consider them all as truly amphibious, far more so than any other Western state. The Dutch, some say, have no landlubbers.
Why should you play the Dutch Faction?
- You prefer boarding over ranged combat.
- You like the small, fast ships over the big heavy Ships of the Line.
- You prefer finesse and using the terrain to your advantage.
- You like to tweak things in small increments to find maximum success. Their Seamanship abilities allow you to take maximum advantage of the speed and turning.
- You prefer playing smaller-sized games, as they favor boarding over long-ranged combat.
Dutch Faction Abilities
SKILLED SAILORS: Roll 1 more dice during all Skill Tests.
EXPERT BOARDERS: Roll 1 more dice during all Close Combat Attacks.
SHALLOW DRAFT: Roll 1 fewer dice (to a minimum of 1) when testing to Run Aground.
- Skilled Sailors is excellent for Crew Actions and misc upgrade and initiative card abilities during the course of the game.
- The Export Boarders ability combined with the Faction-specific Initiative Cards makes the Dutch the best boarding faction in the game.
Dutch Initiative Cards
| Card | Initiative Value | Description |
| Adaptive Tactics | 4 | If your opponent has any discarded Initiative Cards, you may apply the effects of 1 of those cards to your Squadron. Discard this Initiative Card instead of returning it to your hand during the end phase. |
| Boat Assault | 1 | During the Movement Phase, Ships in this squadron that move at Speed Rating 2 or less can place a Landing Party token on an opposing ship within Pistol Shot. During the Attack Phase, ships that deployed a Landing Party token this way may make a Close Combat Attack against the ship that it placed the token on. Landing Party tokens placed this way are removed at the end of the turn. |
| Expert Boarding | 3 | During the Movement Phase, ships in this Squadron may make a Free Close Combat Attack immediately following a successful Boarding Action |
| Lured into the Shoals | 2 | Place a shoal terrain piece within Musket Shot of a ship in this Squadron. May not be placed within Yard Arm distance of any ship. Discard this Initiative Card instead of returning it to your hand during the end phase. |
| Seize the Opportunity | 5 | Ships in this Squadron that are not in Formation during the Attack Phase roll 2 more dice during all Attacks. Discard this Initiative Card instead of returning it to your hand during the end phase. |
Dutch Faction Initiative Card Analysis
Adaptive Tactics
This is a card that can be risky. It lets you steal one of the powerful abilities of your enemy but can be completely useless if your opponent doesn’t play a discarded card or plays it super late in the game. Each Faction has 1-3 faction-specific cards and there are a few generic initiative cards (Fire as She Bears and Double Rations) that can be discarded. My favorite option is using the Spanish Bravado against them (assuming you survived their onslaught when they used it). This lets you ignore all fatigue for the round, which is especially nasty if you are in a strong boarding position.
Boat Assault
This is a good card to play in the round just before you entangle and board the enemy. You’ll need to make sure you’ve prepped for the speed 2 requirement. You can slow down by adjusting your sail setting with a Crew Action or temporary a Seamanship Action. Alternatively, you can turn to a Windward angle and still use your Crew actions for something else.
Expert Boarding
This is arguably the BEST card in the Dutch deck. It is a superb card because it applies to multiple ships and the effects of the Attack happen in the Movement Phase before the enemy gets to Attack. If you can time it right you can have your entire fleet board the enemy in a single round. And because it’s a free action in the Movement Phase you can do a Close Combat attack again in the Attack Phase. This gives you that coveted +3 Close Combat dice, per ship, twice in a single round.
Lured into the Shoals
is great to force an enemy to change course or risk running Aground. It becomes even more powerful if the board already contains a lot of the terrain. If you are playing in a 200 pt game, you are likely going to face Ships of the Line. This card is a game changer as you can beach a big ship and disable a large portion of an enemy’s force or bust up their line ahead of formations.
a well-played “Lured into the Shoals” can render one or more of them almost completely useless for at least 2 turns. At a minimum, it busts up their formation and can cause general panic as your opponent dodges the shoal. When they have to turn to dodge the shoal they often are unable to bring their guns to bear. If they try to sail across the shoal, they are likely going to have to take 2 moves to get across so you have two chances for them to get stuck.
In the meantime, it lets you swarm the other smaller ships while ignoring the largest (if you are out of broadside), and rack up strike points without dealing with the big boy(s). Or if you prefer you can swarm the “stuck” ship. Either way, using a shoal to remove an enemy’s ability to aim “Weight of Fire” and essentially dropping their force by 20-30+ pts of effectiveness is game-changing. IF you can make multiple ships veer off course, it’s more effective.
Seize the Opportunity
This is also one of the more powerful cards in the game. It affects ALL attacks (Close Combat, Broadside & Partial) and it is a boost on ALL ships. If you are playing with a fleet of 6-8 ships you can get an extra 12-16 dice in a turn. Because it’s an Initiative 5 card, it also gives a high probability of going first. Which, if you’ve already boarded a couple of ships will let to inflict serious fatigue on your enemy before they can counterattack.
Just remember that you need to make sure you break formation BEFORE you use this card. I find that’s rarely a problem as it’s better to use mid to late game, so you are likely already out of formation.
Admirals of the Dutch Faction
Abraham Crijnssen
| Admiral Level: | 1 |
| Point Cost: | 4 |
| Abilities: | ROGUES: This Squadron may not include Ships of the Line. RAIDER: Roll 1 more dice during Close Combat Attacks with this ship. When using a Landing Party, treat (musket) results as hits. BRAVE: This ship’s dice rolls are never reduced to less than half (round up) as a result of Fatigue. |
Admiral Ability Breakdown
For a smaller game under 100 pts, Crijnssen is the go-to Admiral of choice for the Dutch. Putting him on a 6th Rate, or Petite Frégate gives you a fast ship with a solid Crew rating to be able to engage in Close Combat. Putting him in a Fluyt won’t let you close as quickly, but you will have extra protection for the Crew to keep Fatigue low. Upgrade any of those ships with Additional Crew, Boarding Party, and Marines and you will have a Close Combat of 10 (Ship’s Crew 2 + 1 Faction Bonus + 1 Raider + 1 Add. Crew + 1 Boarding Party + 1 Marines + 3 Close Combat). Since boarding removes the benefits of High Freeboard and Very High Freeboard, every hit counts towards potentially reducing the target’s Fatigue. With a good dice roll, you could cause an enemy ship to be shaken in a single round!
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest
| Admiral Level: | 2 |
| Point Cost: | 5 |
| Abilities: | BOLD: After making an Attack or Skill Test, you may re-roll up to 3 dice. If any of the re-rolled dice fail to score a hit during the Attack or if the Skill test is failed, this ship takes 1 Point of Fatigue |
Admiral Ability Breakdown
Cornelis is a bit bland as far as Admirals go. Bold is nice, but not the greatest as it has a harsh penalty if you fail. The Seasoned Bold Admiral in the Admiral Card Deck expansion has identical stats, so he doesn’t have anything unique about him or an incentive to choose him.
Michiel de Ruyter
| Admiral Level: | 3 |
| Point Cost: | 15 |
| Abilities: | BRAVE: This ship’s dice rolls are never reduced to less than half (round up) as a result of Fatigue. BRILLIANT: Increase this ship’s skill rating by 1 (to a maximum of 3) TACTICIAN: After revealing an initiative card, you may spend a Fortune Point to replace it with another card in your hand with the same initiative value or 1 value lower. BELOVED: All ships in this Squadron remove 2 points of Fatigue when taking Rally actions |
Admiral Ability Breakdown
Michiel de Ruyter is the most expensive Admiral in the game, so you will likely not field him except in 150+ point level games. But when you do, he is worth the points as he has among the best abilities in the game. Brave isn’t super effective early in the game, but it improves as things draw on. Hopefully, with Michiel’s Beloved ability, you won’t need to use the Brave ability as often. Beloved is like Inspiring except it applies to EVERY ship, regardless of its distance from the flagship. Using 1-2 Rally actions can make a massive difference in your force’s fighting effectiveness.
In my experience, Tactician rarely gets used more than once in a game. Unfortunately, it’s easily forgotten or the situation to use it rarely comes up before you are out of Fortune Tokens. Despite that, when it is used well, it can totally change the trajectory of the round allowing you to counter an enemy’s initiative card or guarantee a win/loss on the initiative for the round. This option is one that can be used to “save” your initiative cards that require discarding if it’s not going to be relevant this round.
Brilliant is like having a mini Fortune Token available to your ship every round. If Michiel’s ship is upgraded to a Skill 2, that gives you 3 re-rolls on every attack. This an extremely inexpensive upgrade, especially on larger vessels. Putting de Ruyter on a larger Ship of the Line gives him additional opportunities to score Critical Hits and get that coveted lucky magazine explosion, mast hit, or Admiral/Captain kill. If you are playing a 200pt game and going to put him on a 1st, 2nd or 3rd rate ship, I would definitely consider adding the Skill 2 upgrade.
Other Factions in Oak & Iron
Select one of the factions below to see our breakdown of the playstyle and pros & cons of each Oak & Iron nation, their admirals, and initiative cards. Each guide comes with our recommendations for how to take advantage of the features in building your Oak & Iron Squadron. Select another faction to learn about it.
