Part 75: Q&A - January 8

Empire Total War: The Second 80 Years War quick online Q&A

Q: Before the Dutch had finalized their attack, what sort of advantages and disadvantages did they hold?

A: The Dutch in the East had both superior troops and greater numbers than the Maratha. In the West, the Dutch had approximately even numbers, but their best infantry were inferior to the best the Maratha had. On the other hand, the Maratha's worst infantry were far inferior to the Dutch infantry. On the whole, they were likely equally matched.

Q: These paintings look very good. What was the secret behind them?

A: The Dutch painters, many following Rembrandt (who had attained his technique from the Italians), were masters of chiaroscuro, which was the strong contrast of light and dark. This sharp divide provided very bold and striking pictures.

Other digitally produced recreations are of a high quality thanks to our new Divx11 graphical production software, capable of very accurately reproducing troop formations and battle maps. Thanks to the updated computers, we've been able to render the graphics in a much higher fidelity.