Culture T2 D2: Wonder Construction

[MOTH]

We are now prepared for the Indian was and within a turn chat or 2 we will be ready for a war with the Dutch. Most of the wonder cascades died out 9 turns ago. The only 2 wonders currently under construction are the Great Wall (started 8 turns ago) and Statue of Zeus (started 11 turns ago by the Portugese and 4 turns ago by the Byzantines.) There are 6 wonders that could be available during the likely build timeframe: Great Wall, Great Library, Hanging Gardens, Sun Tzu's Art of War, Leonardo's Workshop, Sistine Chapel, and Knight's Templar.

Now is the time to discuss the following questions. Please weigh in on all 5 questions even if the answer to 1 is No.

1. Should we build (or prebuild) any of the upcoming wonders?
2. When should we start a prebuild?
3. What city should we devote to building a wonder?
4. What wonder should we build?
5. Why? What objectives will be advanced by your choices?

The Culture Consulates official position on these questions:

1. Yes, we should. None of these wonders are important to achieve a 130K culture win, but a few could allow us to advance some of our objectives to get there.
2. We should start a pre-build once we have started the war with the Dutch and have achieved initial objectives (ie: captured nearby cities)
3. We should devote Roosting Tree or Donsignia to building a wonder.
4. Great Library. Our objectives can best be met by building this wonder.
5. If we build the Great Library this will allow us to turn off research and concentrate on expansion and infrastructure. It will also allow us to more tightly control (slow down) the science pace as we can hold onto the techs acquired. So the following objectives can be advanced:
a. slow science pace as we hold onto techs.
b. fast expansion as cash can be used to support either a large army or cash rushes.

 

[mad-bax]

My 2 Eurocents

1. Yes
2. As soon as we have changed government.
3. Camelot - Provo will be a 4 turn settler factory I hope.
4. Sun Tzus Art of War
5. We have a big conquest phase coming. Free rax means fewer shields spent on buildings, units will be able to attack more often because they heal quicker (there will always be a rax handy), less gold spent on maintenence, it's a pangea map so the benefit is maximised, it appears in a realistic timeframe.

I'm not a fan of the Great Library. Switching research off means that the AI are always ahead in tech. You can't make a profit through trading, and you have little idea how many libraries and such you will need when you need to start researching again. If you research with the Great library then the only techs you will get are the ones you would have got through trade anyway. No only do I think the Great Library is a poor investment, bu I firmly believe that having it is worse than not having it at all - except on SID and AW games where trading is impossible for one reason or another. The Great Library does not compensate for good trading technique. At best it is a bad crutch for bad players. Sorry, but that's what I think.

 

[greekguy]

1. yes
2. when the Dutch have less than 3 cities left
3. Camelot
4. Leo's workshop, and Sistine Chapel
5. Leo's- makes upgrading alot cheaper, allowing us to spend cash elsewhere and have a modern army at all times. Sistine- lots of culture will help with the 130,000 goal.

 

[Bertie]

I agree we should be thinking about some wonders during the Middle Ages. I'd start prebuilding after the Dutch war, in either Roosting Tree, Donsignia, or Camelot (this assumes we don't move our capital; if we do, we'll have to revisit this question). I'd target both Sun Tzus and the Sistine chapel. I also agree with greekguy that Leo's is a good wonder to build; but I'd put it third on my list.

 

[zyxy]

How many can we hope to construct? Maybe one, and even that may not be wise. We'll need our production power to build more chariots/horses/knights/markets/whatever.

If we want one, I would choose Sun Tzu or Leo. Either will help the war effort(s), and they are both hideously expensive. Sun Tzu is probably best, because it's the one that would help the AI the most.

SC is best captured (we don't need cathedrals for a long time).

Agree with m-b that GLib is a crutch, and a bad one too.

The wonder we should really be thinking about fairly soon is the FP.

 

[mad-bax]

I was rather hoping we would put the FP in Provolutia and jump the palace somewhere sunny and inland.