Playing with no Wonder Builds

[MeteorPunch]

After the post (wonder addiction), I decided to start on warlord and work my way up the ladder with the goal to win the game without building any wonders (I can capture them, and I can build small wonders). So far I've beat Warlord and Regent easily and it was much fun. Now I'm on Monarch and at a dilemma - I spawned an SGL . Obiously I can't increase science as it doesn't work so the only options are rushing wonders, rushing Palaces(which I don't really need), or waiting ( ) for a small wonder to appear.

I don't want to feel like I'm cheating. I don't really consider rushing the same as building because the whole purpose of not building wonders is to focus on all the shields that can be spent on other useful things. Anyways, what would you do?

 

[Tomoyo]

I would take the wonder, BUT

In your case, rush a wonder that you don't normally go for, and it not game-breaking in any way. Or, you can just use it to rush a bank or something.

 

[MeteorPunch]

I would take the wonder, BUT

In your case, rush a wonder that you don't normally go for, and it not game-breaking in any way. Or, you can just use it to rush a bank or something.

Is the Sistine chapel game-breaking?

 

[Tomoyo]

Not for me, I never build Cathedrals.

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

hold the SGL until a small wonder appears. Gives you a nice boost for MA for example. Not likely you're gonna pop another anyway. What's a cathedral?

 

[MeteorPunch]

Are you two serious? Once the cities hit size 7 they are achin' for some Cathedrals...why none?

 

[Tomoyo]

...because I use markets + luxuries or the lux slider. Never the cathedrals. I would rather keep all my cities small and ICS.

 

[MeteorPunch]

...because I use markets + luxuries or the lux slider. Never the cathedrals. I would rather keep all my cities small and ICS.

I know RPC is ring city placement...what's ICS?

 

[Zakharov]

Keep the SGL for a small wonder. It won't affect your chances of getting another leader.

For the record I don't build temples or cathedrals. Like Tomoyo I prefer to use markets and luxuries.

 

[Tomoyo]

Infinite City Sprawl. It's putting as many cities as you can in a certain patch of land. It gets you low population, which is easy to control.

EDIT:

@Zakharov: IINM, you can't get a MGL when you have a SGL active.

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

I haven't used a cathedral unless I've got nothing better to do in I can't remember how long. Well, maybe if I'm going for a 20k or 100k culture win... Seriously, playing the usuall dom. or con. VC hasn't given me much utility for culture unless I need an enclave on the AI's continent. Shamelessy sucking up to Tomoyo here cause I've royally screwed up the latest SG, but I concur about the use of the lux slider and markets. Most of my military campaigns are based on how to grab more lux.

 

[Zakharov]

IINM, you can't get a MGL when you have a SGL active.

I can't remember the exact rule.

I do know that you can definitely have more than one SGL at one time.

 

[Zavior]

You can have 2 or more SGL's at the same time, but if you have SGL, you cant get MGL. And, if you have MGL, you cant get another one before using your first one.

 

[tR1cKy]

...because I use markets + luxuries or the lux slider. Never the cathedrals. I would rather keep all my cities small and ICS.

Interesting.
I use them often, when needed of course. I think that rushbuilding some cathedrals is, in the long run, more efficient that spending bucks every turn with the slider.
But i guess it depends... if you have the commercial trait the benefits of a city size 7+ are greater, and if luxuries are scarce, building a cathedral may be a good option. On the other hand, if luxuries are more and your economy is poorer, using the slider may be the best choice. But if you're religious, the halved cost can make the difference.

To answer the poster, it depend on you. You can decide that a wonder rushed by a leader isn't included in your rules and build it. Or not. What's the point of playing without wonder building? You say:

I don't really consider rushing the same as building because the whole purpose of not building wonders is to focus on all the shields that can be spent on other useful things.

Then, it's the purpose, not the wonder in itself. In this case, i would rush the wonder. On the other hand, if i had choosed to play the variant "no wonder bulding" for no particular reason other than adding challenge i would not rush it.

 

[Puppeteer]

Quick question on the luxury slider: Does it take from the commerce pile before or after marketplace and bank effects? If it's before then that lux slider may be costing more than you think.

I use churches when needed in my productive cities.

I also never got in the habit of building wonders in the first place. They take a long time and I usually have plenty of other things to build. In a current random game I had a FP building forever in a mostly corrupt city but finally got a MGL and decided to rush the FP on an island with iron and horses which my main island lacked. So that FP prebuild I wound up using for the Ancient Cav wonder because I had an ivory monopoly. I think I attacked with one or two Ancient cav's and disbanded the rest to help build harbors and aqueducts because my invasion was winding down and I wanted a peace/buildup period before my next invasion.

 

[budweiser]

The Sistine Chapel is a HUGE wonder. It's very powerful. Something insignificant would be the Colossus. But I would take a small wonder in this case.

EDIT: The price of building a single wonder is not as bad as you think. It costs one city's worth of production while its being built. If you have 5 cities then you have four cities worth or 80% of your total capacity. If you have 10 cities then you have 90% etc. The cost goes down the more cities you have. Still, I usually dont build many wonders.