Stone or Marble?

[Munch]

Definitely stone. With a realistic shot at Stonehenge/Great Wall/Pyramids, any one of them can really get your game off to a good start. Early Maoi Statues is sweet too, but often I want to save that for a 1-tile island or the like; only if my capital has hardly any land tiles will I build Maoi early.

Marble is great of course, particularly for the Great Library, but a lot of the other marble wonders just aren't as useful as the early stone ones. Temple of Artemis perhaps being the exception.

 

[DrJambo]

Stone without a doubt. The GW is one of the most essential wonders at high levels due to the increased barbarian threat.

 

[darrelljs]

In my capital, stone, because it has the most potential early on, because of stonehenge and the mids. But I'd rather have marble if I'm going to have to settle a city to get it because it's more useful during the middle of the game because of GL.

Ditto, also for The Great Wall.

Darrell

 

[TM Moot]

i voted Marble as I rarely get stone hooked up before I finish chopping the 'Mids

both are nice though, esp. with an IND leader

 

[lukep]

Well, I usually chop the GW and sth even before hooking the stone (unless it is in BFC).

Marble is essential, even with an industrious leader to get an almost sure chance at ToA.

So Marble is probably better

 

[CivDude86]

Am I the only one that cares about the cheaper walls and castles? Stone gives a 25 axe per city that you don't have to pay maintence on power graph wise and you can actually build some castles before their obsolete.

 

[Zanttu]

Stone, because The Pyramids is by far the best wonder in the game.
Also, sometimes The Great Wall is REALLY good to get.

I agree 100%. If I get stone on the capital BFC, Stonehenge is also a possibility (if not creative leader).

And personally I think GLibrary is pretty easy to get since the AI doesn't priorize literature much. Well, Pyramids isn't that hard to get either but it requires sacrifice of early game REx. The longer time you spend building 'mids the worse. This is why I prefer stone over marble, around the time I get literature I'm not RExing so I have time to build GL without marble.

 

[Game_Addy]

I'll take stone. 'Mids early on for a Great Engineer, or a Great Spy with the Great Wall. I love big cities and souped-up specialists, and that's exactly what the 'Mids gives me. And with Raging Barbarians, it's good to be able to secure my borders and watch the AI deal with the barbarians. And as noted earlier, the less-time spent on the 'Mids, the better. Those things are friggin expensive!

 

[mscellaneous]

I voted for marble.. As mentioned before by others, the marble (national) wonders are always high on my priority build list.

Rob

 

[OTAKUjbski]

I voted for Stone for many of the reasons already posted, but I'll list 'em anyway:


Stone Wonders are generally more expensive than Marble Wonders. (~7k total for Stone vs ~4.5k total for Marble.)

The Pyramids are arguably the most game-changing Wonder. However, they are very expensive and most useful at a time when production comes at a premium.

The [arguably] best National Wonders are Stone Wonders. Ironworks (pre BtS 3.13) and Oxford are vital and expensive (700 & 400 respectively). West Point and Rushmore are [arguably] vital in Warmonger games and also expensive (500 & 800 respectively).

Contrast this to the Marble National Wonders: Hermitage, Heroic Epic and National Epic. HE and NE are vital but cheap (450 total).​

Stone Wonders generate [arguably] better (~25% Great Engineer and ~25% Great Prophet).

Contrast this to the Marble Wonders, where ~50% generate Great Artist points.​

The Marble Wonders are typically down tech paths of low priority to the AI.

-- my 2

 

[madscientist]

Ironworks requires stone? I never realized that, doesn't make sense to me.

As far as the late wonders, it's concievable you can just take the one you do not have from an AI.

 

[ABigCivFan]

Excellent analysis OTAKUjbski

It does depend a lot on personal playing style and difficulty levels and etc.

I used to love the sight of stone in my Capital BFC, but after a while Pyriamids in the BCs are just no fun anymore, it is such an unfair advantage to players, especailly in the hands of a good FE/SE player.

Nowadays my main strategy revolves around well-timed GS bulbs (Philo,Edu,possibly Liberalism itself) to tech broker, and to win Liberalism race. the GL/NE are the most important wonders, lucky if we pick up Parthenon (also Marble). HE is must in the highest prod city. if i survive until the industrial age with the help of the GL, anything else we can try to capture.

 

[semirami]

Stone. I am used to build early wonders.


P.S. You cant accelerate Ironworks with stone, or any other resource(BTS 3.13).

 

[OTAKUjbski]

P.S. You cant accelerate Ironworks with stone, or any other resource(BTS 3.13).

Wha!? Really?

It's not in any of the update changelogs ... odd.

I've been focusing primarily on early Conquest and Domination lately and so haven't gotten to IW but in a few games, but I still can't believe I haven't noticed that yet.

 

[Draknith]

I would prefer stone, but I chose marble. Even though I would rather build the pyramids and line the streets with stone, the queen wants that new marble countertop in the palace... Guess I'll just make war with Shaka to vent my frustration!

 

[DragonHawk]

Marble for my shiny Great Library. Its location matters, so I need to be the one building it. I will take the stone (and other wonders ftm) from AIs' cold hands

 

[Quotey]

Stone! Marble? Yuck. I don't want your fancy nancy cultural wonders. And us Stoners have Notre Damme and Rep from the Pyramids.

Marble? Give me Copper for the SoL, forget marble.

Plus Marble is always in the Tundra.

 

[bluedevil99]

Stone. With Aesthetics added in BtS, I can usually beat the AI to Lit pretty consistently, even on Emperor, which means I can get the GL pretty easily without marble. There are several really nice early wonders, OTOH, that most of the time I won't even consider building without stone.

Of course the real answer is it depends on the map--if I've got lots of good land around me or a juicy AI capital nearby, my early BC hammers are going into REXing or rushing, and in that case I'd much rather have Marble.

 

[vicawoo]

Oxford's really expensive without stone.

I'd say stone, for the usual reasons. Pyramids can win you the game, great wall saves you money and in BTS is a great source of espionage. Stonehenge you probably will build before you set up a quarry. Also, a great engineer pop can get you great library.

If you get marble early enough, you can put temple and great library in the same city. After that, it doesn't matter much till oxford (chichen yawn, taj mahal isn't that expensive in a production city).

 

[futurehermit]

In my capital, stone, because it has the most potential early on, because of stonehenge and the mids. But I'd rather have marble if I'm going to have to settle a city to get it because it's more useful during the middle of the game because of GL.

For this reason I voted marble