Where would you build Moai Statues?

[LincolnOfRome]

I am playing the Dutch and am trying to decide between two cities to build Moai. My capital has 9 sea tiles with 5 seafood resources, a wet corn, and three hills for mining. It is built on a coastal plains hill. As a GP factory, I may like other national wonders in my capital, but Moai may be the best there in this situation.

Another city has 15 sea tiles, a fish, a dry corn, and no hills. It does have three grassland forests that can be chopped for the wonder. I usually put Moai in a city that would otherwise be useless without it (before caste/guilds at least), so this city qualifies.

Where would you choose to put the wonder?

 

[Patchface]

The 2nd. Make your Capital National Epic City and / or Globe Theater

 

[chopster]

Do you have stone?

No hills and only 3 chops (even after Math) will still take a LONG time to build it without stone.

 

[Nicol.Bolas]

The 2nd. Make your Capital National Epic City and / or Globe Theater

i second that

 

[Nicol.Bolas]

Do you have stone?

No hills and only 3 chops (even after Math) will still take a LONG time to build it without stone.

build with forests for a bit
chop forests
whip it

 

[Ghpstage]

Don't assume it needs to be built at all.
Due to its expense and effects it tends to be one of the weaker national wonders, and is only worth building if you have a city that has to work a decent number of water tiles while having the ability to build it.

With this in mind only the first city you mention could realistically be a candidate for the early-mid game, but as the cities going to be running specialists for most of the game its only going to be working at most 5 water tiles, and as Globe Theatre looks attractive the question you really need to ask is whether its really worth building at all?

I suppose you could build it via chopping and whip overflow in the second city if you have stone, but otherwise I wouldn't bother in either site.

 

[Pangaea]

I think it makes most sense for the 2nd city. Ideally you want a hill or two as well, so it can be built in reasonable time, but if I build the thing at all, I like to put it in a city with lots of water tiles. That way the city can actually be useful for builds at some point. During Golden Ages a Moai city working lots of water tiles can actually be pretty darn good.

Don't think it makes sense to put it in a food-heavy city with relatively few water tiles. You don't want to be working those very early on anyway, and if it's very food-heavy you'd like to run specialists anyway, which will of course limit the amount of tiles worked.

 

[ben-jammin]

Don't build it anywhere. It's an expensive wonder for what it does without stone and/or industrious.

 

[RD-BH]

Don't build it anywhere. It's an expensive wonder for what it does without stone and/or industrious.

^^^ This.

 

[elmurcis]

Capital.... because bureau will let it pay back much faster (and it will be done faster). I know that it will take Globe place.. but Moai can be done some time before Drama comes into game. (grow building Moai, 3 pop settler whip with maximal overflow into Moai, grow back building it, whip settler again... than finish it with final whip..)

 

[Thrar]

Second city. Chop the forests and get some whip overflow (e.g. whipping axes with less than 5 invested for 2 pop).

That city seems to have enough food surplus to grow quickly, so it will be productive soon. Of course it would be best with stone, but even without, you'll earn back those 250 in 30-40 turns.

 

[Riflin'Joe]

The fact that you're Dutch may change the equation here, with the potential for a really strong late game production city, but I find it difficult to imagine a situation where the Moais are ever best in the capital, where NE + Oxford is the default. Of course everything depends on the map and your plans for it.