Ironworks???

[Andrew_Jay]

I don't know if anyone else has asked about this, but when does teh iron works come into play? The manual says it is an ancient wonder, but I've never seen it available for construction. And in addition, the pictures I've seen of it in the city view makes it look like it's an industrial age wonder can anyone clear this up for me? I've played twice now into the industrial age, and haven't seen it at all.

[Random Loser]

I believe you can build it at any time... but you must have a city which has both iron and coal in the city radius.

[Andrew_Jay]

Does it actually have to have both the coal and iron within its OWN radius? It's not good enough for a city to be connected to both coal and iron? Seems to me like that makes it rare for the minor wonder to be built. I have a map now with three coal under my command, but there's no way to place a city so it reaches one of my irons as well. And anyway, it's getting so late in the game that to make a new city would be a real pain.

[binarystatic]

Originally posted by Andrew_Jay
Does it actually have to have both the coal and iron within its OWN radius? It's not good enough for a city to be connected to both coal and iron? Seems to me like that makes it rare for the minor wonder to be built. I have a map now with three coal under my command, but there's no way to place a city so it reaches one of my irons as well. And anyway, it's getting so late in the game that to make a new city would be a real pain.

It is within it's OWN radius -- I was able to build one in my first game.

[Chuckles]

It has been very rare for me to have both in one city radius. I only got one city out of 50 so far.

[Yaga]

I'd love to see more of these sorts of Imrovements / Wonders

I'll give a rah rah to the developer who came up with the Iron Works. In fact, I'd love to see more Special Improvments that can only be built when a city has unique resources within their radius. I'm sure others can come up with better ideas, and that the implementation would be a b****, but these were my first thoughts (and if you think they're silly then shush and let a fanboy dream )

- Any two of Uranium, Coal, and Oil : Fuel Depot - Increases production similar to Iron Works

- Aluminum and Iron : Steel Mill - Increases production similar to Iron Works

- Spices and Silk : Silk Road - Doubles commerce

- Fur and Game : Tannery - Doubles commerce

- Wheat and Game : Ranch - Doubles food

- Any Three Luxuries : Merchant Exchange - Doubles commerce

- Fish and Whales : Cannery / Fishery - +1 food to each sea square

- Dyes and Silk : ( Fashion name? ) - increases happiness

- Elephants & Saltpeter : War Elephant Camp - allows the city to build a War Elephant, regardless of their tribe (unbalancing, I know...)

- Iron and Horses : Field Artillery - Allows for the building of cannon with a movement of 2

Bah, I could go on all day. The Ironworks sets a lovely precedent, and with all the pooh-poohing that's been going on on these boards, I just wanted to say I like it, and think it's a great feature.

Yaga