Iron Works

[TinCow]

Has ANYONE ever had a city in which they could build this thing? It seems like a fabulous wonder that never ever gets built. What gives? I've played about 7 games so far and not been able to build it in a single city on any of them.

[Green Giant]

It is a GREAT wonder and quite unbalanceing. I was able to build it twice and proceeded to build a bunch of mines around the city.
After I built the Iron Works I got every single Wonder after that, easy. Lots of pollution but its worth it. Makes a normal city a super-city

[DilithiumDad]

You need to have iron and coal within a city radius. It is worth founding a new city on the right spot to take advantage of it. Most of the time, you will not "win the resource bingo" in this manner.

[emjaycue]

I've gotten it once in several games...

But alas... three turns after I found the coal and could build it (and before I started building it b/c I was in the middle of something else) the iron disappeared.

Argh.

So I've gotten a "Iron Works... maybe we should..." pop up... but have never actually built it ;-)

--M

[Ecthy]

I've never had coal and iron in one city before. Isn't that the precondition for Iron Works?

Also, why is Iron Works considered an Ancient Small Wonder? Coal doesn't appear before the industrial times

[Dis]

I have built it twice. And I have only played about 5 games all the way through.

I always have cities near hills and mountains due to my world settings, this may increase the chances.

[ICMB]

I've had two opportunities to build the Iron Works in about 17 games.

I had it once early on before I really knew what it was. In my most recent game, I was able to build it in my second-founded city. About 5 turns after I started building it, my coal source ran out and moved to somewhere else in my empire, but I was happily able to finish the Iron Works.

I ended up having the city perfectly stable at population 20, all happy, producing 202 shields per turn.

*sniff* I was so proud.

- ICMB

P.S. - When I get Steam Power I always go and check if any of my neighbors could make the Iron Works, and capture that city if need be. The production bonus is astounding.

[Arrian]

I've built it twice (I've played more games now than I'd like to count). I had the option of building it a third time, but the city was totally corrupt (1 shield, and no hope for improvement), so I didn't. It gives you a nice production boost... Modern Armor in 1 turn is kinda nice (Ironworks, Factory, Nuc. Plant). But I wouldn't say it unbalances anything, or makes building wonders a lock. What does that is that you can "store" shields by starting a Palace and switching it to a wonder when you have the tech for it. That, and the human player's ability to manipulate the tech/tax slider to jump ahead in science while raking in cash (this doesn't apply to Diety, I assume, but it has been true for me, on Monarch).

-Arrian

[Dis]

P.S. don't forget to build the nuclear power plant in this city

[EnochF]

In the one game of Civ 3 I actually played out to the end, I did manage to build the Iron Works. It was decent, I guess. It was a lot easier to build new wonders in that city.

[Kassiopeia]

I got the chance to build it in both my first and second game. I had not studied the Civilopedia that much, and figured it would just pollute, and never built it.
Oh, what a mistake. But I have learned, the painful way.

What does that is that you can "store" shields by starting a Palace and switching it to a wonder when you have the tech for it

Yes. But what really ticks me off is when the rival civ gets Wonder X some two or even one turn before me. Makes one miss rush building.

[The Eliminator]

Two and a half solid months of playing, and I have yet to have the opportunity to build the Iron Works. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

[Grrr]

I had never built it until I changed the resource settings in Civ3mod.bic but now all my oponents get iron and other resources easily. So it is a difficult trade off. Maybe I may at one time get the luck using the normal rules to get to build it!

[Skanky Burns]

Ive built the ironworks numerous times. Once it involved the razing of two ill-placed German cities, and the founding of a much better placed Greek city
But generally luck just happens.

Then other games i dont even get coal, let alone coal and iron near each other heh

[Ironikinit]

In my current game, I have it. I only built the city to limit a couple of rival cities by rushing cultural wonders, and it was pretty marginal land.

However, that marginal land has iron and coal, of course, as well as gold... it's mostly hills and mountains... long story short, it produces armies in 4 or 5 turns, and is the home of the Hoover Dam.

It's the first time I ever got it. If you ever get the pop up alerting you that you can build it, start in right away, because resources can be fickle, as we all know.