Most valuable resource?

[kcbob]

After playing Civ III for the past few months, I have reached a conclusion. Iron is the MVR, most valuable resource. No iron, no swordsmen, no railroad, no chance. What do you all think?

[dunk]

Iron is a good choice.

Then rubber. No rubber, no infantry, no tanks.

And oil. No oil, no tanks, no airplanes, no modern ships.

[SpencerH]

Without iron there's no railroad so theres no boom in production/food. In my games, its the only "must have".

[Jaybe]

Ha!
Has anyone gone without railroads lately? I think coal also belongs on this most-wanted list, though my 1st inclination was rubber.

Bottom line -- does anyone (in a half-way successful game) ever go without anything?

JB

[kcbob]

Maybe I should clarify... If I don't have iron within reach of my civilization, I'm sunk. Sure, you can trade for all resources but if I have to trade for iron, I'd just as soon restart the game.

[Grrr]

Coal and Iron allow for an early lead in the game, so one can win other resourses.

[Zoid]

Grrr´s right, Iron and Coal gives an edge visavi the other civs. So I would have to say that these are the most important resources.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by kcbob
Maybe I should clarify... If I don't have iron within reach of my civilization, I'm sunk. Sure, you can trade for all resources but if I have to trade for iron, I'd just as soon restart the game.

If there´s iron near your border on enemy territory, there´s always the ´ole sneak attack-option available

[ixnay]

Iron is incredibly important for my style...although the AI seems to value uranium pretty highly; the americans offered me 110 gold/turn for some on my last game.

[Arrian]

Iron isn't really important in the early going, but I want it by the time I've hit the middle ages. Obviously, it's huge once you have Steam Power, along with Coal.

My intial gut reaction, though, was rubber. No rubber = no infantry & no tanks. You can still at least have infantry w/o oil, though that's a tough situation also.

Upon further reflection, the most painful for me would be a lack of horses. Of course, this just about never happens, so I didn't think of it at first... but I would hate to be deprived of horsemen/knights/cavalry. OUCH.

-Arrian

[Aeson]

From my perspective it is Horses. If I have Horses it won't matter where future resources are, I'll have them all.

From the AI's perspective it is Iron and Rubber. I try to keep them from getting their hands on these two. They are the only 2 things that can slow down the Horsemen/Knights/Cavalry rush.

[asleepathewheel]

i agree with the previous two that horses are the most important to me. I usually play as the iriquois and thus, no horses = no mw's=more difficult ancient age. I like to get a quick jump sometimes, and they last for a long time. Not to mention no knights no cav's. Thats a long time to tanks to be slugging it out on foot.

[MrWhereItsAt]

There's that popular (and sometimes absolutely necessary) tactic of expanding/attacking aggressively early on. Without iron there's none of that, and you can't get your needed advantage until much later.

[nationalist]

Either Iron or rubber. If you don't have iron you miss out on the most potent Ancient and Medieval Units. Without rubber you lose Infantry and Tanks.

[Heartsurgeon]

Depends on what civ you play as. If you're the Iroquois, then horses are by far the most important resource; if you have those then you can build your UU and conquer everything around you in the ancient ages. If you're the Persians, iron is critical for exactly the same reason.