How to build Wonders in CTW?

[Locus]

Just how do you build Wonders in CTW? I am on my first CTW campaign playing as the French on moderate. I am having a blast but never have the option to build a wonder. Are only certain Civs allowed to build wonders during certain ages or something?

Thanks in advance!

[UnOrthOdOx]

You need to either find or conquer a wonder card, then on the map screen you have the option of 'playing' that card and it will allow you to build any wonder of the current age or earlier that is not already on the map.

I believe there are only 2 territories that you can conquer the wonder cards, though which ones escape me...something around India and one of the ones south america IIRC. Otherwise, you need to buy cards until you get lucky and can buy one.

Some wonders have slightly different effects as well. Say you build terra cotta in a territory, whenever you battle outside of that territory it will act as a free mercenary card.

[Signa]

I believe that one other one is in Australia, however I am by no means sure (I remember getting a early wonder with Chinese once, but that might of been a card).

[Skanky Burns]

I have found that editing the rules to allow more wonder cards (its default is 1) makes for a much more fun CTW game. Otherwise you end up winning with the 2 wonders of the world, both of which were captured.

[rah]

Moved to strat and tips.

The management.

[Drachen]

Egypt starts with a wonder card and if you turtle and buy bonus cards you will probably get a second wonder card. Thus you get two wonders. The other wonder cards are static as has been mentioned, i.e., they are always found in SA, India, etc and the wonders are usually built somewhere early so that you must take them by conquest.

[Signa]

Yes the virtue of wonders however seem to govern my CTW play:

I always pick Chinese or Incans (the two I have completed the game with) or Turk (capable of rushing the Egyptians) because of the early wonders (especially the Inca, who can take the Mayans quick, let the Aztecs conquer NA before spearing Mexico, then move out on a pincer from Greenland and Alaska into Asia). The wonders I usually get as these guys is either The Colussus or TCA and later on (the bought card) I get the Palace of Versalles.

To Skanky Burns:
Could you explain more about this editing to make more wonder cards be avaliable?

[Hermann the Lombard]

In my first CtW campaign I used the bought wonder card for TCA, but later decided that TCA isn't very useful in CtW. [In a regular game TCA gives you a steady stream of light infantry; in CtW at Civic 4 you get one "lump" of mixed troops just like your starting or reinforcing army.] By the time I have Civic 4 I can crank out that many troops without difficulty. I'd rather have a game-long benefit from one of the other wonders.

Later that game I captured or bought another wonder card, and bought Versailles for the healing meat wagons. That seemed useful but not that powerful against the AI.

I usually capture the Colossus from the Egyptians (and would probably build it myself if I had the Egyptians). The Inca usually seem to build the Coloseum (not a choice I would make). In my last CtW campaign (on Tougher with the Mongols) the Chinese captured India and then I took out the Chinese. Unfortunately, the Chinese had not used the captured Wonder card, so it went *poofie* into oblivion. When I bought a wonder card I used it for Kremlin, but again I'm not sure if it was worth it. Nice to see red flaring around the enemy, but again by the time Civic4 is in play even the AI may have some anti-attrition techs in play.

I finished that campaign last night, eliminating the last 3 AI empires on the 3 turns of the Information Age. The last two (Japan and Maya) each played a Logistics card, so they had no attrition at all...not that they got many units into my territory. By then I had an overwhelming number of cards to play. [I was lucky to win within the turn limit. I would have run out of time except that my German ally eliminated the Spanish for me, so I could take out the Germans on the first Info Age turn, which put me adjacent to the Mayan capital. A useful ally. ]

[HeymlicH]

I think there are 3 wonders that are especially important for CtW.

In CtW the ressources are much more important as in free games. Most of the tougher battles I end up in a mass battle producing units continously, and the pop cap and resource cap are the limiting factor. So my Wonder list is as follows:

1. Kreml: The higher resource cap is great. I don't care about the other benefits.
2. Colossus: The higher pop cap is the only reason why I want it.
3. Versailles: The healing is nice for early attacks, but the main reason to build Versailles is the 50% lower research costs and the higher speed for artillery units.

[Hallox]

I find the Eiffel Tower usefull in the ctw. It increases oil production and the oil cap and seige units are better. In ctw I usually get 3 to 4 wonder cards since you can buy them. Has anyone had a wonder get destroyed in a conquest battle? I had one destroyed when I just went straight to the captial and didn't take out all the airbases. So the enemy bombed the Colossus before I could get air fighters scrambled or repair it. When I won the map the Colossus was gone of course but I think I could build another w/ a wotw card.