kAbt asks this question and then asserts that Versailles is the best wonder.

The wonder that has the largest effect overall is in my opinion Versailles. This wonder radically increases the strength and resiliance of your army by allowing your supply wagons to heal your troops. You eliminate the tedious, time consuming and often forgotten task of sending your slightly (or heavily) injured troops back to garrison and heal. When two armies clash (and all others things are equal) the battle and game will invariably go to the side with Versailles. Because after the skirmish when each side has taken serious damage the side with Versialles can continue to push forward, healing as they go. The other has to send troops back to garrison or make the large expenditure of time and resources training many new troops.

If I am not constantly fighting, I usually make Colossus and Pyramids. Both of these wodners are cheap and pay for themsselves quickly. Yea, most wonders pay for themselves, but the earlier you get your resources back the better. Colossus' pop cap increase can be pretty huge sometimes. Particularly in FFA, or team games. In FFA or diplo games I ALWAYS try to get Colossus. Pyramids give you the extra food, and extra wealth cap. And they give you an extra city, which is great for border pushing, and for putting up an extra univiersity. It's pretty much the closest thing for having a wonder that helps with knowledge production.
Later on the other wonders have their uses.

Just watch the tourney games to see how valuable TCA is in the hands of a good player. Over the course of game, you get 25+ units. That's roughly 3500 in resources you didn't have to spend.

Porcelain tower is good if you are in team games and have lots of rares.

Colosseum for Russians is pretty impressive. I've won territory victories as Russians using this - even when down on military and economy,

Angkor Wat and Eiffel Tower are must haves for the games that go to Industrial and beyond. The extra oil and metal cap is a huge plus (until Global Prosperity).

I still like SOL, but it's situational. If you are doing constant fighting, you can't afford to NOT upgrade your troops once you both hit Industrial. If you can hit Industrial well before him, it might be worth it. But otherwise a smart opponent will upgrade and roll you with tanks before you get it completed.

Of course, we saw that the Super Collider is a game winner all by itself. EC won the BHS with this wonder in both games in the final.

Wonders I almost never make: Temple of Tikal, Taj Mahal, Space Program.
posted by Tim at 11:11 AM