Since the German colonial army is not as powerful as some people would hope, the extra defense from the TTTC could really help in the case of a rush. And the palatine settlements is an awesome card to have, since you can either make only a few houses and get to the pop cap, or can make full amount of houses, and if several of them get destroyed, you are still at the pop cap. I find it useful when I need big amounts of population room really fast.