Hi. I'm new to the community and have been reading some of the strategy guides posted on here. A few refer to "cottage spamming" and one even states that it assumes I know what it means. I've spent several hours trawling the site and can't find cottage spamming anywhere. I think I can guess, but does can anybody tell me what it is and why it is (or isn't) effective?
Cottage Spamming
- Thread starter toneus
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patagonia
Emperor
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- Aug 19, 2006
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Cottage spamming is building large numbers of cottages for citizens to work. The best regions for doing so are floodplains (you get the cottage, the river bonus for commerce and one surplus food) and grassland (each square provides two food so the cottages support themselves in that respect) and you can reveal swathes of that by clearing jungle away.
By having cottages almost everywhere, your empire generates a large amount of commerce, helping you to out-tech your opponents. However, it's worth having a couple of high-production citites with workshops/watermills/mines to help churn out units/wonders, and it's usually worth having one city with a large food surplus to support a lot of specialists for great-person generation (usually called a GP-farm).
By having cottages almost everywhere, your empire generates a large amount of commerce, helping you to out-tech your opponents. However, it's worth having a couple of high-production citites with workshops/watermills/mines to help churn out units/wonders, and it's usually worth having one city with a large food surplus to support a lot of specialists for great-person generation (usually called a GP-farm).
"Cottage Spamming" merely refers to one building cottages in nearly all suitable tiles, at least in commerce-oriented cities; an approach that is particularly popular when playing leaders with the Financial trait.
It's not quite a strategy as such, more of an indication that the bulk of one's commerce - and hence gold/beakers - originate from cottages or their improved versions. This is opposed to, say, a Specialist or Mixed Economy where a substantial part of the research and possibly gold is generated through specialists instead.
I think the term stems mainly from the early days of CIV when cottages were still percieved as a novelty by the veterans of previous Civ installments and few players realised the power of that terrain improvement.
It's not quite a strategy as such, more of an indication that the bulk of one's commerce - and hence gold/beakers - originate from cottages or their improved versions. This is opposed to, say, a Specialist or Mixed Economy where a substantial part of the research and possibly gold is generated through specialists instead.
I think the term stems mainly from the early days of CIV when cottages were still percieved as a novelty by the veterans of previous Civ installments and few players realised the power of that terrain improvement.
Thanks. I've been playing CIV for a while now and never read this site before - doing everything on my own. It was getting a little tedious from time to time. I've always played the lower difficulty levels because I like winning, and getting upset when I get overrun by the Russians or somebody at higher difficulty levels, but the feedback on this site is great.
thanks for your help!
thanks for your help!
Lord Chambers
Emperor
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- Nov 23, 2001
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- 1,004
The term is a misnomer for me. Exactly what else would you be doing with these squares if not putting cottages on them?
To have a concept of cottage spamming implies there's some alternative. But to me that's, not really the case. It's basically a right way of playing, or a losing way. The right way a lot of people call "cottage spamming."
To have a concept of cottage spamming implies there's some alternative. But to me that's, not really the case. It's basically a right way of playing, or a losing way. The right way a lot of people call "cottage spamming."
The other recognized method is to farm those floodplain and grassland squares, creating a food surplus in all cities and running specialists.
This a great strategy when playing with a philosophical leader, if you get parthenon or when playing as the romans.
This a great strategy when playing with a philosophical leader, if you get parthenon or when playing as the romans.
carl corey
Deity
The only problem is that you'll need two farmed grasslands to support one specialist, so even a specialist economy is likely to build cottages there. It will farm whatever food resources it has and also the floodplains, but grasslands aren't that viable anyway while farmed.
When running a specialist economy, running caste system and pacifisim, pumping out GPs, you want as many specialists as possible in all your cities - apart from 2 or 3 unit production cities.
Remember there is no wait for cottages to grow with using specialists, the benefits are immediate. Farm those grasslands and use specialists. There is no need for cottages if this is the way you have chosen.
Remember there is no wait for cottages to grow with using specialists, the benefits are immediate. Farm those grasslands and use specialists. There is no need for cottages if this is the way you have chosen.
LOL. So I guess not everybody agrees about what 'cottage spamming' is.
I've always interpreted 'cottage spamming' as being building cottages everywhere you can. Some of the AI civs do this (like Washington), building cottages on grassland hills and everything.
It will generate a huge economy, but tends to be very light in production, and tends to make strong city specialization a little harder since culture, gold, and research are primarily controlled by the sliders which affect you're entire empire. You need to know how to manage the tech lead you'll get in light of the very small production you'll have, and learn how to turn the tech lead into a production benefit (primarily by getting to Univ. Suff. and Kremlin quickly).
It's the opposite of an extreme Specialist Economy, where (other than very early game), you have no cottages anywhere. It's all about farms and specialists. City specialization is done by choosing what specialists to run.
Honestly, I think most people run somewhere in between. They specialize some cities, and build some general cottage based cities, as well.
I've always interpreted 'cottage spamming' as being building cottages everywhere you can. Some of the AI civs do this (like Washington), building cottages on grassland hills and everything.
It will generate a huge economy, but tends to be very light in production, and tends to make strong city specialization a little harder since culture, gold, and research are primarily controlled by the sliders which affect you're entire empire. You need to know how to manage the tech lead you'll get in light of the very small production you'll have, and learn how to turn the tech lead into a production benefit (primarily by getting to Univ. Suff. and Kremlin quickly).
It's the opposite of an extreme Specialist Economy, where (other than very early game), you have no cottages anywhere. It's all about farms and specialists. City specialization is done by choosing what specialists to run.
Honestly, I think most people run somewhere in between. They specialize some cities, and build some general cottage based cities, as well.
carl corey
Deity
I don't know, I thought cottage economy would use the extra food from food resources to build cottages even on tiles with 1 food, and your research is fuelled by cottages.
On the other hand, in a specialist economy extra food from tiles that have 3+ food before farms would be farmed and used to support specialists, while the 2 food tiles would still get cottages. The specialists are used for research and the gold from cottages for financing a rapid expansion. Anyway, is it really worth having 3 population tied up for only one specialist?! (two farmed grassland tiles + the specialist) I'd think not.
And in both economies you'll want production cities. If you have for example a Cows/Copper/hills city I don't see why it should struggle to sustain specialists, or cottages for that matter when you can easily make it a very productive city.
About city specialization: is a Merchant who gives you 3 gold better than a cottage that can go to much more than this? Especially if the cottage is on grassland and thus self-sustaining food-wise.
The thing that really stands out in the specialist economy is rushing a library in a new city and running two scientists with the extra food from a food resource for example. If you have the Pyramids and Representation it makes the city really useful from its early stages. Building four grassland farms and waiting for a city to grow to size 6 to run two scientists seems like a waste to me.
On the other hand, in a specialist economy extra food from tiles that have 3+ food before farms would be farmed and used to support specialists, while the 2 food tiles would still get cottages. The specialists are used for research and the gold from cottages for financing a rapid expansion. Anyway, is it really worth having 3 population tied up for only one specialist?! (two farmed grassland tiles + the specialist) I'd think not.
And in both economies you'll want production cities. If you have for example a Cows/Copper/hills city I don't see why it should struggle to sustain specialists, or cottages for that matter when you can easily make it a very productive city.
About city specialization: is a Merchant who gives you 3 gold better than a cottage that can go to much more than this? Especially if the cottage is on grassland and thus self-sustaining food-wise.
The thing that really stands out in the specialist economy is rushing a library in a new city and running two scientists with the extra food from a food resource for example. If you have the Pyramids and Representation it makes the city really useful from its early stages. Building four grassland farms and waiting for a city to grow to size 6 to run two scientists seems like a waste to me.
I think a large part of the cottage spamming strategy is getting the cottages down quickly and making sure they get worked. Even as I novice player I would eventually put down cottages but I wouldn't treat them as higher priority than other improvements. Putting cottages in early can make the difference between a solid and a stagnating economy.
KrikkitTwo
Immortal
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- Apr 3, 2004
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- 12,418
Well there are three Non-Cottage options for those tiles
1. Food for Specialists
2. Food to allow tyou to work Mines/Workshops
3. Workshops
So the alternatives are either another source of Commerce (specialists)
OR
Production
Cottage Spamming implies you are focusing more on commerce than production, relying on Tech to keep you up (or Gold Rushing from US as a replacement)
1. Food for Specialists
2. Food to allow tyou to work Mines/Workshops
3. Workshops
So the alternatives are either another source of Commerce (specialists)
OR
Production
Cottage Spamming implies you are focusing more on commerce than production, relying on Tech to keep you up (or Gold Rushing from US as a replacement)
I just made my capital a great person farm by farming all the good squares. Trust me, it works wonders. I am so far ahead of everyone else in tech that it's ridiculous. It doesn't hurt that it's an island game, so there was little contact between civs for awhile.
I am running pacifism, Parthenon and a philosophical leader in my capital. I've been producing great scientists about every 7-8 turns. It works, you just gotta do it right.
I am running pacifism, Parthenon and a philosophical leader in my capital. I've been producing great scientists about every 7-8 turns. It works, you just gotta do it right.
Neo Guderian
Panzerarmee General
Cottages are what I call Direct Economy. What you see is what you get.
Specialists are Indirect. Sure they give you a nice little immediate output that is really about equal a level 3 cottage (Village?). Spec Economies are powerful because of the indirect economic output.
Example. If a great scientist gives you 1600 beakers for bulbing a tech, you have to add those 1600 beakers to the 3 (or 6 with representation) that were produced. So If the city worked 2 scientists for 50 turns that would be 300 beakers + the 1600 for the tech. Furthermore, If you trade the tech you bulbed, add the traded techs beakers to that total. Compare that total amount to two villages or even towns over 50 turns. Same goes with all the other specialists.
It requires alot more finesse to use a specialist economy and out tech an equalivalent empire that does the simple 'cottage spam', but it can be done and can be very powerful.
Specialist economies work best early and mid game when great persons are cheap. They will vault you way ahead of everyone else that are relying on direct cottage revenues.
I play a strategy where I use a specialist economy to get me to democracy quickly and then I throw out a massive cottage spam after implementing Free Speech and Emancipation. Its the best of both worlds.
Specialists are Indirect. Sure they give you a nice little immediate output that is really about equal a level 3 cottage (Village?). Spec Economies are powerful because of the indirect economic output.
Example. If a great scientist gives you 1600 beakers for bulbing a tech, you have to add those 1600 beakers to the 3 (or 6 with representation) that were produced. So If the city worked 2 scientists for 50 turns that would be 300 beakers + the 1600 for the tech. Furthermore, If you trade the tech you bulbed, add the traded techs beakers to that total. Compare that total amount to two villages or even towns over 50 turns. Same goes with all the other specialists.
It requires alot more finesse to use a specialist economy and out tech an equalivalent empire that does the simple 'cottage spam', but it can be done and can be very powerful.
Specialist economies work best early and mid game when great persons are cheap. They will vault you way ahead of everyone else that are relying on direct cottage revenues.
I play a strategy where I use a specialist economy to get me to democracy quickly and then I throw out a massive cottage spam after implementing Free Speech and Emancipation. Its the best of both worlds.
Toneus, don't get overwhelmed with all the different posts. Just focus on having a few commerce city's (city's who mainly generate commerce) where you build cottages on almost every till as long as you balance out with food. At the end you will work all the workable tiles and have a maximum of cottages balanced out with enough food to reach that population.
Forget about specialist ecomy and try this first. After a while, start reading about specialist economy. Try to get a techlead in all your games and move up in difficulty level.
Forget about specialist ecomy and try this first. After a while, start reading about specialist economy. Try to get a techlead in all your games and move up in difficulty level.
Hey Joni
Warlord
Mango said:
However, even with a spec econ, you can leave your capital growing cottages, so that it gets the bonus from Bureaucracy. Build another city with lots of food squares for the huge GP production - the benefits are exactly the same!
Stolen Rutters
Deity
Welcome to the forum.
Cottages grow to provide more commerce
when worked over time, growing to town. You pretty much want as many science and commerce multipliers as you can get as the game progresses (almost regardless of the type of victory). Every town is +4 base per turn (or more if financial). Few other improvements beat that. Working lots of cottages in lots of cities means faster tech progression.
On the other hand, a different civic combo can give you another +3 science for each specialist you have and faster Great person (GP) generation, so the Specialist economy (lots of food to support lots of specialists in lots of cities) helps speed up your economy as well. GP are cheap early, so you can use them for big jumps early, but the GP benefit slows down as the game progresses and they get more expensive to generate. Specialists under the right civic, and a few special improvements can beat that kind of improvement to overall production (gold mine comes to mind) up to a point.
Back to cottages. Under the right civic combo that comes later in the game, you can get another +3 per town once you have matured your cottages to towns, so if you are still in a tech race in the second half of the tech tree, building tons of cottages early can keep you very competetive late game.
Once you learn the different ways to improve your economy in a general sense, you will learn that by specializing your economy (science city, production city, gold city) you can concentrate the science, commerce, and production multipliers in the dedicated cities for even more of a boost to your economy. For example, a science city will get an academy, a library, and as many science buildings and science specialists you can fit into it. A unit production city will get the forge, factory, and use engineer specialists, reducing your need to keep unit production going in science/gold cities (you moved population in the science city to work more valuable science specialists jobs so your production will be slower there).
Specialists and cottages are both useful, so most people seem to end up with what is called the Hybrid Economy. Cottage the capital, establish the optimal science city, cottage commerce cities, push units out of a production city.
Cottages grow to provide more commerce
when worked over time, growing to town. You pretty much want as many science and commerce multipliers as you can get as the game progresses (almost regardless of the type of victory). Every town is +4 base per turn (or more if financial). Few other improvements beat that. Working lots of cottages in lots of cities means faster tech progression.On the other hand, a different civic combo can give you another +3 science for each specialist you have and faster Great person (GP) generation, so the Specialist economy (lots of food to support lots of specialists in lots of cities) helps speed up your economy as well. GP are cheap early, so you can use them for big jumps early, but the GP benefit slows down as the game progresses and they get more expensive to generate. Specialists under the right civic, and a few special improvements can beat that kind of improvement to overall production (gold mine comes to mind) up to a point.
Back to cottages. Under the right civic combo that comes later in the game, you can get another +3
per town once you have matured your cottages to towns, so if you are still in a tech race in the second half of the tech tree, building tons of cottages early can keep you very competetive late game.Once you learn the different ways to improve your economy in a general sense, you will learn that by specializing your economy (science city, production city, gold city) you can concentrate the science, commerce, and production multipliers in the dedicated cities for even more of a boost to your economy. For example, a science city will get an academy, a library, and as many science buildings and science specialists you can fit into it. A unit production city will get the forge, factory, and use engineer specialists, reducing your need to keep unit production going in science/gold cities (you moved population in the science city to work more valuable science specialists jobs so your production will be slower there).
Specialists and cottages are both useful, so most people seem to end up with what is called the Hybrid Economy. Cottage the capital, establish the optimal science city, cottage commerce cities, push units out of a production city.
I've just started playing Civ4, so tell me again how cottages help research? thought they were just gold producing. I've been playing Theocracy and getting income from spreading religion, and focusing on city growth (farms), so havent been using cottages much except on Plains tiles. I've got a good saved OCC game that I'm re-using to experiment with different strategies, cottage spamming looks like the next one I'll use and perhaps combine it with a targeted research scheme (to be determine). Thanks.
They give commerce actually.
Even if they did give money, they'd help research by allowing you to run a higher % tech rate.
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