Question about cottages

[Civilicious]

I must admit I am sort of embarassed to ask this but I have not gotten far enough into a game or stayed with one long enough to find this out.

Assuming a cottage has been worked for a certain time and has progressed to a town, and an enemy pillages it, does it revert by one level each time pillaged? Or does the one pillaging completely destroy the tile? I hope its the former, but if you know I would appreciate a comment.

Also assuming a decent city site (good mix of terrain, river, some floodplains, etc.) how many cottages do you build? I have only been building a couple per town because I am thinking that I also want some of the xtra food to go to specialists and not losing it all by placing cottages.

 

[ritterpa]

Cottages-->Towns lose one "stage" per pillage.

As for how many: Ask 10 people and you'll get 9 different answers. I personally like to get a few cottages up early, especially for coastal towns as they get enough food from lighthouses, but will build farms around any city that isn't growing fast enough to keep near its pop limits.

Your research situation should kind of guide these decisions too. More cottages = more gold/research.

 

[meink]

I've been playing financial a lot recently, and you get huge bonus from getting cottages up early. As mentioned above, it also fuels your research. Hardly ever build farms, because your cities stop growing (or get unhappy people) about level 6 until you can get extra buildings, which isn't so cool if you're waging a war.

 

[snepp]

Hardly ever build farms, because your cities stop growing (or get unhappy people) about level 6 until you can get extra buildings, which isn't so cool if you're waging a war.

Not only that, but even if you do have extra health to spare, you need the happiness too. 10 health in a city does little good if you're stuck at 6 happiness.

 

[LeSphinx]

For me, when you pillage a tile, you destroy only one thing. I'me sure for a farm I have to pillage twice in order to destroy the farm and the road.
For the cottage->Towns, I do not know exactly...

I build a lot of cottage depending of the ressource. If I've got cow/corn/wheat near my cities, then, I construct 2 or 3 more farms then , cottage, cottage, cottage... I not a warmonger , I more a builder so the cottaeg/Towns with specific civics are great!

LeSphinx

LeSphinx

 

[Heroes]

For a tile with resource, build the corresponding improvement.
For a hill tile, mine so that it probably pop a new resource, unless the city has too few food, then windmill.
Build enough farms near river to let your city grow to its health/happy limit in a reasonably fast speed.
For a flatland forest, probably save it for lumbermill later, or chop it and change to cottage.
A floodplain is the best place for early cottage.
Put cottage on most non-river grasslands, since for a long time you don't have much else to do with it.
Plain cottage rather than farm is a problem, because working it slows down or prevents growth, but if you will just balance food that way, that's good.
Maximize production for at least one city, and build heroic epic there, make most of your military. Other cities are then free to put cottage "everywhere" (subject to the above rules).
Later conquered tiles probably won't get much time to grow to town, then how about workshp, watermill, lumbermill, etc. to increase production?