are spies useful?
- Thread starter Dick Fosbury
- Start date
You may not be able to cut off trade, but I think you can lay naval seige. By that I mean you park your ships on his sea tiles to deny him the food benefit, just like stationing troops within the fat cross locks out a given tile from farming.
Then, of course, there's pillaging roads to disrupt trade networks BETWEEN his cities (assuming he doesn't have all coastal cities).
Hey, this reminds me, can the spy destroy terrain improvements as a mission or is that not possible? Oh, and does anyone miss the "Bribe unit/bribe city" options?
Then, of course, there's pillaging roads to disrupt trade networks BETWEEN his cities (assuming he doesn't have all coastal cities).
Hey, this reminds me, can the spy destroy terrain improvements as a mission or is that not possible? Oh, and does anyone miss the "Bribe unit/bribe city" options?
I tried the naval siege thing and though it worked in the beginning, there is a caveat I learned. Check the cities to see if the civ you're attempting to blockade doesn't have ships to destroy yours. I became careless and forgot to check the city every now and then. Before long he had two frigates against the one I had parked in front of him. You can guess the outcome.
ArmoredCavalry
Warlord
yeahit is quite expensive. sabatoging stratieging resources and hammer improvements on the other hand...
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
Yes, and this is why I rarely do it, especially when the chance of success in a city with several military units is much lower, not to mention the ding to relations if she's caught. Even if you're raking it in near the end of the game, there are better uses for that gold--unit upgrades, rushing improvements and late Wonders, bribing other Civs.Darkhrse said:
Sisiutil said:
Agreed, which was why I didn't bother trying to stop that particular civ's race to the Apollo Program. I was already quite far ahead that I could still overtake him in the Space Race if I chose to.
Just a note here though: stopping a rival city's production gets more expensive as they approach completion. So if you want your spy to stop a production, do it when it has just started instead of waiting.
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
I've never caught a spy either, but I've had improvements sabotaged, so believe me, I've tried--often placing a veritable SoD on my sole oil well along with one spy or more, to no avail!cabert said:
Mad Professor
Deity
cabert said:
Yes, I've had improvements destroyed by invisible somethings (NOT airborne!) so I presume they were AI spies. Never caught one though. Despite trying.
A spy will survive (it not caught) after they are able to successfully sabotage an improvement. And yes, even if you post units on top of your oil wells, spies still have a chance to sabotage successfully. I've been able to do that against the AI. As a matter of fact, my spy got caught only once out of about 6 attempts.
Another nice feature is the Steal Plans feature of a spy. If successful, the spy will be able to give you a clear view of the units and the current production info of every city of that civ. Although it fades in time.
Another nice feature is the Steal Plans feature of a spy. If successful, the spy will be able to give you a clear view of the units and the current production info of every city of that civ. Although it fades in time.
Sahkuhnder
Delusions of grandeur
Spies are great! 
Re-post of my favorite spy tactics:
Have your spy pass through a enemy city and check their city screen. You can easily spot their weakness this way.
Concentrate on resources they only have one of. I prefer to attack happiness resources as an unhappy citizen hurts more than an unhealthy one, and also on oil, coal and uranium. Deny the last two and few of their power plants will run which cuts the entire civs production. Also look for the one or two key farms that provide irrigation for a whole chain. These are usually unguarded and blowing them up can easily dry up 10 or more other farms, each now producing one less food. It's fun to watch all those cities start to decline in population. This also forces the AI to shift tiles from production to food just to keep even.
After awhile you're blowing things up far faster than the single workers the AI sends out can repair your destruction. At that point you've effectively crippled an entire nation.
Plus, I still enjoy seeing that spy woman backflip away from the explosive (hums theme from 'Mission Impossible').
Re-post of my favorite spy tactics:Have your spy pass through a enemy city and check their city screen. You can easily spot their weakness this way.
Concentrate on resources they only have one of. I prefer to attack happiness resources as an unhappy citizen hurts more than an unhealthy one, and also on oil, coal and uranium. Deny the last two and few of their power plants will run which cuts the entire civs production. Also look for the one or two key farms that provide irrigation for a whole chain. These are usually unguarded and blowing them up can easily dry up 10 or more other farms, each now producing one less food. It's fun to watch all those cities start to decline in population. This also forces the AI to shift tiles from production to food just to keep even.
After awhile you're blowing things up far faster than the single workers the AI sends out can repair your destruction. At that point you've effectively crippled an entire nation.
Plus, I still enjoy seeing that spy woman backflip away from the explosive (hums theme from 'Mission Impossible').
Mad Professor
Deity
sahkuhnder said:
Ahhhh [ding! light comes on!] What a good idea.... Maybe I would have thought of it myself one day, but not yet. Thankyou. I like that.
sahkuhnder said:
Yes
I just love that backflip. Some graphics in the game are just good, others are excellent, and others like this one are both excellent and bring a smile to the face. I like it too.ownedbyakorat
Warlord
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2006
- Messages
- 242
Spies are key, militarily. They can let you know what you're facing before you face it. They are the ideal recon "troops"... a spy just hanging out in a city can't be caught, so there's nothing an opponent can do to stop it. If you're familiar with Sun Tzu you won't underestimate their importance. A well-placed spy can add more to the successful outcome of a conflict than a half-dozen troops. Also they are very handy for figuring out when someone is massing for an attack - you can take steps (deterrent force and/or bribery) to have it be someone else who gets attacked... that can be worth a pretty big stack of units, being able to get two AIs to war with each other and not you.
On the other hand, they are limited, so don't depend on them for more than they're worth.
On the other hand, they are limited, so don't depend on them for more than they're worth.
Black Waltz
Prince
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2002
- Messages
- 569
I have actually captured another spy. In a peaceful game (though with a lot of Civs hating me) I kept on having my oil sabotaged. After the 2nd time I moved a spy in the city next to the well...
"An Mongolian Spy was killed attempting to sabotage your improvment" or something to that effect. He tried it another time the cheeky brat...
"An Mongolian Spy was killed attempting to sabotage your improvment" or something to that effect. He tried it another time the cheeky brat...
QuixotesGhost
Warlord
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2005
- Messages
- 272
sahkuhnder said:
Biology removes the requirement to chain farms, and Communism is pretty close to it on the tech tree. So I'd double-check to see where exactly your opponent is tech-wise before employing that particular strategy.
Sahkuhnder
Delusions of grandeur
QuixotesGhost said:
Biology allows farms to be built without being on a freshwater tile (or a bonus resource), but does not change the +1 bonus for the farm being irrigated. Once your opponent starts 'chaining' farm irrigation, you can use your spies to blow a link in that chain and un-irrigate all the 'downstream' tiles, reducing each downstream tile's production by 1 food.
This tactic works for the duration of the game.
Really, try it out and you'll see.
