Hate to dredge up an old thread, but it is on topic...
I can't seem to install a spy anywhere, they always get caught and killed.
What am I doing wrong?
If it's your first attempt against that AICiv, then nothing -- the pRNG was just being nasty to you. That said, the first failed attempt against any one AICiv sets up an 'untrustworthy' flag against you in the AI's memory, which has (IIRC) a 66% chance of being removed on each subsequent turn. This has the effect of making the AI much more 'suspicious' for the next couple of turns, so subsequent attempts to plant a spy against that same Civ during that window are also likely to fail. Drakarska says you need to wait 5 turns because at that point the probability that the flag is still in place has dropped below 1% (0.33^5 = 0.0039...) -- so if you fail again, you've just been
really unlucky.
Speaking personally, as a generally peaceful builder, I usually don't prioritise Espionage. It's an optional tech which doesn't even become available until the Industrial Age, and setting up espionage missions is so ridiculously expensive (first you have to research/buy the tech, then build the IA, then pay to install a spy -- risking failure and usually war -- and then pay for a mission which may also fail/cause war) that I don't think it's usually worth the cost/risk, unless I'm planning to go to war with that AICiv anyway. (If you have MPPs in place, trying and failing to plant a spy may actually be a useful tactic, because if that AI DoWs you and attacks across your borders, even though he had a
cassus belli, all your allies will then go after him).
Since it's possible to find out (nearly) everything I need to know about an AICiv -- what tech/resources they have available, who they're trading with, what they're building, how well they're defended, etc. -- by talking my Foreign Advisor (Mr. F4) after an Embassy has been established, and/or using that Embassy to investigate one of their cities (or more than one, if I'm thinking of going to war), I hardly ever use spies. The only exception is if I think I might be involved in a close space race, because for some reason an Embassy can't tell me whether an AICiv is developing a space program, or how far along they are... I guess my Ambassadors don't bother reading the national newspapers, or watching TV!
If you're still intent on doing some spying, some things I've noticed:
- Even if you fail to infiltrate a spy against one Civ, you may still succeed against another Civ on that same turn.
- I seem to have had more success installing spies when I'm _already_ at war with the AICiv I want to spy on (which has been helpful, because an embassy can't investigate target cities while you're at war -- but a spy can).
- Or maybe I've just been lucky...
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