Destroying Space Parts with Spies

[OldDude]

Hello Experts, it's been a while since I've posted and I hope you all had a great holiday.

I was playing a recent game at Prince level and I found myself in a space race. I was in the lead for this and then suddenly the AI starts sending in spies, destroying spaceship parts! Suddenly I'm behind in the race. So I send spies over to him to do the same but I couldn't see where to direct my spies to do that.

So my question is, how do you tell your spies to sabotage spaceship parts?

On a side note, I need to do another shadow game soon!

Thanks.

 

[AcaMetis]

The Sabotage Project mission, which can be done in any of the AI's cities. If the option doesn't show up it's probably because the mission costs more than you have available to spend against that AI.

Also, a hint: If you're afraid of AIs sabotaging spaceship parts, send a spy into their territory and do a Perform Counterespionage mission. It not only increases the cost of AIs to sabotage your stuff, it also increases the chance of their missions failing and their spies getting caught. Perform Counterespionage itself cannot fail, either, though your spy can still be caught travelling to a city to perform it.

 

[OldDude]

Thanks @AcaMetis. That's probably what it was since I don't recall seeing that option. Also, thanks for the tip. Does the Perform Counterespionage accumulate? In other words is it worth it to do it more than once, and does it matter which city you do it in?

 

[AcaMetis]

Does not accumulate, you can only perform it when it's not in effect and than it'll stay in effect for 6-30 turn (depending on your speed setting), after which you can perform the mission again. You can see how many turns it's still active in the espionage screen. Doesn't matter what city it's performed in, either, beyond that some cities will have a higher/lower cost to perform it due to different modifiers.

 

[Bibor]

Here's are my suggestions: Once the mission has been accomplised by the AI, you can see the "espionage points spent" on the espionage screen so you know whodunit. If that AI is the only culprit sending spies, focus your espionage spending on him, then, build a spy and perform counterespionage. Also, it might be the case that the AI prefers one city to do the sabotage missions. Having a spy on that tile or a Security Bureau in that city will help you against such missions, but then again the hammer cost of such an investment might be better spent in research.
If you're done with researching all the parts, I'd do everything as stated above, but also put my slider to 100% espionage against the culprit.
If you can do it, also declaring war on that AI might make him reshuffle his priorities with regards to missions (as the AI is then more likely to divert its attention to sabotaging strategic resources, or at least that's my personal experience, which might be wrong).

For future games, I also suggest, if going for a space race, but also in general, to check out your opponents for how likely they are to be aggressive in espionage (taken from Kaitzilla'S thread):

Here is a list of AI from lowest to highest for iEspionageWeight
Spoiler :

Spoiler :

1) Gandhi = 50
2) Mansa Musa = 60
3) Tokugawa = 60
4) Boudica = 70
5) Montezuma = 80
6) Asoka = 90
7) Frederick = 90
8) Huayna Capac = 90
9) Qin Shi Huang = 90
10) Suleiman = 90
11) Alexander = 100
12) Augustus = 100
13) Charlemagne = 100
14) Cyrus = 100
15) Darius = 100
16) Genghis Khan = 100
17) Gilgamesh = 100
18) Hammurabi = 100
19) Hannibal = 100
20) Hatshepsut = 100
21) Julius Caesar = 100
22) Kublai Khan = 100
23) Napoleon = 100
24) Pacal = 100
25) Pericles = 100
26) Ragnar = 100
27) Ramesses = 100
28) Saladin = 100
29) Shaka = 100
30) Suryavarman = 100
31) Willem Van Oranje = 100
32) Zara Yaqob = 100
33) Brennus = 110
34) De Gaulle = 110
35) Elizabeth = 110
36) Joao = 110
37) Justinian = 110
38) Lincoln = 110
39) Mehmed = 110
40) Victoria = 110
41) Wang Kon = 110
42) Bismark = 120
43) Churchill = 120
44) Roosevelt = 120
45) Isabella = 120
46) Louis XIV = 120
47) Peter = 120
48) Sitting Bull = 120
49) Washington = 120
50) Catherine = 130
51) Mao = 130
52) Stalin = 150

 

[2popbulb]

AI's usually send spies to poison water,poison water,poison water......but sometimes they destroy your spaceship parts. It is good to plan ahead and build Security Bureau before you start space part production. If your spy is present in the city it also increases chance of AI's spy mission failure(does this stack with effect of SB?)
And there is one tip I can give you: AI's NEVER send spies/missionaries/scouts to another continent. So,if you have productive cities on islands you might want to build space parts there. You don't need SB or your own spies there,you are completely safe.

 

[rah]

does this stack with effect of SB?

No, is my understanding.