Intelligence service

[Baron Rakkan]

Hi I have a question. I hope anyone can help me!

Haow can I strenghten my defence shield against intelligence actions from other civilizations. Like in Civ2, you built spies, to prevent attacks from other Civilization secret service`s.

 

[Anvil63]

As far as I know the only two ways to do this is to turn into a democracy (immune to propaganda) and to use the root out mole option available at the Intelligence Agency

 

[AUDoc]

I've never tried rooting out moles, does it annoy the civ. that you attempt it on?

 

[Rymiss]

Yeah, I once tried it on France and they declared war on me and wouldnt talk to me for a long while so I would use it at your own risk.

 

[tetley]

Rather than root out mole, it's a lot better to just deny him the gold to do anything. Trade for lump-sum gold.

 

[eyrei]

I have never noticed the AI spying on me, so if it does, it never fails. I play on Monarch, so I guess the spying may become important to the AI at higher levels.

i do try to get a spy in each of the other civs capitals. If nothing else it is fun to see what your moron military advisor considers a powerful military. I don't really consider 75 spearmen and 25 swordsmen a threat in the late industrial age, but my advisor sure does.

 

[Ruffian]

I feel kind of silly asking this as I have completed a few games, but how do you "make" spies? It's not in the espionage options and I'm clueless as to how to do it.

 

[eyrei]

Once you have built the intelligence agency, click on the pentagon next to the city name where you built it. Then select a civilization to plant it in. Beware, planting spies fails regularly, and it really pisses the AI off.

 

[AUDoc]

The only time I've seen anything that suggests the AI uses spies is catching Ghandi trying to place one in my capitol three times in one game. I didn't worry about it too much.

 

[Ruffian]

Cool. Thanks!!

The AI does use spies somewhat. I had propeganda stirred stirred up in one of my cities in my last game and have had my war plans stolen. Not to mention spies the AI failed to plant a few times.

 

[Dark Sheer]

In my last game as Egyptian, I manage to catch the English trying to steal a technology from me !!

 

[eyrei]

How fun. I wish the AI would spy on me. Of course, I would have to take the necessary action afterwards. How fun.

 

[Moulton]

I have never caught them spying--don't know if they do or not. They seem to know where everything I have is, anyway, at all stages of the civ. I dont worry about it. I get to Democracy as soon as practical, and stay there, then build enough standing army they don't bother me. Except the nuicance things.

I like to have a spy in my embasies, so I know what units they have. The AI counts total units as strength, without regard for what kind of unit it is. It also seems to note the most advanced unit you have. One seems to be enough.
So you can build 25 bombers for massive air strikes, and one stealth bomber to cow the AI.

Six carriers off their coast, and 24 bombers lays waste to their supply lines. Since they have not tried this against me, I don't know yet just how good my fighters and SAMs are--yet. But I have faced no opposition yet. I bomb their fighters and bombers on the runway.

 

[eyrei]

A spy is necessary since you can't rely on your military advisor to compare strength. I generally don't care how many spearmen the AI has in the modern era, I want to know how many tanks it has.

 

[menelaus]

Yeah, what is with that War Advisor?!?

I have 22 Jet fighters, 10 Destroyers, 8 Battleships, 16 Bombers, 76 Mech Inf., 35 Cavalry, 43 Tanks... and I am WEAK compared to a civ with 26 Wooden Boats, 18 Ironclads, NO FLIGHT, 65 Infantry, 60 Cavalry, 18 Catapults, and 39 Riflemen.

I mean, this guy is a total pessimist! Just to prove a point, I took out 8 of their cities in one turn with my "weak" army, and held them, then razed three more on the next turn. By then, he STILL said my army was weak compared to them. WHAT?

C'mon.... can't we go back to the annoying guy in Civ2's High Council, at least HE was comical in his own hawkish way.

 

[Gholam]

Yep, the idiot military advisor only compares numbers, 100 warriors is equal to 100 tanks in his opinion... and AIs judge army strenghts in almost the same way (they also take "most advanced unit" into account). Results in funny situations where a civ (usually Germany or Russia, sometimes Zululand or China) with a few hundred obsolete units tries to bully a civ with a large lead in tech and good production center but small standing army... usually they get obliterated shortly afterwards, when production center starts pumping out modern armor to crush their pikemen and riflemen (AI very rarely, if ever, upgrades units - in my current game, Romans are still fielding spearmen along with infantry).

 

[eyrei]

Yeah. I guess this effects the AI more than the human player since it has to listen to the military advisor. It would be nice if backwards civs showed their betters some respect.

 

[Rymiss]

Sometimes my stupid mil advisor tells me I have a weak army when ive cleary got way more numbers then the AI.
Weird.

 

[poppert]

It seems very hard to get a spy into an AI civ. My spies get caught all the time. Are there any way to improve chances of success?

 

[Rymiss]

The only way to increase your chance of success is by picking the most expensive method for your spies to do things. But that costs too much money for me im afraid.