Pillage with a spy

[Civfanat]

Is it possible to perform pillage action with a spy? (Destroying road, farm, town etc...)

Many thanks for the info,

C

 

[StinkBait]

Yes of course. This is one of the primary missions with a spy. In fact I'll send enough spies into an enemy’s territory, park them over the enemies strategic resources (Iron, Coal, etc.) and - when the spies are all in place - sabotage all the resources in one turn!

It totally goofs up their production and sends workers scrambling. You have to increase Espionage points on that country for it to work, however, or they'll all get caught and it could cause a war.

Another use is to sabotage a lot near their border (doesn't really matter what) and lure all their workers to the edge. Do this right before you're about to declare war. When all the workers are busy 1-2 tiles from the border, charge in with mounted units and capture them!

 

[Civfanat]

That's a very good idea... Thanks!! Just couple of more question to refine some issues?
Can I exactly pick which improvement on the tile to pillage? (E.g. if I want to pillage only the roads first i.e. the enemy's road network, can I choose it from an 'action list'?)
Will the spy be automaticly sent back to the capital, once the action was successful - same as ones perform a mission on a city -, or can I continue working with it?
Does it cost about the same amount of espionage points to pillage a tile, as actions against cities, or is it cheaper?

Many thanks for any answer,

C.

 

[nNemethon]

All actions to be performed by the spy are listed with the espionage point cost as soon as you select the espionage button. From there, you can choose what to do, same as a mission against a city. When over an improvement, you can only choose 'sabotage improvement' but cannot choose what to attack. Sabotage is the same sequence as Pillage - it destroys the major improvement first, and road/railroad last. The spy then runs squealing happily all the way back to your capitol from whence you start again.
If there is a town, it will destroy the improvement to a village. Do again (you'll need to get the spy there again) and will downgrade it to hamlet etc.

Cheers, nNem.

 

[Emiliano]

Talking about spying... One of the spies' mission is to "help a revolt" on a city...

But is it the "cultural revolt", that takes 2 to the city to change hands peacefully?

Another question... besides "spread culture" mission... is there any other mission to help capture cities with culture?


Thanks in advance!

 

[nNemethon]

Talking about spying... One of the spies' mission is to "help a revolt" on a city...

But is it the "cultural revolt", that takes 2 to the city to change hands peacefully?

Another question... besides "spread culture" mission... is there any other mission to help capture cities with culture?


Thanks in advance!

Getting a spy to "Help a City Revolt" makes the city go into riot for one turn, and hence removes all city defense percentages. This makes it easier so you don't have to bombard the city first before attacking. The defenders are left open just as they would be if fortified on the natural land the city is built on. You can then use your seige weaps to immediately damage to defenders rather than spending precious time removing the cities defense rating. This does NOT increase your chance of a culture flip to the best of my knowledge.

As far as I know, the only spy mission that deals with culture is the one you mentioned and it adds, I believe from memory, 5% of your culture to the targeted city per mission. I am currently unaware of any other way to do it.

SPY hint for war: Plan ahead which civ you are going to attack first and start cranking the espionage spending against them. Then while making several raiding stacks of attackers, pump out a nice supply of spies (I usually have 12 or so on stand-by). If the ebemy is low on espionage points or not at spy ability yet, drop your spies into every city you plan to capture and leave them there. The longer they wait, the cheaper the missions. Then, when you declare war, and as your stack reaches a city and is ready to attack, activate the spy(s) within and get them to "Help Revolt". Voila, no defense and in you go without having to heave away at the defenses with your seiges. Keep doing this to all citeis as you can and it really helps wipe them.
In a pinch, you can also drop them in the preceding turn to attacking, but makes it more expensive. On the plus side, less chance of them being discovered in the interem. Against a booming enemy, I like to drop 3 or 4 spies in to increase the chance that one will be bale to enact the nasty on them.

Cheers, nNem.

 

[GooglyBoogly]

However, a spy-induced revolt DOES NOT damage the city defenders like a real revolt would

 

[nNemethon]

Good point. But it's also a good thing - more pain delivered with really, REALLY heavy rain.

 

[Supr49er]

Use your spies early and often, and take counterespionage measures to protect you from enemy spies.

Welcome to the Forums Civfanat.

 

[brainshannon]

Talking about spying... One of the spies' mission is to "help a revolt" on a city...

But is it the "cultural revolt", that takes 2 to the city to change hands peacefully?

Another question... besides "spread culture" mission... is there any other mission to help capture cities with culture?

The culture mission doesn't quite work the way most people seem to think... It does not add culture for purposes of city flipping. Its only effect is that once you capture the city it will start with 5% your culture for each mission you do beforehand. It also counts for lowering the cost of espionage missions conducted in that enemy city.

Also, and I may be wrong about this, but I thought spies were unable to target roads/rails. Perhaps someone on here can confirm that? Maybe I'm thinking about aircraft...

 

[Joshua368]

The culture mission doesn't quite work the way most people seem to think... It does not add culture for purposes of city flipping. Its only effect is that once you capture the city it will start with 5% your culture for each mission you do beforehand. It also counts for lowering the cost of espionage missions conducted in that enemy city.

I think I read somewhere that this helps the city come out of revolt instantly upon capture, or at least faster. Is this true? If so it could definitely be worth it.

 

[nNemethon]

Also, and I may be wrong about this, but I thought spies were unable to target roads/rails. Perhaps someone on here can confirm that? Maybe I'm thinking about aircraft...

Hmmm, I assumed and from a shaky memory that they were able to (at least I was sure that the enemy had done it while at war with me). I think we need a confirm on that - I'll givvit a whirl now. *EDIT: Spies can also pillage roads/railroads.*

I think I read somewhere that this helps the city come out of revolt instantly upon capture, or at least faster. Is this true? If so it could definitely be worth it.

I'll try this now too. *EDIT: Ok, I used approx 12 spies and boosted my culture strength in Churchills' closest city to me. It was base 17% Russian (me) and after the spies, raised to 21%. Not a huge jump I admit but still the same amount of time to come out of revolt after I had taken it. There was no other civ culture present in the city.*

 

[OscarWildebeest]

I like the idea of parking spies in enemy territory for a long time, in order to bring down the cost of espionage operations. But how do I ensure that the spies don't get discovered and eliminated in the meantime? This seems to happen to me a lot.

 

[Emiliano]

I like the idea of parking spies in enemy territory for a long time, in order to bring down the cost of espionage operations. But how do I ensure that the spies don't get discovered and eliminated in the meantime? This seems to happen to me a lot.

That depends on how many spies have the enemy in their own cities.

Try targeting for maginal cities, they never send spies there.

 

[Civfanat]

Thanks....

 

[nNemethon]

That depends on how many spies have the enemy in their own cities.

Try targeting for maginal cities, they never send spies there.

Am I to understand that the more spies you have parked in your own cities helps reduce enemy espionage/attacks on that city? Always wondered this.

 

[GooglyBoogly]

Am I to understand that the more spies you have parked in your own cities helps reduce enemy espionage/attacks on that city? Always wondered this.

Per tile, only a single spy OR a security bureau will have an effect to increase the chance of foreign spies being caught. Additional spies on the same tile do nothing to improve capture odds or decrease the chance of success of enemy spies. The protection generated by any spy or security bureau only covers the tile in which they are located and does not extend any further than that tile.

 

[nNemethon]

Ahhh thank you. At least I no longer wonder.
Cheers, nNem.

 

[Bushface]

I have found the "spread culture" mission to be virtually useless. Each such mission, when successful, adds 5% of whatever culture you already have in the city, so you must already have some culture there: the target city thus has to be close to one of your existing cities, preferably one with high culture. Also each mission costs more EPs than the previous one: you may lose your spy: successful spies go back to your capital and hence need time to go back and try again, during which time the enemy city is still pumping out its own culture faster than you can make yours grow.
By my calculation, 12 such succesful missions should put your culture up from 17% (as in post #12) to 30.5%, which won't really do you any good.
A massive sabotage raid before invasion, on the other hand, is definitely good. I like to wipe out the enemy resource developments, sending their cities into unhealthiness and misery and thereby hopefully losing population, thus reducing the time taken for resistance to cease after capture. Sabotaging such developments close to your border can be done a turn or two before you attack: the AI will send Workers to redevelop, easy pickings when your troops move in. Causing city revolts is of course best done only in the cities you're going to attack in the same turn: such revolts are quite expensive, and unnecessary if you have enough siege weapons or bombers