Siphon Funds Deathtrap.

[Tech Osen]

Now I can't remember the last time this actually happened to me. Maybe it was bad luck, maybe poor planning.
Anyway, I set up a Reyna city with Com Hub and harbor and lo and behold: a spot for the Zimbabwe wonder. I rarely build this one but people here are always raving about it so I figured why not.
I gradually move my trade routes to that city but then, dispite having a spy on the hub, I get siphoned, for a lot. Before I know it units are getting disbanded left and right, starting with the spy on the hub. I move my other spy there and the turn it gets there it also gets disbanded. No more defense against the spies siphoning me.
So yeah, that was a rage quit on a game that went from a sure win to falling apart in about ten turns. Maybe declaring war on all the civs I had traderoutes with so I could spread them out again would have helped but I was just too annoyed.

Moral of the story (I guess): don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[MrRadar]

Moral of the story (I guess): don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Or else, moral of the story could be: you hang a portrait of Catherine de Medici before your eyes with the quote 'I've always rather enjoyed a bit of espionage myself' underneath, and make that principle one of your own

 

[Tech Osen]

Or else, moral of the story could be: you hang a portrait of Catherine de Medici before your eyes with the quote 'I've always rather enjoyed a bit of espionage myself' underneath, and make that principle one of your own

She was one of my rivals in that game...

 

[MrRadar]

She was one of my rivals in that game...

Even better reason to peruse her memoirs in between turns.
If you're setting a spy magnet like this, better make sure you have someone adequately trained to close and empty the trap fast enough.
In one game I had an experience of my counterspies killing or catching two hostile spies during the same turn at a place even less magnetic that yours here described, and for a few turns in a row or within brief intervals, real busy they were

 

[Aurelesk]

I have the same thing happens to me, except I managed to catch around 2 - 4 spies from each civilizations. Should I sell them back? No, there are mine now! I was basicly the only civilization left that use Spies.

Even if unsuccessful, Siphon Funds can harm you: it allows to reduce your Gold/Turn but you get your Gold back when you catch the Spy. But I do feel that, sometime, the spies was siphoning more gold/turn than my city could make, when they are more than one.

Funny thing: you can see enemy spies with military alliance (level 2) or with any alliance with Poundmaker (except if you reload a savefile).

 

[Archon_Wing]

Moral of the story (I guess): don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Pretty much that. It's beneficial to have multiple trade routes go to the same city anyways and you need them in different cities to be able to do this

 

[SammyKhalifa]

In my Phoenicia game, I just intentionally never built a commerce district in the city I sent all my routes from.

 

[Tech Osen]

I have the same thing happens to me, except I managed to catch around 2 - 4 spies from each civilizations.

This is my usual experience too. I make a Reyna city in most of my games and catching spies has never been a problem. Oh well.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Counterspying works most of the time but it's not foolproof. So there's always a risk of getting ruined.

 

[Scaramanga]

Did you have police state?

 

[iammaxhailme]

I never build neighborhoods at all, mostly becuase recruit partisans is too annoying to deal with.

 

[Tech Osen]

Did you have police state?

I was in the early industrial era civic wise.

 

[Lily_Lancer]

If you know your enemy will be using spy, you can build campuses. It doesn't harm you when they steal some tech boosts, however it harms you if they perform any other actions. You'd better let them focus on stealing tech boosts.

 

[Victoria]

Tip:
Do not build an airport or harbour in the GZ city.
But yes, you get a 90% chance and so does a good enemy spy, even with great countermeasures they will still succeed, then you bleed.
I do not need GZ for an SV anymore and so I treat it like building neighbourhoods.

 

[Disgustipated]

Seems like a spy with the correct promotions would have done the trick, maybe run Cryptography as well. I would rather run that policy card the rest of the game than quit a game.

 

[Tech Osen]

Seems like a spy with the correct promotions would have done the trick, maybe run Cryptography as well. I would rather run that policy card the rest of the game than quit a game.

Like stated above: I was nowhere near crypography. I was playing Zulu and not focusing much on culture.

 

[Victoria]

Only the cultured can stab you in the back while smiling so nicely.

 

[Bei1052]

I'm fairly sure it's a (well known) bug. Siphon funds should not bankrupt you.

 

[Victoria]

I'm fairly sure it's a (well known) bug. Siphon funds should not bankrupt you.

I have seen 2 saves from people in the past who claimed said bug. Both times there were multiple enemy spies succeeding in siphoning. Because great Zim makes so much, you end up losing so much

 

[Tech Osen]

Don't know if it's a bug or working as intended but I find it's rough to salvage such a situation.