Spies-- the best unit on civ2?

[bakaneiro]

Hey!

Im new on the "civ world" cause I just started to play civ2 and I got totally addicted to this game.. I just can't explain! is because is a turn based game and gives you more ansiety? lol

The reason im writing this thread is because I think spies are the best units and I found myself using then all the time.
My game changed as soon as I got "place nuclear bomb" on my beloved spies.. [on the babylon and americans]

me--Spanish

 

[Smash]

Yes,spys are the most powerful unit in civ 2.Distant second is the caravan/freight.

The civ series(especially #2) is well known for that "one more turn" syndrome that often leads to very,very late nights

 

[Dominus Romae]

Hmm... If you have lots of money, you can simply win a war by bribing cities, then planting nuclear device on enemy capitol. Occupy it with an engineer and continue to bribe the other cities. That's insane , but it works.

 

[Sir espectral]

Hehehe! The power of Spain!

 

[Ace]

Yes,spys are the most powerful unit in civ 2.Distant second is the caravan/freight.

The civ series(especially #2) is well known for that "one more turn" syndrome that often leads to very,very late nights

Caravan/freight is by far the most powerful unit! Without building a single spy, one can sweep the tech tree, including the future techs, land a max size spaceship and build most/all of the wonders with the proper use of the Caravan/freight unit! (And its the Freight unit that provides the coins for the spy to do her "work"!) That said, the spy is a very close second. With the coins provided by the freight, the spy can buy everything in sight.

"...very late nights", hah!! "all-nighter" is more like it. It never ceases to amaze me how Civ2, and Civ1 before it, has that lure of "just one more turn" and the ability to make one completely lose track of time. (except "game-time, of course.)

 

[Smash]

Sorry but you are wrong.

Freights are strong no doubt,but spys are the best unit in Civ2.Of this,no sane person can argue

You take freights and I'll take spys.What do you think is gonna happen?

 

[Ace]

Sorry but you are wrong.

Freights are strong no doubt,but spys are the best unit in Civ2.Of this,no sane person can argue

You take freights and I'll take spys.What do you think is gonna happen?

I guess I am not sane because your "poor" spies will be helpless without the coins provided by my freight to support them. While spies are very powerful units, they can be rendered harmless. Democracy eliminates their ability to bribe, units or cities. (A lack of gold also stops bribery) Even without democracy, spies can be made harmless by: 1. using stacks of two units to preclude bribing and sabotoge ,(in this case, 2 frieight. Your spy is impotant against stacks.)
2. all units with an attack factor can kill spies! Spies cannot even sabotoge a stack. True, spies can still poison the water supply, steal tech, and plant nukes IF they can penetrate the line of freight blocking their paths.

That said, spies are, in my opinion, the second-best unit in the game. A very close second to the freight. In fact, to play a really good game, one needs both units.

 

[Smash]

You won't be able to maintain Democracy when I sabotage all your city improvements.

Your freights will be worthless after I have poisoned all your cities down to size 1

I'll sabotage your blockade and kill them with a mere horseman.

 

[Dominus Romae]

Spies and freight are really powerful, but the "freight line" strategy won't work because I can always send an armor to eliminate these stacks. In this case, the path to your city will be free for my spy to to sabotage you or plant a nuclear device there. And democracy does not prevent a nuclear blast by spies!

 

[Smash]

Well,if all I had was spys,then 2 stacked freights/camels would work.You would need alot of them though(depending on number of cities).Coastal cities would still be sitting ducks.

Obviously more unit types would be in play so those freights could be stacked with Alpines or something.

1 or 2 X-Pack stacks loaded with spys would be a major handful.

50 spys moving with alpines would be the end for any civ

 

[Ace]

Obviously, combined arms are the way to go, but we were merely comparing camels/freight to spies. No one unit is invincible and unstoppable by itself. That said, I use spies a lot, but still consider freight the "fuel" that drives the spies.

BTW, the way to deal with that x-pack stack is to ignore it and wipeout its supporting civ. The stack may be almost unstoppable, but if its home cities are captured/destroyed, it ceases to exist as a threat. Or better still, do not let any opposing civ get strong enough to build one.

 

[bruderpetrus]

also quite strong:

the gunman / gunpowder: defense of 3 in lower tech levels saves all my citys
the armor / mobile warfare: extreme increased movement
the bomber / advanced flight: strong attack, normally unbeatable

of cause all these are only great if you are the first getting and using it

if you ask spy or caravan/freight i join for caravan. remember the ability to fasten your science so you get the spy earlier

 

[funxus]

the bomber / advanced flight: strong attack, normally unbeatable

Usually I find the "only one attack per second turn" too annoying with these. They're quite expensive that way. Once you've come that far techwise, it's not long before you have stealth, and I'd prefer the vet stealth a lot more

 

[sethos]

IMHO the most powerful units are - the settler and the engineer.

 

[The Person]

Bah, they don't become powerful until you've used them to build a city, and then you don't have them anymore.

 

[sethos]

Without settlers and engineers:
No freights, no gunmen, no armors, no spies.

 

[The Person]

Don't understand a joke, do you? Of course I know that.

 

[sethos]

We're talking about Civ2. No jokes, please!

 

[The Person]

Not even Civ2-related ones?

 

[Kessey]

Spies have won most of my wars, with helicopters being a close second (can hit gound and air troops, high attack and defense, don't run out of fuel, and can take over cities. I haven't used freights/caravans much, but I'll look into it now that I've read how useful they can be.

Take care,

Jay