Spys: View Troop Positions

[Andy46]

Hi

Does anyone here ever pay to view troop locations of another civilization.

Normally I don't touch this, but accidentally did so in my current game. I was shocked when I found, that I'd paid nearly 5000 and you can only view their positions for 1 turn. Isn't this a bit of a rip off ?

 

[Sodak]

I've never tried because the cost is way too high. Better to just let them come...

 

[Smoking mirror]

Iv'e always wanted to use that one, I usualy don't even bother building the inteligence agency; its just too expensive.
does any one know if there is any way to reduce the cost in the editor? I want to make it more usefull in my upcoming mod but to do so I need to either make the missions less costly or make the spys more effective. this can be done in the governments tab, by improving the spies of each government to veterans and the comunists to elite. But I don't know if this reduces the overall cost, or just makes the cheaper version of each mission more sucessful.

 

[Machi]

one of the weak spots of the game for sure...the cost basically makes it prohibitive (unless you cheat by saving, viewing troops and reloading) To make people use spies they would have to either change the way it works (see their units for a few turns or reduce the cost or the chance of getting caught)

 

[GI Josh]

I never pay to see an AI's entire troop positions - way too expensive. You can go thru your embassy and explore individual cities - I've found this very helpful, particularly in planning out my initial attacks so that I commit enough resources to take each city I attack and yet attack as many cities as possible on that first turn.

The Intel Agency is definitely worth building. Once you plant a spy, while you must pay to view troops by city, you can always (for free) view the AI's total number of units by type. Very helpful in determining his general defensive and offensive capabilities - I've often been surprised at the overall size or particular composition of an opposing force.

 

[Zouave]

I Edited down every cost related to Espionage by a third. Even still, it seems better at starting a war than giving me really valuable information.

 

[RX2000]

I agree with GI Josh, the intelligence agency is nice to have. You will probably end up starting a few wars though trying to get your spies planted everywhere. (Unless you cheat and save then reload if it fails.) I've found the best thing to do is watch the other civ very closely. Try to watch for when they declare war or when they sign a peace treay, since this often means they will be switching government types. Also check with your military advisor to find what government type they are in. If you can find out when they are in anarchy, try and plant the spy then, it almost always works.