What to do about polite civs spying

[Lahdoz]

Right now I'm playing Regent, polite w/ all civs, have a huge empire, lots of culture, and 2nd biggest military. I'm sharing a border w/ India, and have been very close w/ them the entire game. ROP and MPP for quite some time past the original 20 and never warred with them. India has the only larger military, that's probably why they risk spying. They have a much more advanced military. I have a successfully planted spy. Diplomatic victory seems to be my best bet, possibly cultural.

I have caught 2 spies in 2 turns. I'm torn on war or not. We both have MPPs with several civs. I can declare war and wait for them to attack, them then being overwhelmed since I have MPP with like 4 other civs, or just ignore it. I dare not attack first for the same reason.

What kind of reputation hit would I get for declaring war after their spies getting caught?

I've got lots of pollution, so I'm currently building lots of Mass Transit. I'd prefer to wait on war to complete them so I can start cranking out military. Will a reputation hit be the same if I wait a few turns before declaring war?

 

[nullspace]

Declaring war would be a bad idea because you would get a rep hit for breaking your MPP with India, and it wouldn't stop them from spying on you. Instead, use the espionage mission "Expose enemy spy" if you think they have a spy and enough money to harm you. If it succeeds, their spy will be gone. If the mission fails, they may declare war on you, but they'll get the rep hit, not you.

 

[Lahdoz]

How does the rep hit work if I call off the MPP before declaring war?

I am well beyond the 20 turns and can call it off if necessary.

 

[Lahdoz]

From what I understand, I can call off any agreement after the 20 turns are up and not suffer a reputation hit. The civ I had the agreement with won't necessarily be happy about it, but my world-wide reputation won't be hurt.

I'm going to declare war after finishing a few Mass Transit Systems. Right now they have a good chunk of their military out hunting barbarians far away from their territory. I'll break the ROP so they stay separated, making my attack a little easier.

 

[spartacos]

just ignore them and rush for the diplo victory

 

[SimpleMonkey]

I'm not sure of the usefulness of trying to expose an AI spy, as they seem to know what you have in every city anyway.