Spies

[prat]

A have a few questions on Spies.

1) In multiplayer, I sent a spy into my friend's city where he was building a spaceship component. However the option to destroy the production of the space piece was unavailable. What can/can't you destroy?

2)Does sending in multiple spies into a city increase the chances of success?

Thanks!

[proviisori]

1) did you have enough money? Sabotaging SS components is very expensive.

[prat]

How can you tell how much $$ it takes to destroy something?

[proviisori]

you should see it when you hover the mouse over the sabotage button.

[Nikolai]

2)Does sending in multiple spies into a city increase the chances of success?

Good question! Now, why haven't I ever thought of checking that out...

[gdijedi7]

I haven't either... hrmmm.

Spies are not as useful as they once were, although, neither are nukes.

[drsparnum]

I suspect sending two spies would only give you two tries for two equally exorbinant prices (I've paid like 5000 gold to sabotage the AIs space ship production - sometimes when everyone is going space ship there's not much else to do with your income while you're building the last pieces). That's just the way units work in CIV.

I've found spies most useful for exploring the territory of people I don't have open borders with. I wish they had an explore button. Just walking them back and forth across their territory keeps your map current, in case they attack you (and the civs you don't have OB with are probably most likely to attack you).

The second most useful features of spies is to remind you of Catherine Zeta Jones in entrapment. Mmm.

[marvinkosh]

It's much cheaper to blow up improvements around a city that is producing the Apollo Program or a particularly hefty spaceship part. 200 gold a pop, and you still have the option to blow up what's being constructed if you have enough dough.

[The keeper]

If only spies could damage roads.

[Amarsir]

Originally posted by marvinkosh
It's much cheaper to blow up improvements around a city that is producing the Apollo Program or a particularly hefty spaceship part. 200 gold a pop, and you still have the option to blow up what's being constructed if you have enough dough.

Well said. Aluminum is a particularly good target.

[drsparnum]

But the AI tends to place troops on top of aluminum, decreasing the odds of success. Furthermore, they can rebuild the mine. I'd still blow up the aluminum if I couldn't blow up the whole production, but I'm saying if you got the dough go for the whole production. If you've already researched all the tech, decided you're going for a spaceship win and found your bottleneck to be producing the last couple of parts I think it makes sense to drop science way down and save that gold for $$ espionage ops.

[The keeper]

I use spies to see troop movement toward the front lines while fighting a war.

[Yosho]

Originally posted by The keeper
I use spies to see troop movement toward the front lines while fighting a war.

(nods)

It's especally useful in navel warfare, if you can use spies to figure out from which city he's going to launch his next fleet of escorted transports, and if he's going to escort them with destroyers or battleships. (If he's going destroyers, it's hard to intercept the fleet with slower battleships; on the other hand, if he's going battleships, you can't beat him with destroyers.)