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There are some different ideas swimming around in here.
I totally agree that you should not get a usable free science advance from spying that is too advanced for youd civilisation. Perhaps spies should just steal extra bulbs rather than whole techs. As long as the target civ had already researched what you are researching, you automatically halve the remaining cost of learning it? Avoids messy problems of techs you know but can't use. It also stops the spy rush of advancing 10 techs in 1 turn just because your boatload of spies managed to land and sneak onto a railroad.
Conversely, the spread of military hardware around the world is pretty universal in the modern era. Even the tightest arms embargoes have never stopped 3rd world dictators, rebels and revolutionaries getting hold of assault rifles, grenades, mines and anti-tank missiles even though they'd have a hard time manufacturing a musket. Perhaps the ease with which other civs manage to steal military techs is attempting to represent that? I would prefer a button that allowed anyone to try and buy an 'upgrade' for their units to turn them into guerillas or just hire mercenaries. The troops should certainly be inferior to true regulars, but its better than facing an armoured division with spears. The cost of upgrading would decline as more and more countries acquired the capability to produce their own modern arms.
I totally agree that you should not get a usable free science advance from spying that is too advanced for youd civilisation. Perhaps spies should just steal extra bulbs rather than whole techs. As long as the target civ had already researched what you are researching, you automatically halve the remaining cost of learning it? Avoids messy problems of techs you know but can't use. It also stops the spy rush of advancing 10 techs in 1 turn just because your boatload of spies managed to land and sneak onto a railroad.
Conversely, the spread of military hardware around the world is pretty universal in the modern era. Even the tightest arms embargoes have never stopped 3rd world dictators, rebels and revolutionaries getting hold of assault rifles, grenades, mines and anti-tank missiles even though they'd have a hard time manufacturing a musket. Perhaps the ease with which other civs manage to steal military techs is attempting to represent that? I would prefer a button that allowed anyone to try and buy an 'upgrade' for their units to turn them into guerillas or just hire mercenaries. The troops should certainly be inferior to true regulars, but its better than facing an armoured division with spears. The cost of upgrading would decline as more and more countries acquired the capability to produce their own modern arms.
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