26-07-2001 18:54									#1
	Espionage and Counterespionage - Need Help Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

ESPIONAGE

Well, I'm now in my second game of CTP (am using Wes's 7/18 MM2 mod for CTP2). HARD level, 5 civs, HUGE map, next-to-easiest Barbarians.

And I just had my first experience with AI espionage: one of my Advances was stolen.

It's now in the late 1800s, and I'm so far ahead of the four other civs in all respects that they will never catch up. My civ has peace treaties and trade pacts with them all, and they all love my civ -- well, that's what the Diplo Manager tells me, anyway. The fact that one of them just stole a tech from me -- in Washington, D.C. of all places -- tells me otherwise. My goals again are simply to win the Science Victory and to learn the game (including how the 7/18 update plays).

COUNTERESPIONAGE

In Civ II, if I remember correctly, I countered espionage by building a diplomat in each of my cities. The presence of a diplomat lessened the chances that a spy would be successful. I can find incredibly little information in the CTP2 game manual or in the Official Strategy Guide about how to conduct counterespionage the most efficiently. Therefore, some questions about this:

Which is the more effective COUNTERespionage agent: the Diplomat or the Spy? The Spy's vision is better, but it costs much more to support.

To prevent espionage agents from entering my civ's territory (by land), do I really have to build a line of counterespionage agents on the borders?

I see no viable means of preventing AI espionage agents from entering my civ's territory from along the coasts. So that would mean, I guess, placing counterespionage agents around each of my cities, say, one to each of the four sides. Or would simply having a Spy in each city be effective, since it can see two spaces and thus detect the approach of the enemy?

This can get really complex, I'm beginning to see, because a lot would depend on the infrastructure -- roads, railroads, maglevs, or lack thereof. A spy could zoom into a city on a road, railroad, or maglev and do his dirty work before being detected by a diplomat or spy stationed in the city.

Well, the fact that this spy (or whatever) was successful in stealing one of my Advances shook me a bit, since it came as a complete surprise -- not wholly unpleasant, I might add, since it revealed another aspect of the game and created a new challenge.

Anyway, I would welcome any help, either posted here or sent to me via email, about how to counter espionage the most effectively. THANKS!

	27-07-2001 03:01									#2
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

IMO, I would put a diplomat in every one of my cities. If you feel you need more than that, try placing spies on choke points and in places the AI has targetted in the past; They tend to hit the same spots over and over.

However, for simplicity's sake, I would have a team of spies patrolling the streets. This way, you could save yourself time, production, and effort while actively defending from foreign agents.

Or... you could wipe the other civs off the face of the earth

	27-07-2001 15:36									#3
	Increase the size of your Attachments

If you put spy in a city, it's harder to spy it.
There's a wonder which do as you have a spy in each town.

I suspect too, that IA is cheating.

	28-07-2001 01:15									#4
	Thanks! Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Thanks for the advice! I'm building a spy or diplomat in each of my cities. And thanks for reminding me about the Agency Wonder!

I also just learned about Booting them out instead of having to kill them and thus precipate a war.