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Dominae
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The problem with Espionage is that there are too many better options at the start of the Industrial age. So, no, I do not think it is a good idea to research Espionage yourself. The AI seems to pay a pretty penny for it, but in my games it always ends up researching it before me.
But this is not to say that Espionage is not useful. It is not a good idea to sit on a huge treasury. The obvious option is to rush improvements like Courthouses in your distant towns, but I think you can do better with spy missions. Stealling a tech from the AI is really quite useful, since you're essentially buying it from them for nothing, at the same cost if you choose "Safely". In some games I've exposed enemy spies because they were stealing techs right from under my nose, but this does not happen very often. The same goes with the other mission types. Steal tech is definitely the most useful.
You usually want to use spy missions in those games where you're relatively close to the AI in power, or weaker. AU206 comes to mind as a great opportunity for Espionage. Unfortunately, most games are "decided" by the Industrial age, meaning that you're ahead at this point and are just looking to finish things off. In these frequent cases bypassing Espionage is not a big deal.
Dominae
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Dominae
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Guessing. When the Germans obtain 3 techs every 10 turns, I know something is wrong. Plus I've learned that if the AI has a big treasury, it is coded to use some of it one spy missions if these are available. An easy way to avoid this is to make sure they never get rich, which is easier said that done.
Dominae
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Dominae
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badams52, since you repeated yourself, I may as well repeat myself too! The games when you're either at UP or at least clearly in the (tech) lead are not the ones where Espionage will be useful. But the ones where there are still a few KIAs giving you some trouble, you can definitely make good use of spy missions.
Dominae
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Yahweh Sabaoth
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The Heavens
Dec 2002
time: 05:26
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Hi everyone. I've got a tip or two, and one question.
The question is this: does distance from your enemy dictate the cost of various espionage actions?
In my games, the cost of most espionage actions is prohibitively expensive. I see a few posts here referring to getting techs cheaply, and effectively, using espionage. In my games, a "safe" operation on this scale generally costs upwards of 3000. By the time I get Espionage (mid-late Industrial era), I might have that kind of money, but I'm saving it for upgrades, either to Infantry or Mech. Inf.
So in other words, I hardly ever use steal technology, steal map, enemy troop position, expose enemy spy, etc. It's just too pricey. In the late game, I would consider it, but if I make it to the late game, I'm at least somewhat ahead in terms of tech.
Here's the tip:
Use propaganda, or rather, don't be afraid to try, when you are at war with a large communist empire. Say the Zulus, in the industrial-modern era, conquer Britain, which borders you. If your culture is sufficiently greater than Zululand, throw around a few hundred to subvert those border cities (which ought to be resisting, unhappy, or tiny at this point). They will join you, at least 75% of the time.
As far as I can tell, for a propaganda mission to succeed, you must at least be adjacent to the city you wish to subvert.
Propaganda has proved useful at times for me in large modern war, though I wouldn't rely on it... it's just an option if I have a large treasury.
But almost all other espionage options are too damn expensive!!! 
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minke19104
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Locate Troop position might be useful for locating civ's last roaming galley with settler in Conquest games..
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Arrian
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Kneel before Grog!
Jul 2001
time: 00:26
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I have stopped researching espionage in my games. The only espionage option I feel is worth it is the F3 info you get from successfully planting a spy.
My Industrial Age tech route goes like this:
Steam Power, Industrialization, Medicine, Electricity, Theory of Gravity, Replaceable Parts, Atomic Theory + Electronics from ToE, Nationalism, Communism, Sanitation*, and then beeline for Motor Transport, Radio, Flight (to preserve Colossus as long as possible, unless I don't have it, of course) and on to the Modern Age (also skipping Adv. Flight & Amphib War).
* - I have also put Sanitation in front of Nationalism... it depends. If I have the happiness wonders and luxuries to support my pop growth easily, I'll do Sanitation earlier. If I don't (and am perhaps preparing to engage in a little expedition to go get some extra luxuries), I will go for police stations first, and then double back for hospitals.
-Arrian
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minke19104
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exactly how much corruptions do they lower??
Is it the same amount as courthouses?
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minke19104
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Except for Americans. They converted to Monarchy in my game instead. Which is pretty damn funny when you think about it.
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10-03-2003 05:06
But ... but then I would be too fearful of starting a war by trying (and failing) to plant a spy!! 
)
But when I have done so under PTW (generally after the game is "won") it seems to me that I succeed more often than I expect to. Maybe I was just so scarred by the repeated war declarations spy planting would produce under Civ 3 when I (perhaps?) planted spies more often, that my current judgment is out-of-whack.
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