How do you deal with spies?

Can't beat the AI? Is it too tame? Discuss the best strategies!
Post Reply
Hans Lemurson
Veteran
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:25 pm

How do you deal with spies?

Post by Hans Lemurson »

In my current game, British and Austrian spies are wandering around my territory blocking railroad tracks and bribing units. They bribed a unit in a fort that was guarding my main rail line and now that's British territory and I can't think how to fix that.

Both nations are at peace with me, and I have no desire for war with Britain any time soon. Surely there must be some way to expel these foreign spies from my borders. I only forsee this problem growing worse with time, and I don't fancy declaring war on the entire world just to keep their spies out.

I am playing Version 2.5.10. Has the behavior relative to spies changed in newer versions? I may have to upgrade.
Wishes he could convert Civ2's scenarios to FreeCiv...
But instead, he made his own tileset variants, RoundSquare and Sextant-enHANSed, and refuses to play on anything else. Check them out!
drgerg
Veteran
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2015 4:05 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by drgerg »

once i defended with spies! i was playing the Europe scenario and expanded out of central Europe to Greece. I had built a railroad along the Adriatic Sea to feed my expansion along the Black Sea. Like you, I had pesky units (caravans) from other countries sitting on my railroad. So I built spies and positioned then on each tile of my railroad. My units could pass through easily and their units had to hike in the mountains next to my railroad.

in the future, position a spy in each fortress along with your defender, one set of rules I have read says that if more than one unit is on the square, none of the units can be bribed. Also, if you are a democracy, your units can't bribed.

Also to the unit that was bribed, bribe them back. It's doubtful it will start a war. It could if you are at peace with that country, but they distrust you.
Hans Lemurson
Veteran
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by Hans Lemurson »

I'm playing Portugal on the Europe 1900 map, and my military operations against Spain leave me with few spare resources for such extravagances. Also Britain is a Democracy, so I can't bribe my units back. Not that I have the spare funds to, in any case.

I knew in the back of my mind that I should have doubled-up my Fortress Guards, but Spain didn't have the funds to Bribe me, and I never considered that a spy from a neutral nation would just wander around causing such pointless havoc.

But more to the point, I'm not asking "How could I have prevented this?", I'm asking "How do I fix this?"
Wishes he could convert Civ2's scenarios to FreeCiv...
But instead, he made his own tileset variants, RoundSquare and Sextant-enHANSed, and refuses to play on anything else. Check them out!
User avatar
Corbeau
Elite
Posts: 1291
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:13 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by Corbeau »

Play with humans where it is clear that bribing your units means war :)
--
* Freeciv LongTurn, a community of one-turn-per-day players and developers
* LongTurn Blog - information nexus with stuff and stuff and stuff
* Longturn Discord server; real-time chatting, discussing, quarrelling, trolling, gaslighting...
Hans Lemurson
Veteran
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by Hans Lemurson »

Humans are greedy scheming and aggressive far beyond any AI, and are scary in how well they understand the power of First Strike and the implications of a Railroad network. Not only that but they aren't instantly ready to play whenever the fancy strikes you, and make these ridiculous demands about wanting to spend more than 5 seconds on their turn.

I tried loading my save in FreeCiv 2.6 (beta3) because I read that interactions with non-combat units were changed and you might be able to expel spies without war. As far as I can tell, there is no change, and I need to make my tileset work properly in 2.6 before I can tolerate playing on an overhead view.
Wishes he could convert Civ2's scenarios to FreeCiv...
But instead, he made his own tileset variants, RoundSquare and Sextant-enHANSed, and refuses to play on anything else. Check them out!
User avatar
Corbeau
Elite
Posts: 1291
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:13 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by Corbeau »

Hans Lemurson wrote: Not only that but they aren't instantly ready to play whenever the fancy strikes you, and make these ridiculous demands about wanting to spend more than 5 seconds on their turn.
You should try Longturn. It is not only a game, it is also a social event :)
--
* Freeciv LongTurn, a community of one-turn-per-day players and developers
* LongTurn Blog - information nexus with stuff and stuff and stuff
* Longturn Discord server; real-time chatting, discussing, quarrelling, trolling, gaslighting...
XYZ
Elite
Posts: 432
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:00 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by XYZ »

You should try Longturn. It is not only a game, it is also a social event :)
Kirby is right. If you join the team game now you dont have to worry -probably- much about the enemy. Just take an idler spot.
Hans Lemurson
Veteran
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by Hans Lemurson »

I guess I'll just have to double-up my fortress units to protect them against the marauding spies. I've been building fortresses all over the place to protect my wounded Artillery units when they assault the enemy city. I can complete fortresses before the Spanish get their turn to move, but I suspect that this is because they come before me in the turn order and the "End of Turn" processing happens before they get to move again.

If you are Player #1, is it possible to ever build insta-forts?
XYZ wrote:
You should try Longturn. It is not only a game, it is also a social event :)
Kirby is right. If you join the team game now you dont have to worry -probably- much about the enemy. Just take an idler spot.
I may very well try this. Does a team-game consist of more than just "Caravans for the Greater Good"? And what happens if I go on a vacation for a week? I see that the team game is set to start right about now. What would I have to do to join in the fun?
Wishes he could convert Civ2's scenarios to FreeCiv...
But instead, he made his own tileset variants, RoundSquare and Sextant-enHANSed, and refuses to play on anything else. Check them out!
User avatar
Corbeau
Elite
Posts: 1291
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:13 pm

Re: How do you deal with spies?

Post by Corbeau »

Contact Wieder on Longturn forum or Discord and wait for someone to go idle, which is usually likely to happen in the first week.
--
* Freeciv LongTurn, a community of one-turn-per-day players and developers
* LongTurn Blog - information nexus with stuff and stuff and stuff
* Longturn Discord server; real-time chatting, discussing, quarrelling, trolling, gaslighting...
Post Reply