Civilization II Hints

Diplomats and Spies

• I find that the most enjoyable unit in the game to use is the spy.  Its predecessor, the diplomat, is good for some tasks as well, but just not as much fun since he is removed from the game almost any time you use him.  Make full use of your diplomats and spies; don't waste any time using them once you have access to another civilizations cities.
  
  One of my favorite things to do is to send a spy or diplomat behind enemy lines and bribe their units to fight for me.  The home city for a bribed unit is the closest city to where they were bribed unless that city belongs to a rival.  This is an easy way to get units free of cost.  Pick up a few settlers this way and send them back to safe territory to work out the rest of the game, never charging you any food or shields.
  
  Stealing technologies is also another wonderful feature of these units.  Diplomats are a bit more difficult to use effectively in this manner though because they can only steal one technology from each city and they can never be sent to steal a specific technology and will never return from their mission.  Spies on the other hand can steal a specific technology once from each city, although it does increase the risk of their being captured.  Spies can escape after stealing a technology and can steal from one city as many times as you like but the risk of capture does increase each time you do so.
  
  Another of the useful features of these cloak-and-dagger units is their ability to bribe entire cities into becoming a part of your empire.  If you have the treasury for it, this is well worth doing.  Not only do you save yourself the possible loss of your military units and the time it takes to battle the city's defenses, but you get so much more.  You get an entire city, undamaged, with all its military units and all its improvements intact.  No population is lost.  This city can now thrive as a part of your empire, producing trade and units to serve you.  The cost of bribing a city depends on several factors: the size of the rival's treasury, the city's size, if it is in civil disorder or not, whether your unit is a spy or diplomat, and finally whether or not the city was originally yours.  Do not shy away from this option.  The computer will only bribe your cities at Emperor and Deity levels, so take advantage of this weakness by doing it yourself.
  
  There are a few other uses for spies and diplomats.  You can station them in your cities and they will increase the chance of an enemy spy failing in a mission against those cities.  You can use them as explorers who, although they may not move very quickly, cost nothing to support and are better able to deal with enemy units than explores (by bribing them).  You can also use them as guides to lead your troops through tight zones of control since you can always move onto a square where one of your units already is regardless of ZOC (Zone of Control).  And finally, stacked spies and diplomats cannot be expelled by foreign governments; I'm sure that you can find a couple of creative ways of using this against those with whom you have treaties.
  

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