Are counter-espinage spies global?

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    • Are counter-espinage spies global?

      I have a question before I start investing in spies, please.

      Are counter-espinage spies effective globally? ...or are they effective only in the province where they are recruited/hired?

      The guide (it seems to me) implies that they are effective only in one province, and that counter-intelligence spies need to be bought for each province to be protected. I say this because a player has to click on a province (any province) to bring up the recruit/hire option for spies.

      Please clarify counter-espinage hiring, investment and scope of effectiveness.
      But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
      Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
      That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

      - Lord Byron
    • Ryan, just an hour ago I had a Help-Chat moderator tell me that counter-intel spies work globally, throughout all friendly territories, not just in the province where they are recruited...

      This issue needs to be clarified, officially and explictly, in the Guide. And here of course. Please. So that newbies like me can better understand the game.
      But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
      Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
      That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

      - Lord Byron
    • I agree with your reasoning, makes sense to me; it's what I figured when I started studying spies...

      But of course, that forces counter-intel to be reactive and not prophylactic, because to be prophylactic you'd have to guess ahead of time where to invest your counter-intel money, and THAT would be exceedingly costly. It's cheaper to let the enemy conduct sabotage first, to identify where to invest in counter-intel ops.

      Thanks for your comments.
      But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
      Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
      That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

      - Lord Byron
    • UPDATE (a few hours later...)

      Just had another Help-Chat moderator tell me counter-intel applies globally... Then later admitted he himself doesn't use counter-intel spies... I'm not really complaining about that, but it does show that the user guide needs to be updated and clarified.

      Continuing my questions about it all... Once I've recruited a spy to work counter-intel in a given province, how much money should I spend?... and what does the money do? Is the amount subtracted from what the enemy spy is spending? ...or does it just need to be more than he is spending, in order to catch him? ...or what? I need an explanation and example, please.
      But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
      Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
      That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

      - Lord Byron
    • UPDATE, and admission of thick-headishness...

      I was tempted to delete this entire thread when I finally came to understand how counter-intel works... But I'm leaving it up for all the other (slow-like-me) newbies.

      Here's how it works: You can recruit any number of spies per province. Each costs 15k, plus 1k per day. The more counter-intel spies in a province, the more effective your counter-intel ops (duh). And to be clear, the counter-intel applies only to the province(s) in which you recruit and employ spies.

      To explain at least some of my dimwittedness, I was coming from another RTS game (which will remain unnamed) in which spying was simply a matter of out-bidding and out-guessing the opposing player; so, I was stuck in that mentallity, blinded by that assumption.

      HOWEVER, my suggestion that the spy guide be revised and clarified should be considered, for the benefit of future (slow-but-paying) CoW aficionados.

      Cheers, everyone.
      But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
      Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
      That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

      - Lord Byron