Espionage

Espionage teams can be assigned to infiltrate enemy colonies. They have to be taken there by a ship before they will go to work.

The Rules

Using the Personnel/Teams sections of the Economics window, you can direct each Espionage team in the currently selected population to conduct operations against a single alien population on the same planet. If you have more than one team they can operate against the same alien Empire or different ones.

A team will generate a number of espionage points equal to its rating each year. If a team is used against a population of a different species, the number of points generated is halved. To avoid a lot of potential complexity, a team's species is based on its commander. If a team is used against a race with which communication has not been established, the number of points generated is reduced by eighty percent. If the target population is less than ten million, the number of points generated is multiplied by (population in millions /10).

When the total espionage point accumulated against an alien race exceeds 100, the total is reduced by 100 and an espionage check is made. A random number is rolled and the check is performed against one of the following areas:

1) Technology: The team attempts to get technical information on an alien background technology. This is handled in the same way as technology found in ruins so for the check to be successful there must be at least one technology possessed by the alien race for which you have the prerequisites but not the actual tech. If there is more than one eligible tech, a random selection is made. If there are no eligible techs, the check fails and you get nothing.

2) Missile: The team attempts to get technical information on an alien missile. If successful, you can build the missile but you can't duplicate the technology in missiles of your own design. If there is more than one alien missile for which you don't already have technical information, a random selection is made. If there are no eligible missiles, the check fails and you get nothing.

3) Gravitational Survey Data: The team attempts to get complete gravitational survey data for a system. Eligible systems are those of which your Empire and the target Empire both have knowledge but only the target Empire has complete survey data. If there is more than one qualifying system, a random selection is made. If there are no qualifying systems, the check fails and you get nothing. If this is successful, any jump points in the system become charted.

4) Geological Survey Data: The team attempts to get complete geological survey data for a system. Eligible systems are those of which your Empire and the target Empire both have knowledge but only the target Empire has flagged the systems as surveyed. A system will be flagged if all system bodies have been surveyed or is an automated survey fleet could not find a target within ten billion kilometers. If there is more than one qualifying system, a random selection is made. If there are no qualifying systems, the check fails and you get nothing. If this is successful you will receive all geological survey data for system bodies within the system that the target Empire has surveyed.

5) New System: The team attempts to get information on new systems. Eligible systems are those of which your Empire is unaware but the target Empire has located. If there is more than one qualifying system, a random selection is made. If there are no qualifying systems, the check fails and you get nothing. If this is successful, you gain knowledge of the system but no survey data.

6) Class Summary: The team attempts to get summary information on an alien ship design. The information provided is the class summary page from the Class Design window. Eligible classes are non-Obsolete designs for which you don't already have the summary information. If there are no eligible classes, the check fails and you get nothing. If you are successful, the summary will be shown for the appropriate class on the tactical intelligence window using a new third tab. If you already have some information on the class due to sensors but don't already have the correct class name, this will be updated and you will be informed about it. If you have no existing information, a new alien class record will be created.

There is a chance an espionage team will be captured or killed. This annual chance of this happening is equal to (150 - Team Skill)/2, with a minimum chance of 10%. If a team is killed, you lose the team but suffer no further penalty. If a team is captured (one third chance), the capturing Empire gains from 1-100 espionage points against your Empire.

Interrogating survivors

In addition to the Espionage Points generated by teams, you can also gain Espionage points by interrogating captured prisoners. For every ten crew you rescue from life pods you get one Espionage Point. Every captured officer will generate a number of Espionage Points equal to his rank cubed. So if the lowest rank is lieutenant commander, he will only be worth 1 Espionage Point (1x1x1). A commander would be worth 8 Espionage points (2x2x2) while a captain would be worth 27 Espionage points and a Commodore 64 (no computer pun intended) Espionage points, etc. With this rule, sending a Vice Admiral (216 EP) into harms way, because he has a high crew training attribute, may not be a great idea. It will also become very worthwhile to rescue your crews to avoid them being captured by the enemy.

Unlike teams, there is no penalty for different species. The penalty with teams is due to the fact they cannot blend in with the target population. With the interrogation of prisoners that is no longer a concern. The 80% penalty for lack of comms still applies.