How to defend against assasins

[twopoolesinapod]

So I am on MTW, the Viking Campaign, easy, I'm using the picts and they assassinate one or two of my generals per turn. How do I defend against this?

[drone]

The easy way is to build Border Forts in your provinces. They add to province happiness, and have a pretty good chance of catching enemy assassins and spies that pass through. The more involved way is to recruit your own spies and position them in your provinces. This will also raise happiness and catch enemy spies/assassins, but spies will gain valour when catching agents. More valour means better chances of catching agents, more happiness, and better chances for other spy abilities.

[Age]

Spies hare good to have when ever you get the word disloyal generals.What you want to do is over a spy over you armies and those in forts.then end turn and you will see who was disloyal and executed.

[Gilrandir]

Do you use one spy over one army in one turn or you can do it to all armies in the province?

[Age]

I use one spy over one army then another over another same foes for a fort.

[macsen rufus]

The easy way is to build Border Forts in your provinces. They add to province happiness, and have a pretty good chance of catching enemy assassins and spies that pass through. The more involved way is to recruit your own spies and position them in your provinces. This will also raise happiness and catch enemy spies/assassins, but spies will gain valour when catching agents. More valour means better chances of catching agents, more happiness, and better chances for other spy abilities.

Yes, this.

I never use border forts - spies valour up and can be used elsewhere. You'll always find one of your provinces that enemy agents love to pass through, use this to train some super spies or assassins.

[Gilrandir]

Yes, this.

I never use border forts - spies valour up and can be used elsewhere. You'll always find one of your provinces that enemy agents love to pass through, use this to train some super spies or assassins.

Spies aren't that fast to obtain at the initial stage of the campaign. And there are other needs to spend your money on at the outset. So in my game spies appear after 50 or 70 years of campaigning. In view of this I have border forts in my provinces until I get spies.

[macsen rufus]

Spies aren't that fast to obtain at the initial stage of the campaign. And there are other needs to spend your money on at the outset. So in my game spies appear after 50 or 70 years of campaigning. In view of this I have border forts in my provinces until I get spies.

In the earlier years, I use assassins for counter-spying, they work too, and you can get them just as early as the other factions, hence no need for the border forts :bow: Once the spies come on line, the assassins are trained up a bit and can go on other missions...

[caravel]

Since MTW v1.x an old "bug" with shinobi present in STW was partially fixed. In STW their "happiness" effect was cumulative, in MTW they removed that and only the highest valour spy has effect. However, all spies still valour up when the highest valour spy triggers a revolt in a rival faction province (still considered a bug). This is quite a useful (read: very cheap and dirty) way of valouring up your spies quickly.

Spies can also be trained very effectively by orchestrating treason plots. This should get you some valour 5 spies in time. Especially if you break up stacks of the disloyal generals into individuals and hold multiple treason plots per turn using all available spies.

But as with your assassins, you really have to micromanage spies and call off their missions as required. If you send them off revealing some enemy general's vices, they may follow him, on a wild goose chase, through a border forted province and turn up dead. (Bad if it's some 5 valour spy you've been developing over time.)

The treason plots also helps in ridding yourself of disloyal generals (including the assorted perverts and cowards).

I also second macsen rufus' advice of not building the border forts. In particular you won't train your spies effectively if they're in a border fort province and it is doing all the "catching". Similarly, your lower valour spies won't do much if your 5 star is sat there doing most of the work. They probably need to earn their keep in lower value provinces, (protecting lower value targets).

However, while it may be tempting to remove the border forts (by modding the game), the AI factions do rely on them as they cannot effectively micromanage agent development and tend to assassinate/try their own best generals, etc.

Ideally, you'd need at least one decent valour spy in each province, with possibly a few extras protecting higher value generals/royals (although I've not any seen evidence that multiple spies all try to catch an intruder in a "queue" - I believe it's just down to the highest valour spy). Rival agents should have to get through multiple provinces where at least one spy is posted, with better valour spies also posted in port provinces and at choke points.

You may also want one of the higher valour spies posted to provinces which are inherently rebellious (though this could still be a waste of a good spy if there are other means of keeping that province happy).

[dimitrios the samian]

Caravel...
this is great information , thank you .
It will definately change the way i play re: border forts .
good too see you back .