Quote Originally Posted by ToranagaSama
This is a bug. There is an old thread on this dated around the first weeks of RTW. I've had this happen to me as well. Now was this fixed by the Patch? I don't remember. Check the readme for the Patch. You've applied the patch haven't you?



I've only done the open the gate thing once some time ago. More spies won't help, and, if I recall, I think the gates will open summarily upon dropping the spy.

Like you, I'm a bit confused as to gates and spies. If the gates don't open immediately, I have no clue why not or how to get the spy to try. I've seen the same message and just wondered.

With the rules I play with, using spies to open gates is a no no, so I've never tried to find out. Sorry.

Luck!
I'm pretty sure it goes by whichever spy has the most subterfuge. If one has 6 and the other has 3 it will go bye the one with 6. When you attack a settlement with a spy in it the game automatically has the spy try to get them open. I'm not completely sure but I think if you siege a settlement and the spy fails to open them you could break the siege and try again. It's not worth the trouble though because you can take the settlement in 2 turns without the spy. If the spy successfully opens the gate you won't have to wait that extra turn to built battering rams/siege towers/etc. I also use spies to see how strong an army or settlement is. I can figure out if my army is strong enough to take it or not. Even endgame though, it's nice to have a spy in the settlements you are going to take. With the gates already open you can focus your siege weapons on the defenders inside and soften them up a little before going in.