I liked Nemesis a lot, but I think I was not alone in being disappointed by how narrow the Espionage Operations were. Things that I felt that it lacked included things like:
-Assassination Options
-Meaningful Sabotage Options for Stations, Fleets, and Planets
-Options to effect Happiness, Crime, or Faction Approval
-The ability to actively defend against Espionage
But even if these were all just added into the game, that wouldn't really improve the system all that much because Operations take a long time to activate. Shortening that time would likely make Espionage a little too powerful, but this is where I think I have a better idea.
My suggestion is this: In addition to adding things like Assassination, Sabotage to Fleets, and Sabotage to Planetary Defenses, the Sleeper Cell Operation should be changed to work with other Operations so that they can be saved and used on command.
(For some reason, I can't make the text under this not be Bold...? I am so confused, apparently I have been defeated by a text editor. Probably a spy from somewhere sabotaging me...)
So for example, if I planned to go to war against a specific Empire, but they had a more powerful Fleet than me, I could complete an Operation that would create a Sleeper Cell that would be ready to Assassinate their Admiral when our Fleets engage each other. Or maybe Sabotage the Fleets shields. Or maybe I could set up multiple Sleeper Cells to agitate riots on multiple planets and activate them all at once to throw an Empire into chaos.
But how would someone defend against this? Envoys are valuable, and having to use them for Diplomacy, Offensive Espionage, and Defensive Espionage is kind of too much. But, at the same time, Generals are kind of underutilized and Counterespionage fits into their purview quite well. Generals could be assigned to Sectors or maybe to the Empire as a whole to increase the difficulty of operations and give a chance to uncover Sleeper Cells and (Possibly) Assets.
The reason I say "possibly" Assets is because I think the way Envoys perform Espionage should be changed. I do not think that Envoys should be responsible for increasing Intel Levels. Rather, I think "Acquire Asset" should require 0 intel, but only be able to be performed when an Envoy is assigned or an Asset is present, and Assets should be recruited to both increase Intel Levels and Maximum Intel Levels.
There could be all sorts of Events, maybe ones that create Double Agents in Sleeper Cells that turn the tables on the other party or cat and mouse Events where opposing Generals try to catch your Assets and you need to weigh the risks and rewards of expending resources to keep them. Or perhaps an Asset tries to shake you down for bribes and threatens to expose other Assets if you don't pay up.
There are all kinds of fun you could have with this!
-Assassination Options
-Meaningful Sabotage Options for Stations, Fleets, and Planets
-Options to effect Happiness, Crime, or Faction Approval
-The ability to actively defend against Espionage
But even if these were all just added into the game, that wouldn't really improve the system all that much because Operations take a long time to activate. Shortening that time would likely make Espionage a little too powerful, but this is where I think I have a better idea.
My suggestion is this: In addition to adding things like Assassination, Sabotage to Fleets, and Sabotage to Planetary Defenses, the Sleeper Cell Operation should be changed to work with other Operations so that they can be saved and used on command.
(For some reason, I can't make the text under this not be Bold...? I am so confused, apparently I have been defeated by a text editor. Probably a spy from somewhere sabotaging me...)
So for example, if I planned to go to war against a specific Empire, but they had a more powerful Fleet than me, I could complete an Operation that would create a Sleeper Cell that would be ready to Assassinate their Admiral when our Fleets engage each other. Or maybe Sabotage the Fleets shields. Or maybe I could set up multiple Sleeper Cells to agitate riots on multiple planets and activate them all at once to throw an Empire into chaos.
But how would someone defend against this? Envoys are valuable, and having to use them for Diplomacy, Offensive Espionage, and Defensive Espionage is kind of too much. But, at the same time, Generals are kind of underutilized and Counterespionage fits into their purview quite well. Generals could be assigned to Sectors or maybe to the Empire as a whole to increase the difficulty of operations and give a chance to uncover Sleeper Cells and (Possibly) Assets.
The reason I say "possibly" Assets is because I think the way Envoys perform Espionage should be changed. I do not think that Envoys should be responsible for increasing Intel Levels. Rather, I think "Acquire Asset" should require 0 intel, but only be able to be performed when an Envoy is assigned or an Asset is present, and Assets should be recruited to both increase Intel Levels and Maximum Intel Levels.
There could be all sorts of Events, maybe ones that create Double Agents in Sleeper Cells that turn the tables on the other party or cat and mouse Events where opposing Generals try to catch your Assets and you need to weigh the risks and rewards of expending resources to keep them. Or perhaps an Asset tries to shake you down for bribes and threatens to expose other Assets if you don't pay up.
There are all kinds of fun you could have with this!