Spies, how do they work?

[DeletedUser2553]

One more question from a veteran TW1 player/Noob TW2 player, complete with an ICP reference!

How exactly do spies work? Like, I guess I should say in comparison to Scouts. If you send 1 spy to a village that had 1 spy, does your spy die like how your scouts could die in TW1, or is it just a failed mission? And if you send 2 spies and they have 1, do you get limited info like the limited info scouts would bring back if they barely won the battle? And lastly, what if you send 5 to a village that has 1? Are they still aware that you spied but you get a successful report, or is the enemy completely unaware that you spied on them?

The unit description doesn't give these details, and it's nowhere on the Wiki so I couldn't find more details.

I also saw elsewhere that a successful nuke of a village leaves spies untouched and you have to send spies to kill spies? How does that work with nobling a village? If you take it over do those spies just vanish?

 

[DeletedUser2158]

Its based out of luck. You have more chance defending against enemy spies if you have 5 spies defending, but there's still a chance they succeed in spying you.
I dont know the exact maths but ive been told the best way to spy is to send your spy number 3 and 2 to target the buildings ( they have a higher chance of succeeding and killing enemy spies) and spy number 1 to spy units. Always send your spies separately its more effective. Don't use your spy 4 and 5 to spy another player because they are too expensive and arent better than the other ones

3 types of spying:

Skull: When you are spying: You didnt succeed in spying the other player and you got no information
When you are spied: You didnt succeed in defending the spy attack and you get a report on what the enemy saw

Red: When you are spying: You did succeed in spying the other player, but your spy is dead and there's a chance the enemy counter-measures were activated
When you are spied: You didnt succeed in defending the spy attack, but you killed their spy.

Green flag: When you are spying: You did succeed in spying the other player and the other player can't know who spied him
When you are spied: You did succeed in defending the attack and the enemy didnt get any info

When you noble a village you gain control of all the spies in the village. They dont vanish

Hope it helped