[DirectorTsaarx]

To expand on Triumvir's answer:

The points you spend on counter-intelligence _each_ _turn_ are applied against incoming intelligence operations (with a bonus, too, if I read the settings file correctly).

I (and a few others) think that as soon as you've spent enough points to counter a specific intel op, your counter-intelligence operation ends and you get a message saying it succeeded. One piece of evidence for this is that frequently counter-intel projects will end sooner than they're supposed to; for instance, I'm running 2 of each level of counter-intel operations, spending about 9k points on each one. Obviously, it should take 15 to 25 turns to complete each of the various projects. However, I finish projects about every three to five turns. And every time the projects end, I get Messages about defeating intelligence operations (although I'm not stopping all of them yet... I've recently increased the number of level 2 and level 3 counter-intel projects, and deleted my level 1 counter-intel projects because they never stopped anything (and no level 1 op succeeded either, so I think the AI just isn't using them against me)).

Anyway, I think that if you "finish" a counter-intel project normally (i.e., spend the full amount the operation costs) and there are no intel operations of that level being used on you, the counter-intel operation "fails" (i.e., there's nothing to counter, so the op fails).

--EDIT-- Just checked the Q&A section on the MM site; they've confirmed the above (an op fails if you "complete" the project, but nothing at that intel level is being used against you).

I assume an operation will also fail if an opponent finishes an operation before you can build up enough points to counter it.

[This message has been edited by DirectorTsaarx (edited 13 February 2001).]