quote:
Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
Counter intel acrues points. If it gets to finished without an enemy intel op, it "fails".
If an enemy intel operation comes in, there's a check done. If your counter-intel project(s) have as many or more points as the enemy project took, they have a chance (maybe 100%, not sure) to block the project. If your counter intel has less built up, the enemy project succeeds with no impact on your project.
Phoenix-D
I agree with the above, I started quite a thread on the subject a while ago, you might find more information in there.
One thing I must add to the above description is that if Counter Intelligence III blocks an attack, that fact alone does not reset the project. I believe, and experiments have borne this out, that for each level of CI you can block one attack, utilizing the calculation described above (i.e. points invested on both sides are evaluated against each other). I have come to this conclusion watching the progress of several different CI projects of the same level. Example:
Three CI III projects launched simultaneously in an intelligence environment where you are frequently subject to attack. Despite the fact that "Divide all points equally between projects" was selected, it is observed that the three projects still advance unevenly. Moreover the discrepancy is not slight; suddenly one project leaps ahead of the others, in the case of CI III, by a third of its' value.
To conclude, CI II and CI III are superior to CI I in two respects. Firstly, their longer duration allows for greater accumulation of intel points contributing to their ability to block the more serious attacks. Secondly, for each level you have attained in CI you can block one additional project, assuming there is room in the project to do so (meaning that if a project is nearly completed so that, in the case of CI III, advancing it by 1/3 will complete it, then the next turn it will be completed.)
Assuming that I have properly understood CI, I must say it is a very elegant mechanism.