[Deathblob]

The order of assassination/casting is irrelevant. The point is, your enemy knows every single turn where the Harvester is, when the Harvester is in your enemy's lands.

Non-reaper assassins are fairly easy (if time-consuming) to counter as it is, but at least the only turn your enemy knows where it is, is when it actually assassinates. So if a Mind Hunt following an assassination attempt fails, your enemy wonders, is it still in the province? Or did it wander off? You can't "lay low" with a Harvester.

If you sneak your Harvester onto an army (and if you've got conj-7, he'll have mage support), the next turn:
- your enemy gets the "disease" message
- he gives patrol orders, and Mind Hunt if he is capable
- you give assassinate orders
The next next turn:
- maybe you get killed by mind hunt
- maybe you kill a commander
- the mage-supported army kills you

If you sneak your Harvester onto a forge/research center, the next turn:
- your enemy gets the "disease" message
- he gives his mages some gems & scripts them, and casts Mind Hunt if he is capable
- you give assassinate orders
The next next turn:
- maybe you get killed by mind hunt
- maybe you kill a mage, or maybe you get killed by elementals/sprites/skellyspam