Bribe is a unique ability of Spies and The Senator Patriot. It allows a player to permanently "convert" enemy military units into own units. Using the ability costs 1000 
Craft.
A Spy bribes an enemy General.
Only military land units are valid targets, including Generals. Invalid targets include Civilians, Patriots, Scouts, and other Spies. Non-land units (Ships and Aircraft) cannot be bribed.
In general, buildings cannot be bribed. However, if an enemy building is caught in your territory, such as via border expansion or military buildings in the radius of your recently assimilated city, they can be bribed. This also applies to enemy buildings under construction in your territory; you can then choose to complete them or cancel them for a refund of the unused resources.
When a Spy is ordered to bribe an enemy unit, she will approach the target unit and coins will appear around the spy. Most units can be bribed from a distance, but Artillery Weapons require the Spy to stand right next to the target. If the action is successfully completed, the target unit permanently becomes a unit of the Spy's nation. If the action is aborted or the target is killed before the Spy could complete her action, she is refunded 1000 craft.
If a bribed artillery unit is a lower tech level than the currently-unlocked artillery unit of the bribing player, it gets automatically upgraded to the currently-researched unit tech level (for example, an Age V player who currently has Trebuchets researched will receive a Trebuchet if they bribe an enemy Catapult). This applies to unique units (such as Flaming Arrows) as well, although in that case the upgrade will be the same-tech-level unique variant if one exists for the tech level of the bribing nation's researched upgrade (even if the bribing nation can't build the upgraded unique unit!). Bribed artillery weapons of a higher tech level do not get downgraded.
It is possible to convert units even if this exceeds the bribing player's 
Population Limit. Converted units do count against that player's population cap. Similarly, bribed buildings can exceed building limits (such as the limit of 5 farms per City). However, they still count toward that limit.
Bribe's range is increased by the Strategy line of research.
Tactics[]
- Bribed units usually draw enemy fire immediately after converting and often are killed. This makes bribing basically also suitable for distraction while your units can either retreat or find other ways to work around enemies.
- A large number of spies can greatly weaken an enemy army.
- Take spies with your army. Having them bribe enemy units in the heat of battle not only weakens the enemy army and strengthens yours, but also ensures the spies' survivability because the enemy will be focusing on your military units. To counter the enemy from doing this, take a Scout or two with your army to detect the spies and Counterintelligence them.
- Try to bribe units with a higher importance, such as Generals and Artillery Weapons. This can also be used as an defensive action against early enemy raids.
Trivia[]
- From the
Ancient Age to the Enlightenment Age, the Spy will hold up a bag of gold coins as bribe. From the Industrial Age on, she opens a briefcase full of money.
