I didn't find all that much use for spies in DA.  Not sure why exactly, but just didn't see it as a useful activity in my games.  I won just fine withou ever training a single spy.

Now that I have the TA beta, I seem to be trainging and using spies constantly.  I can't seem to get them fast enough, as they are incredibly handy.  I am still using much the same strategies, but the game now seems to make it make sense to use them.  Maybe even a necessity with the AI using them so much better.

Just a thank you to the team for the great work on the new expansion.  I love it when a strategy has to be constatly rethought to play the same game.  Excelent work in bringing out more of the game engine's flavor.