Minion Missions

Evil Genius  

In this game, you can send minions to perform a variety of tasks such as gathering intel on a specific region, looting (the only source of revenue in the game), or performing specific missions, either to progress the story, or to gain items for your Evil lair. The probability of success is determined by both the number of minions sent, as well as the quality of the specific types - Offensive classes (such as martial artists, marksmen, mercenaries and guards) decrease the likelihood of any one minion dying on mission; Researcher classes reduce the time taken for the mission and gather the most money per minute; Public Relations classes reduce the heat generated by such activities. Your own henchmen are all-rounders but perform like the soldier classes when performing missions.
 

The Godfather II   

Throughout the game, you can add henchmen to your family and buy guards for each of your respective establishments in order to defend your property from rival AI factions' firebombing/recapturing rackets. You can send specific members of your family to reinforce areas under threat, increasing the odds of success. These family members can be upgraded in an RPG-like manner, with the weapons and armor they possess directly influencing their ability to defend.