Your Two Most Consistent Allies?

[Jacque Schtrapp]

I've found that certain factions make good and reliable allies while others aren't worth half the time it takes to click on "accept". What I'd like is to hear from you about who your two most consistent allies are, those who stick it out with you from excommunication to mongol invasion.

My second best ally has to be Spain. I do not believe I have ever been attacked by the Spanish. It often seems the only three countries they ever war with are the Almohads (right off the bat), the Egyptians (if they finish wiping out the Almos), and the Turks (if the manage to destroy the Egyptians). They also rarely hold it against me if I manage to get excommunicated while exterminating the French. Other than the occasionaly crusade, I've never had a single issue with the Spanish.

By far the Byzantines are my best and most consistent ally. Even when all others have forsaken me, I can still count on the Byzantines maintaining our alliance. They never attack my ships even if I only have one per sea zone, and strangely enough the don't even hold a grudge when I crusade against Constantinople successfully. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Allright, lets hear it

[The Great Dane]

Playing as Dane.
Well I´ve had a lasting peace with Poland and Italy for over 120 years...

In fact - when I think about it - I´ve almost been put to sleep by it.
I guess I have about 300 men guarding a borderline down through Europe while the rest of my troops (10.000 - 15.000) are so long away that I can´t do a thing if the two fractions backstab me
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/shock.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/shock.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/shock.gif
Better get those troops marching for the homeland


THANK YOU FOR ASKING http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/pat.gif

[Foreign Devil]

I'll tell you who's NOT a good ally- the Sicillians. They have attacked me for no apperent reason numerous times.

[Odyssey of War]

playing as the italians, my best allies have been the turks, the egyptians, and the HRE. Sicilians, alhomads, and byzantines always are attacking my ships in the med. Spanish always seem to send crusades after the italians if they are excommunicated.

[Exile]

It depends on which faction I am playing. Though some factions do seem more likely to turn on you at the first opportunity.

The best ally I ever had was the English. I was the HRE and at war with nearly everyone. The French for once had everyone on their side and were giving me and England a tough time of it. Well the Danes and Poles decided to take a piece of the ole HRE for themselves and I had about 5 provs under siege at one time. I had only three effective armies and they were whittled down from fighting off the invaders. Guess who sent their troops over to lift the siege in Friesland one turn before it was lost? The English I've had a soft spot for them ever since - so from then on I kill the English last http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I'd say my two most consistant allies are the English and the Hungarians - the Hungarians never helped me, but I remember times playing the Byz and Poles where they had large armies on my borders and could have taken the provs, but didn't. They dont seem to initiate many wars.

[solypsist]

I often have good allies in the Novgorod, Italians, and English. Like so many others, I find the Sicilians are terrible allies, with the Germans almost as unreliable.

[Basileus]

Hungurians Byz and Novgrod are good allies, worst allies Sicillians Polen if your HRE hehe and Turks

[Leet Eriksson]

English and Byzantines.End Story.

[Knight_Yellow]

yip the english and byz

[LadyAnn]

You overlook the Pope
The Pope is always a very predictable ally, that makes him very good ally.

Which only ally give you money from time to time? The Pope.
Which ally always accept your alliance proposal without hesitation? The Pope.
Which ally saction your crusade, in effect give you good troops? (cost of crusade 1000 Fl, cost to bribe the Pope, 0 - 2000 Fl. a bunch of knights and order foot in early era: priceless). The Pope.
Which ally never attack you even if you leave only a small force to hold Tuscany? The Pope.
The Pope excommunicate you, but usually it's through your action. And which ally would pardon your action so fast, simply having you dead or having him dead?

Way to go, Papa

Annie

[mav3434]

I don't know about you but I've had some mean popes playing as the Italians who attack me without provocation. I was probably too powerful and it was time for AI gangup wars, but still man, I was a good little cathedral builder who only whacked the excommunicated and rebels, it was so uncalled for.

[Alrowan]

well any non-catholic ally is my most loyal.. the catholic ones all have a way of backstabbing. Turks i have found to be the most loyal

[LordKhaine]

Byzantine are stable, but it really depends upon who you are.

The French and the Sicilians however, are always backstabbing bastards http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[MizuKokami]

all my allies have been my best, as none of them ever attack me til i own the provinces next to them. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

i would like to add that the danish allways accepted my marriage proposals, as well as the byzantines.

[Psyco]

Me and Myself
i dont trust noone and they shouldn't trust me (i kill anyone close by)

[Dijeeh]

I usualy play Spain, and ally with France and often with HRE too.

They help by crusading through my lands and removing Almohad armies on my borders on their way down to Egypt

[solypsist]

I never heard of having allied crusades pass through my territories as "help"

[Gaius Julius]

I'm playing the Biz., early.
I'd have to say my best allies: English, Hungarians.
My worst allies: Spanish- always attacking me, messing up my trade routes. Takes forever to get a peace treaty, costs me lots of florins. Sicilians, always spying, sending assassins. The Papacy, a real pain in the a$$. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Cooperman]

I never trust an ally, they have all stabbed me in the back if I ever leave a softly defended border. For me alliances are a temporary period while I rebuild armies in preparation for the next onslaught.

[eXoMagus]

I think different factions tend to be more at ease diplomatically depending on which faction you're using. When I'm using the Turkish, the faction that pisses me off the most is the Aragonese, those damn bastards keep on sending crusades against me every once in a while, as if it's a hobby or somethin

[Asmodeus]

I've found Spain and England to be pretty trustworthy (playing as Danes) - but the Sicillians are just thieving treacherous thugs and it is my duty to anhilialate them.

[Mr Frost]

I often find the Pope a lousy ally As France this time he attacked my fleet without reason {and lost then was eager to accept my cease fire given the armies I could hit him with} and despite all the churches have yet to see a brass razoo and if he gets a few extra provinces he does start to act cockey and get greedy for other peoples provinces {in the 1092 Venice Variant Mod , the Pope often gets most of Italy and expands from there unless I am playing a Faction nearby so I snap up Genoa , Milan , Burgundy etc} . It also depends on whom your playing : the general disposition of one faction to another seems coded in . That's why the Pope minds less if you invade the HRE than , say France or Spain .

One thing that tickles me in this game is how factions I have had absolutely nothing to do with throw a stream of assasins at me even though they cannot possibly benefit from this {or rather , would not if it were "real life"} : for example , playing Novgorod and still only ever attacked "rebel" provinces as I want to secure the steppes and build up before I get into any actual wars and first someone whacks my emisary ; "Ok , that was probebly Poland" I thinks to self , understandable as we both need the same territory , but then I start catching Alamohad assasins {among others} Lots of them , yet when I pass my Princess over each province to see on the little rolls-out-to-tell-who-owns-this-province-parchment-thingy who owns what the Alamohads havn't expanded one little bit . They still have Spain in their face and Egypt thinking how they would like those gold mines etc for themselves and they spend time and money to build assasins which they then waste halfway around the world for no apparant gain http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

Anoying or hilarious depending on my mood {usually anoying as I like things realistic rather than "gamey"} .
Still http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[einar]

I would like to know what are the rules that guide the AI diplomacy. If you attack every nation in the world, are you attacked more times by the rest of the factions?. Has the factions of MTW a dread average that can increase for declaring wars on your allies or neutral nations?. On the contrary, when you're a relatively good king, the other nations respect you more?. Or all depends of the influence of your king???

[A.Saturnus]

The only trustworthy ally I could call are the Danes because they usually have no border with me, build not enough ships and are annihilated before they could break a treaty.

[Brown Wolf]

I don't know about who is the best ally but possibly the worst faction is the French when you are playing the English, They always attack even if there is a marriage alliance. And they always attack the HRE for some reason.

[Brown Wolf]

Quote[/b] (A.Saturnus @ Jan. 23 2003,08:14)]The only trustworthy ally I could call are the Danes because they usually have no border with me, build not enough ships and are annihilated before they could break a treaty.
Prehaps they are a good ally but if you are the HRE they will try to continually take saxony

[Akka]

The sad part is, I never found a really reliable ally.
They ALL end by attacking you, even if it's completely stupid, even if I'm true to my words, even if I could crush them in half a turn.

Diplomacy is the only real drawback of this game... :-/

[sassbarman]

definitely poland I've played all the faction except spain and the almohad and have never been attacked by the trustworthy poles.

[econ21]

As HRE on early, I can always depend on the Poles and the Hungarians. The French will usually go for me first - but then they won't even ally, so I can't suppose I can't complain. Fairly soon the Danes will try a suicidal attack on Saxony and the Italians also attack. I've been hit awfully hard by the Scilians too, strange to say. The English are usually ok, but their border with HRE is very limited.

As English, I find most allies are dependable largely because I share few borders with them. France and especially Aragorn are treacherous. HRE and Spain usually ok. The Danes will go for you if you take Sweden.

The Byzantines can be a threat to Catholic nations if your crusading in the Holy Lands goes too well - they can jump in like a hyena to try to grab your gains.

I am not sure how much depends on the countries character (which may vary from king to king, apparently) - most probably depends on the geopolitical situation and the countries GA. The French have to take on HRE and/or England to expand. Poland is so weak it would be crazy to hit HRE. The Danes must break out of their one province etc.

[Aleborg]

Well, for me there arent any allie in which i can trust, however they can never trust in me... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
Not played so much whole campaigns (well, about 10-15) coz i usually on the foyer, but normally i like to pick spanish, and thats true that as soon i conquer the whole spain from almohads and start fighting vs french (excomulg) the germans always start a cruzade against me even i havent had any contact with them.
Anyhow, i donth think there is a rule about the way to act of each country, i think it could be random (not sure, but my opinion).
So, my tip is, if i can set any kind of tip, dont trust in anybody http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif

[SirGrotius]

Playing as the Egyptians, I found the Byzantines to be a terrible ally. Not only did they betray me after I had dealt with the Turks single-handedly, but they built up to such an extent around my provinces that it was painfully obvious that they were going to attack me. I was still a bit surprised and annoyed (oh, my trade&#33http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif, but I had prepared, and the Byzantines found their holdings in the Med laced with my spies.

On a positive note, the Alhomads have remained true to my faction since the get-go, and I am almost convinced that this is due to some brotherly love.