longest lasting alliance

[TvFootball]

What was your longest lasting alliance ever in EB? Mine was playing as Koinon Hellenon and the alliance was with the Epieros. It lasted all the way to 215 B.C. and then I stopped playing. And I managed to keep that alliance with them even though I shared a border with the most of the game.

[huth]

Did you paying them a tribute? And was that on VH difficulty?

[Ibrahim]

my longest lasting alliance stretched ~ 200 years, playing as AS, I was allied with the Romans. we go way back

it helped that while we did share borders in Europe, we all wanted Carthage dead, and even when the Romans signed a peace treaty with them, they still happily traded with us.

[stratigos vasilios]

I've had a 100 year alliance with AS as Rome... Touché Ibrahim...

But we didn't share borders and war eventually broke out for control over the Aegean.

[Saldunz]

204-122 BC as the Getai with the Sweboz with shared borders on VH/VH, but I believe we've been allies long before that too. Don't have the saved game to prove that though.

[Jebivjetar]

Playing as Carthage on VH (not battle difficulty, the other one) i was allied with Lusos for about 100 years. They backstabbed me. They're treated by my elephants at the moment we're speaking

[d'Arthez]

In all my games, Getai never broke an alliance, or declared war. Whether I was playing as SPQR, Makedonia, Epeiros, or even Arverni.

[Arjos]

Had an Epeiros alliance for 100 years or so, but the one I was most impressed was as the KH, after taking over almost all the Pontos provinces, they became allies (I paid some "war reparations" and a tribute)...
This went on for more than 50 years, and they took over quite some land of the Seleukoi, it bought me a lot of time :P
Obviously they backstabbed me and were duly punished :D

[Ca Putt]

With KH they (the Getai) once kept up the alliance until around 150, at least that's what I remember, It's been a while.

Well that's the longest I had while shareing border with them for some time ;) I think I was allied with Baktria even longer

[Blxz]

About the same as everyone else, my current averni-galatian dual game has an alliance with Pontus that has gone for a couple of hundred turns, probably a bit short of the 100 year mark but at 1000mnai a turn I expect them to hold the bargain for a while longer.

[Shadowwalker]

In my latest Romani campaign (Bi.exe) I am allied with the Getai from turn 5 or 6 all the time to about 125 BC. Pay a small tribute (400 mnai) each turn and when I conquered Olbia I gifted it to them to have a buffer from the surprisingly strong Sauromatae.
As I slowly am nearing the end of the campaign (part of Asia Minor and Syria still to go, as well as the raiding targets in Arabia and the British Isles) I become slightly concerned about what to do.
Sort of a dilemma here - I have the house rule (it's not the only one though ;) ) never to attack a faction first but to wait until they attack me.
Worked with all factions so far.
I guess I will just leave my border provinces (Naissos, Ak-Ink, Kallatis) undefended when the Getai provinces are the only ones I lack for winning and see what happens.

[TvFootball]

Yes huth that was on very hard campaign difficulty and I paid them about 500 mnai a turn

[huth]

OK, I just need to know how to maintain peace with Pontos in my campaing... :P

[JeffVader]

With the Parthians I had an alliance with the Hai, which lastet until the end, i.e. until i had to attack them to reach the VC's...that was around 170BC and we shared a border for nearly all the game...i really regretted that

[Tarkus]

55 years into a Baktrian campaign (H/M) and I have maintained alliances with the Saka and the Pahlavans since the dawn of (game)time. We're united by our mutual love of the East and our hatred of all things Seleukid.

The Seleukids and Pahlavans have been epically locked at each other's throats for decades now. This, and the frequent financial bones I throw to both Saka and Pahlava, have kept me free to focus on building my economy and laying waste to the Grey Death. But the time for me turn my back on these allies is drawing nigh...victory conditions are calling to me...

[Unintended BM]

In all my games, Getai never broke an alliance, or declared war. Whether I was playing as SPQR, Makedonia, Epeiros, or even Arverni.

This.

[Blxz]

OK, I just need to know how to maintain peace with Pontos in my campaing... :P

Easy enough, be nice and pay them some money every turn using the tribute function. I usually like a decent amount of money as I usually roll in the stuff and a boost for my allies is always nice.

Secondly, don't get in their way. If you see them going for a town don't jump in and take it. Don't completely surround them and I have found that as long as they border another non-eleuthouoi faction they tend to be more passive towards me if we are allied and tribute giving.

Thirdly, difficulty settings. I will play on medium campaign difficulty normally as the diplomatic AI is more reasonable. Easy also works but unless you want to seriously hamstring yourself with house-rules and very slow careful, 'justified' expansion you will reach critical mass by about 10 provinces and just steamroll the rest of the game.

Finally, I have a theory which I can't test and is probably all in my head anyway. But, in M2TW the diplomacy screen had a measure if you were trustworthy or scum or whatever. I suspect that this thinking may also be built into RTW but that the player cannot see it. I think that rapid expansion and/or extermination and enslavement of towns may increase a certain 'hate factor' of the AI towards you. In all my slow careful games I almost never get attacked while in blitz games I get swamped by everyone. Who knows, could be pure chance.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Another tip: If you can, try and break any alliances your ally has with factions other than yourself.

This can be done by:

Faction A, your friend and ally, is allied with Faction B.
Get an alliance with Faction B yourself, by good (or Force) diplomacy.
Then attack Faction B yourself. Faction A will be impressed by your powerful act of aggression and ruthlessness, and the alliance between them and Faction B will be broken. (The AI always seems to side with the attacker.)

Faction A is now more willing to attack Faction B itself, since it's not allied to them anymore. Also if Faction B attacks you in the future, Faction A will not help them.

[Arjos]

I found forts at borders with decent garrisons to help aswell...
Also one thing it really helped me: before turning them into my allies, I destroyed all the stacks near my territory; so the armies left simply went to attack another faction that was closer to them :P

[Cute Wolf]

in real "actual" things, I often (yes, often) manage to kept KH - Baktria alliance all the way of the campaign, no matter what since 272 BC (they start allied) even until the date hit 50 AD and I conquered all the western map.... just make sure attack everyone first and your allies will side with the attacker (diplomacy exploit in BI, eheh)

by the way, KH and Baktria obviously don't share much border

[NikosMaximilian]

in real "actual" things, I often (yes, often) manage to kept KH - Baktria alliance all the way of the campaign, no matter what since 272 BC (they start allied) even until the date hit 50 AD and I conquered all the western map.... just make sure attack everyone first and your allies will side with the attacker (diplomacy exploit in BI, eheh)

by the way, KH and Baktria obviously don't share much border

Well, if that's the case, then I kept an alliance for over 200 hundred years. I was the Saka and as soon the game started, I sent a diplomat all over the different factions in the map finally reaching the Lusotanan. Alliance and small regular tributes for 50 turns

[Satyros]

Sauromatae ( us ) - Saka , with common border , for 40 years , on alx.exe ( I suspect it has something to do with this )

Satyros

[Atraphoenix]

I found forts at borders with decent garrisons to help aswell...
Also one thing it really helped me: before turning them into my allies, I destroyed all the stacks near my territory; so the armies left simply went to attack another faction that was closer to them :P

Useless against Seleucids but for others it was quite helpful.

[Cute Wolf]

Sauromatae ( us ) - Saka , with common border , for 40 years , on alx.exe ( I suspect it has something to do with this )

Satyros

Alex.exe, and modifying descr_strat with ai_did_not_attack_faction , or script modifications obviously didn't count :P

[Satyros]

Alex.exe, and modifying descr_strat with ai_did_not_attack_faction , or script modifications obviously didn't count :P

Oh

Satyros

[SneakyNinja]

On very hard difficulty i've managed to keep an allience with Phavala as Baktrai right from the start date to around 225 bc currently. I've shared a boarder for pretty much the whole game and haven't paid them any tribute at all



Edit: this was without alexander or barbarian invasion