Alliances... a little help please...

[theguilduser005]

I've read the faq, etc. but I can't find a logical explanation for the following:

I play julli, v. early game, med/med difficulty.

Obviously i'm allianced to the other roman factions. We are all at peace.

1)Brutii forms alliance with Gaul, an enemy of the senate.
2)Senate ask me to attack gaul. I refuse because I'm afraid Brutii will attack me. (am I right to think this way?)

3)Then Gaul sneak-attacks me. All of a sudden all rome factions attacks goal, brutii breaks its gaul alliance. WHY?

Would the game behave differently if those alliance were made with none-roman factions? I really don't understand if Alliances mean that the faction will auto-attack your future, or existing enemy? If not what good are they for?

Cheers,

S.

[breakfastsausages]

As far as I can tell for the ai controlled factions Alliance would really be better described as "temporary non-aggression pact". In 3 full campaigns and 1 short one I have yet to see an ally actually engage in any sort of cooperation with me. The roman factions are somewhat special though, they seem to always support each other.

[FURRY_BOOTS]

i never make alliances, ie,= playing as macadon i had secured trade rights with thrace, exchanged map info, all very civil, we neighboured each other for years with no hostilities from either faction, the greek cities broke their alliance & attacked athens, so i thought it prudent to ally with thrace just for a bit of security & avoid a war on 2 fronts, after 3 turns thrace only go & launch an attack! im like,,, WTF!!! why wait until were allies, & attack, this has happened a few times since & so i never make alliances DEATH DEATH to them all!!!

[The Storyteller]

I've read the faq, etc. but I can't find a logical explanation for the following:

I play julli, v. early game, med/med difficulty.

Obviously i'm allianced to the other roman factions. We are all at peace.

1)Brutii forms alliance with Gaul, an enemy of the senate.
2)Senate ask me to attack gaul. I refuse because I'm afraid Brutii will attack me. (am I right to think this way?)

3)Then Gaul sneak-attacks me. All of a sudden all rome factions attacks goal, brutii breaks its gaul alliance. WHY?

Would the game behave differently if those alliance were made with none-roman factions? I really don't understand if Alliances mean that the faction will auto-attack your future, or existing enemy? If not what good are they for?

Cheers,

S.

1. You can form alliances, even if they're enemies of the Senate, that's not a problem.

2. Senate instructions take precedence over alliances, because the Romans stick together as a block through the early game. So no, the Brutii wouldn't have attacked you... unless the Senate was mad at you. Then they would order the Brutii and Scipii to attack you.

3. The Senate probably hated Gaul because of its aggressive nature. Any mistake on their part would cause war (even if they DIDN'T put a foot wrong, they wanted you to attack them anyway) Thus, when it sneak attacked you, it immediately declared war on it, and ordered the other two Roman factions to do the same. Thus, the Brutii broke their alliance with Gaul.

If the Senate orders you to attack an ally, sure... just send a diplomat over to let them know you're breaking the alliance and nothing should happen.

[theguilduser005]

That's really good to know! Cheers guys!

S.

[Ar7]

What I never do is ally with the faction that borders with me. The AI will always attack you when it sences a weakness e.g. when the player above went to war with Greece, Thrace used the opportunity. So making a country, you border, your ally isn't really useful, it will never last. Instead I make a far away country my ally, so I kind of sandwitch my enemy.

An example from one of my campaigns, playing as the Julii

I had plans on taking the Gauls out ( logical ), but I didn't want the Germans or the British in this, mostly because the British had a full stack in Europe and the Germans had many times tried to attack me ( succesful bribes stopped them ) So I allied with the British and asked them to attack the Germans, they did so, and I had an easy massacre in Gaul.

[Epistolary Richard]

I had an even more gaulling (sic) example:

Playing as the Seleucids I was allied to Armenia and Pontus. Armenia attacked Pontus, I was asked which side I wanted to support. I said "Let's stay with the noble wronged Pontus against the deceitful Armenians."

Next thing I knew, Pontus had marched a stack into my territory and attacked me!

Just one more Middle East peace plan in ruins...