Supporting your ally's war effort

[Prince of Judah]

I have several questions and Lord Feloric's ambassador is not allowed to answer! (I'm just kidding :P).
Does giving your ally a large sum of cash count as supporting their war effort? Will an ally attack a faction that is attacking you without a request?
Do allies come to help you in specific battles or just besiege or attack an army of your enemy's that is closest to your ally?

[Scutarii]

The requesting assistance against an enemy function of RTW is bugged. It a) doesn't work at all, the AI won't come help you, and b) if you do offer help and kill a bunch of their enemies, sometimes they'll still refuse your offers of help and tell you stuff about your previous conduct being terrible.

Allies won't help you at all. Period. You're on your own. The only worth of alliances is to keep a faction off your back for a few more turns...

[Toorima]

The only worth of alliances is to keep a faction off your back for a few more turns...

The sad truth. Sometimes, ceasefires or allcances even backfire. If your "friend" is a backstabbing traitor seeking the first opportunity to make some gains, your hands will just be bound by a alliance or ceasefire, rendering preemptive attacks impossible.

Forced to dreadfully expanding and to use horrid violence by stupid AI/Diplomacy options - the fate of a TW Emperor. :hmmm:

[The Mad Monk]

Hello,

I am Lord Feloric's Ambassador's Ambassador.
Please Hold....

We respect your concern and your call is important to us...


...


...


-BEEP-
My Ambassador's Lord wishes that thou accept that AI is Artificial Stupidity. It really sucks(eth?).

Thanketh thou,
Lord Feloric's Ambassador's Ambassador

[Lord Dakier]

The alliance system is as smart as a kid whos never gone to school and spent their life listening to the pokemon theme tune. So basically yes giving them large sums of cash will help them, no they generally do not help you attack an enemy of your only if it is beneficial to them and no they wont really attack cause its your enemy.

Glad you had fun reading dear...

[Toorima]

I'm somewhat curious wether where will be any oppositional argument in this thread later on.

[Junius]

Alliances are great!

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.
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They are super awesome fun if you want to go to war with a faction. Honestly, it's just as good to be in a perpetual state of war against everyone, basically.

[aznflea]

i enjoy alliances against me. but with me i dont. i get seriosly angry and punch the computer screen every time an ally backstabs me. yeah that truly makes me angry.

[Alexander of Makedonia]

i enjoy alliances against me. but with me i dont. i get seriosly angry and punch the computer screen every time an ally backstabs me. yeah that truly makes me angry.

wtf???

Um well i tend to agree with Lord Dakier. Allies won't help unless asked and even then I notice that if move an army into a territory they are attacking then they will simply give up and walk away! (Darn Thracians)

[AqD]

i enjoy alliances against me. but with me i dont. i get seriosly angry and punch the computer screen every time an ally backstabs me. yeah that truly makes me angry.

I would laugh when they backstab me and enter the trap I setup.

If you don't like getting backstabbed, backstab them first!

[The Mad Monk]

Well, technically, I guess...

Follow me on this one.

Technically, If you give money to a faction your helping that faction, correct?
and
If you help a faction, your making it harder for their opponents (that includes you )
But
You don't know how much of that capital injection goes to the war effort or one of those like Thrace builds a navy when its fighting Dacia.

[StalkAndStrike]

In my opinion, the only reason to have "alliances" is so we dont feel like the whollllllleeeeeeeeee game is against us, when in fact they are, and if u come close to the AI they will try to backstab you either way

[Lord Dakier]

Only if you cant control them. I have had alliances with most factions. The Greek States, Armenia and Briton have never broken this. As long as you keep your boarders strong and give a bit of money to them and have trade rights the chance of them attacking will lose all of that inturn they would be in a fair bit of @#!?.

[Toorima]

As long as you keep your boarders strong and give a bit of money to them and have trade rights the chance of them attacking will lose all of that inturn they would be in a fair bit of @#!?.

But that's where calculating starts. Giving money to an unworthy ally that otherwise could be invested into troops supressing exactly this "ally" may not pay off. Especially not, if the ally will attack you never the less, with troops probably sponsored by your denarii.

[Justinian Australis]

I can only think of one instance where an ally's army has come to my aid in a battle and that was only through sheer luck with them actually been in the vicinity. I've only used alliances in initial contacts to buy some time when about I am about to attack

[Lord Dakier]

Well I think the diplomacy thing within the Descr_Strat has something to do with it.

[Scutarii]

That basically just sets starting tendencies and alliances. It changes as the game goes along. You descr_strat might say two factions are allied/friendly with each other at game, start, but chances are they will go to war eventually and change relations...

[Lord Dakier]

Yeah I understand how it changes as it goes along. The AI becomes desperate to get extra resource and money. Sarmaetians for example have very large lands and they usually keep good allies as long as you dont take their lands. I have never properly seen them attack in a campaign.

[Caledonian]

Yes both of those would count as helping the war however you yourself wouldn't gain much from it as that same Ally will probbably turn around and smash you later on using the income from those settlements you helped it get.

As for occasions where i've been aided by an Ally well....
1)In RTW Vanilla i once had a campaign as Germany on VH/M and my empire extended from Britain to Thracia.The Brutti and the Julii recenty attacked and i've always had a difficulty fighting em' off.Backed up against the Rhine and the Danube i thought i was bet but too my suprise the Selucid empire (my Allies) crossed the Aegean and Smashed there way into Greece.A pincer like offensive by us cut the Brutti in half and i was able too concentrate more on the julii.For those who wanna know what happened about 10 years later the Civil war started and me & my selucid allies(Who later got eaten up by the Scipii who for some reason after being booted outta italy by the Julii decided to expand into Selucid eygpt .)Decimate Brutii empire and Dented the Red Army .
2)In RTR Extended Realism Mod ive had quite a few helpful allies

[Njord]

I find allies useful, if only to stop they allying with your enemies. In my most recent campaign, I sent medium sized Woad army into Spain destroying the Spanish armies near the last Carthaginian stronghold, then proceeding to take settlements and offering them as gifts to the Carthaginians (exterminating them first, to get some economy rolling). It revitalized their economy and army as they receive a large stack of free troops when your army is ejected.

Then their presence, combined with the threat of the Julii caused the Gauls to rethink their attacks on my provinces, asking for a ceasefire and paying 5000 denarii for it. xD

It also allowed me to set up a technological advanced forward base in Numidias Tingi to launch attacks on the Scipii in the richer meditarian provinces, allowing me access to Romes lands without having to waddle through tons of useless unrully Gaul and German tribes.