Alliances?

[OCDodger]

I generally will never have an alliance or a truce, but I am getting beat occasionally by them. Would you say they are necessary?

[PerkinsRooster]

Not necessary but helpful in some circumstances.

[GrazingCattle]

At times yes.

Most of them are nonverbal- you don't actually type a game chat alliance with terms to it. Diplomacy can be just as important as the numbers on the board. One word spoken at the right time can move millions.

[hendy]

Not necessary but helpful in some circumstances.

yup

[detlef]

I generally will never have an alliance or a truce, but I am getting beat occasionally by them. Would you say they are necessary?

You've played 200 games and are treading water in terms of your rating. Maybe it's time to change up the strategy and not go against the whole board all the time.

Alliances don't need to be about ganging up on someone. I often strike short term cease fires on a specific border to save myself and my opponent from having to waste a ton of troops either taking each others border back and forth or even an arms build up that doesn't allow us the ability to spend those troops elsewhere.

Both players benefit and it's not entirely unsavory or collusion-esque. Simply, "He green, what do you say we leave Greenland v Iceland alone for a while. We can revisit this in round 13. This doesn't mean that we're teammates or that neither of us can attack the other on another border, just a simple and finite pact.

[Iainarm]

I DEFINATELY agree with detlef... WELL SAID, MAN!!!!

[Genghis Khan CA]

Absolutely - I think in most circumstances they should be for a limited period on a certain border - complete alliances change the nature of the game too much and I wouldn't recommend them except in extreme cases, such as one player becoming far too strong.

At the end of the day you want to give yourself a shot at winning the game - alliances are one tool you can use to acheive this aim. I think that in most cases an alliance is merely enforcing what would be a sensible strategy on the part of both players if an alliance did not exist.

Diplomacy is another important skill - if a player is advancing on you with a lot of armies, just ask whether they want to go somewhere, and whether they'd like you to move aside. This can avoid a costly loss of armies on behalf of both parties.

Edit: Detlef put it very well, actually