New Players: A Word on Joining Coalitions

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    • New Players: A Word on Joining Coalitions

      COALITIONS AND YOU

      COALTIONS CAN BE VERY VALUABLE

      A good, strong coalition makes everything easier. Some nations are a powerhouse all on their own. Some players prefer to play it solo most of the time. In the majority of cases, though, on most 64-player and 128-player maps, you're going to want to be a part of an effective coalition at some point. Even if you’re going for a solo win, if you’re playing on a map that allows coalitions, it may often increase your chances for success if you participate in a coalition at prudent points in that game. However,... it’s not always as simple as just joining a coalition and cruising to victory. Below is a little advice for navigating the sometimes complex waters of coalition play.

      GAME DAY 1: PICKING TEAMS IN GYM CLASS

      The beginning of the game is the period of the most frenzied coalition creating, forming, and joining activity. Keep in mind, though, that, more often than not, coalitions don’t make it from beginning to end intact. Players go inactive; countries get defeated; personalities/philosophies sometimes clash; and geographic focuses change. Don’t assume that your fate is decided by the coalition you do or don’t get into on Game Day 1.

      Sometimes, you’ll find yourself in an early position in which you feel like you got “left out in the cold.” Maybe you didn’t get into a coalition to which you applied, but all of your neighboring countries did. Maybe you created a coalition and nobody that you wanted applied to it. This probably happens most often to players showing a lower Rank and players playing nations that don’t start the game inherently strong, Unfortunately, these are the situations in which we sometimes feel the most desperate to get into a strong coalition.

      THE STRONGEST COALITIONS ARE MADE OF STRONG INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS - BE ONE

      So what’s a player in a situation like that to do? It’s easy - play. Just play. The truth is that higher ranking players are not always better players. They’re not always more active players. Larger, stronger nations aren’t always played well either. If you don’t get into a solid coalition right away because some other players made some assumptions about you, just play your nation and set aside being a part of a strong coalition for now. As the Game Days pass, there’s nothing more attractive to a coalition who has lost a member than an active country who has been racking up successes on their own. Once the game gets past the point of close regionality, coalitions looking for new members begin looking at the diplomacy list and the game map to see what available countries have been making some impressive progress. If you’re one of them, you’re going to start getting messages asking you to join some already established coalitions.

      "ANY PORT IN A STORM" IS A BAD PHILOSOPHY

      What you don’t want to do if you fail to get into a strong coalition early in the game is to get desperate and join or create an ineffective group of misfits who don’t really know what they’re doing. A single country doing very well for themselves looks a lot less like a target to a strong coalition than an obviously struggling coalition does. There is not always safety in numbers. Sometimes, once a strong nation or coalition latches onto a weak nation in a weak coalition they don’t let go until the entire coalition is gone. That’s right - being a member of a weak coalition can actually invite strong nations and coalitions to attack you.

      OFFER MUTUAL BENEFIT

      In general, don’t be afraid to play your own game. By that, I mean, try not to be totally reliant on other players and nations for your own success. Being a contributing member of a strong team is not the same as being completely protected by your coalition mates; you want to be the first one. A player who does an impressive job playing their own nation is much more attractive to a strong coalition than a struggling player who is looking for four other players to protect them and keep them in the game.
    • good summary:

      HE STRONGEST COALITIONS ARE MADE OF STRONG INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS - BE ONE ... would say this is most true. like on several small maps wil start a coalition msg a few likely good candidates . they arent even smart enough to message back. I may have started with small country midpack but by day 6 usually #1 .. then everyone and there brother wants to join.

      Im to the point of sick of carrying weak players to a win. So ill just go solo if you arent carrying your weight (tell them we leave on good terms just do anything stupid ;) ) . I dont expect you to be #1 like i may be but dont be 100 vp when i have 800 vp. Im not your sugar daddy to earn a win on your record.

      Also dont do stupid stuff and get in trouble and expect me to rescue you. have current partner that hasnt figured out artillary stacks dont make good landing parties and leads them into a port and they get smashed. Another coalition partner uses Single infs as missiles at cities mutiple times.

      Another rookie move is ..... Lets go on CON and basically start beating your chest because you are in my coalition and basically tell the world our plans..... ahhhh see ya you are fired.

      2nd worst rookie move is try to work out backdoor deals with other coalitions / countries. Leave coalition diplomacy to coalition leader. few games ago had a partner that was giving ROW to countries in another coalition that we were about to battle.....ok double agent man .. you are now fired and moved up target list.

      So advice for new players:
      1. earn your worth
      2. dont cause drama;
      3. Dont take actions that put other members at risk; Listen and follow Coalition strategy
      4. If new listen and learn. advanced strategy and how to use/counter other advanced strategies takes experience. just because you beat 1 country with all inf does not mean you know how to coordinate 5 country coalition against another well organized coalition.
      5. Don't try to steal other coalition territory before someone else can get there. communicate and go hut your own area in coordination with others.
      6. Dont be clingy and afraid to stand on own. Ask for help if you really need it. like really about to be swamp. dont cry wolf everytime 1 unit comes at you.
      "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him "

      aka ...The killer formerly known as BuckeyeChamp
    • PerigeeNil wrote:

      The beginning of the game is the period of the most frenzied coalition creating, forming, and joining activity. Keep in mind, though, that, more often than not, coalitions don’t make it from beginning to end intact. Players go inactive; countries get defeated; personalities/philosophies sometimes clash; and geographic focuses change. Don’t assume that your fate is decided by the coalition you do or don’t get into on Game Day 1.

      Sometimes, you’ll find yourself in an early position in which you feel like you got “left out in the cold.” Maybe you didn’t get into a coalition to which you applied, but all of your neighboring countries did. Maybe you created a coalition and nobody that you wanted applied to it. This probably happens most often to players showing a lower Rank and players playing nations that don’t start the game inherently strong, Unfortunately, these are the situations in which we sometimes feel the most desperate to get into a strong coalition.
      Joining a coalition the first few days isnt really that good of an idea imo; most coalitions just exist for the pretense of "strenght in numbers" tho they dont even have that as everyone is usually to scared to attack any country that might look dangerous; these coalitions fall apart extremly easy or ppl just go inactive :D
      On top of that joining a coalition early on can deprive you of potential expansions
      If you want to keep your peace with some neighbours... just talk to them; but tbh most go inactive early on anyway
      I'd recommend waiting at least until like day 10 so stuff has already sorted itself out a bit
      I am The Baseline for opinions
    • For me, it depends on the situation.

      If I'm the U.S. or Russia, I don't care if I ever get into a coalition. If I'm North Korea, joining up with China on Day 1 gives me one less nation to have to worry about (and maybe even a little support, if the China player is feeling generous) while I defend against incoming attacks from Japan and South Korea.

      If I'm Australia, I probably won't consider it until there are no options left for me besides fighting a 5-man coalition on my own. If I'm Austria, and there's a Germany-France-England-Italy coalition on three sides and a Poland-Romania-Ukraine-Belarus coalition on the other... I probably join one right off the bat rather than having to be the lone country that has to fight them both so that they can delay going to war with each other.
    • Teburu wrote:

      PerigeeNil wrote:

      The beginning of the game is the period of the most frenzied coalition creating, forming, and joining activity. Keep in mind, though, that, more often than not, coalitions don’t make it from beginning to end intact. Players go inactive; countries get defeated; personalities/philosophies sometimes clash; and geographic focuses change. Don’t assume that your fate is decided by the coalition you do or don’t get into on Game Day 1.

      Sometimes, you’ll find yourself in an early position in which you feel like you got “left out in the cold.” Maybe you didn’t get into a coalition to which you applied, but all of your neighboring countries did. Maybe you created a coalition and nobody that you wanted applied to it. This probably happens most often to players showing a lower Rank and players playing nations that don’t start the game inherently strong, Unfortunately, these are the situations in which we sometimes feel the most desperate to get into a strong coalition.
      Joining a coalition the first few days isnt really that good of an idea imo; most coalitions just exist for the pretense of "strenght in numbers" tho they dont even have that as everyone is usually to scared to attack any country that might look dangerous; these coalitions fall apart extremly easy or ppl just go inactive :D On top of that joining a coalition early on can deprive you of potential expansions
      If you want to keep your peace with some neighbours... just talk to them; but tbh most go inactive early on anyway
      I'd recommend waiting at least until like day 10 so stuff has already sorted itself out a bit
      This is true for the most part, but if there’s an actually good coalition early game, sometimes it’s good to just join it while it lasts and stick with it until it falls apart; I tend to wait until people have shown a little bit more of their plans, personalities, and proclivities a few days in so I can decide with more information on the table. Getting peace with some neighbors early though... this can be a game changer, either allowing you to expand smoothly or getting yourself backdoored. Fortunately, an excellent medium exists in a decent defense and a strong offense, providing soft talk and a big stick. Again however, it always depends on the exact situation, just general rules and guidelines. If there’s a time when the action prescribed by doctrine is suboptimal, ignore doctrine and act optimally.
    • I almost never join a coalition until around day 6. I like to see how they are shaking out, and if no good coalition is avalable at that point I create my own. Usually, I just extend bids to the most powerful active players after I check out everybody's stats. (doesn't tell the whole story, but gives some valuable info) One of the dumbest things people do in forming coalitions in general* is form them with countries right next to them. The best coalition partners have 2-3 countries in between them** so you can work towards each other, then reverse and expand outward in different directions.

      *- not dumb if you are a little 3 city country

      **- exception, a strong country far away is always to be preferred over this
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