Coalition and Military Alliance are diplomatic options in Total War: Three Kingdoms. Coalition is a new diplomacy mechanics introduced in Three Kingdoms.
Coalitions and alliances are military agreements between factions. Two factions may initially form one, and further factions may be invited, or can apply to join. Being part of such a power bloc can bring great benefits, such as shared defence, but some relationship management is also required with allied factions.[1]
Overview[]
Coalition voting secession after player being declared war
Both Coalitions and Military Alliances share many common features, however they offer different levels of choice, control and commitment. Major benefits are increased diplomatic standing with other members, and decision by consensus. Any major action which affects the alliance – such as taking it as a whole to war with another alliance, or inviting another faction to join for example – requires a vote. Player will see this represented onscreen as a yes/no prediction for how each member Warlord is likely to vote, and naturally a majority is always required for success.
In Three Kingdoms, the game approaches alliances with the intention of making power-groups more easily identifiable and more elegant to achieve on a technical front. In previous games, joining an alliance required individual treaties between individual factions – so an alliance of 3 factions would require 3 individual treaties. Now when a faction joins a coalition or military alliance, either through application or invitation, they become part of the allied group and automatically become allied with every member in the group.
In the diplomacy screen, player can then group the diplomatic faction list by alliances, so player can easily see who's in a coalition or military alliance with who. Plus, when alliances are formed, they are assigned a suitably lofty title, such as the 'Sacrificial Tree Alliance', or 'Thundering Sky Coalition'.
Coalition vs. Alliance[]
A coalition is the looser form of the two arrangements, and less binding in nature. Coalitions are easy to sign up to early in the campaign – player only need a moderate diplomatic standing with another faction to form one – and they're fairly ephemeral. While player is in a coalition, the diplomatic standing with all members improves, and any factions player faction is at war with will lose diplomatic standing with all coalition buddies. Over time, this can help to create more like-minded factions, in terms of their attitudes towards the world around them. However, coalition members have no major contractual duty towards one another. There are no specific terms of mutual defence for example – if a faction declares war on a faction that is a member of a coalition, they declare war only on the faction. But, by the mere fact that diplomatic standing can be improved over time with other coalition members, it becomes much easier to ask military support with those individual member-factions in the event when the player is attacked.
This is where military alliances differ. If a faction declares war on a member of a military alliance, he can treat it as a private war and duke it out as normal, or he can call on all alliance members to join the war. And crucially, they are duty-bound to join. It's not an option for them; it's basically part of the EULA for joining a military alliance, and the thing that makes a military alliance a far more binding form of commitment than a coalition. A military alliance essentially grants player a cast-iron guarantee of group defence in times of war. This makes the cost-to-entry that much higher as well. Player needs to be of Marquis rank or better to sign a military alliance with another faction, and player needs a considerably higher diplomatic standing than what would need to sign a coalition. After an alliance is formed however, factions of any rank may request to join, or be invited to join by a member-faction, which then goes to a vote.
Forming[]
- Main article: Diplomacy (Total War: Three Kingdoms)
Coalition[]
A coalition is a non-binding form of alliance, as there is no obligation of mutual defence. This leaves coalition members free to conduct private wars with no commitment required from the others, though a member can of course negotiate military aid with a fellow coalition member in the normal manner.
Player warlord’s faction rank must be second marquis or better to form a coalition, and player do not need a very high diplomatic standing with another warlord to form one. Members gain a mutual boost to their diplomatic attitudes when joining, and a small attitude improvement over time. A member whose faction rank is marquis or higher may call a vote to transition the coalition into a full military alliance.
The exceptions to this rule are Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. They're both able to sign coalitions and military alliances right from the start of the game.
Military Alliance[]
A military alliance is a binding agreement, as a member can call on fellow members to join them in their wars. This is not put to a vote; all members are contractually obliged to comply. This simple rule makes military alliances considerably more powerful than coalitions, as declaring war on one member potentially means entering a war against them all. Individual members may still choose to conduct private wars without drawing their fellow members in however.
Player's faction rank must be marquis or better to form a military alliance, and player will need a relatively high diplomatic standing with another faction to form one, or transition into one from a coalition. The mutual diplomatic attitude gain for joining a military alliance, and the mutual attitude gain over time, is greater than that of a coalition.
The exceptions to this rule are Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. They're both able to sign coalitions and military alliances right from the start of the game due to their prominent family background.
Benefits and impacts[]
Diplomatic attitudes[]
All parties in a coalition will gain a boost to their diplomatic attitudes towards one another simply by signing the pact. Diplomatic attitudes will also improve between allies over time if player is at war with a common enemy.
Armies and supplies[]
Armies may gather military supplies when stationed in coalition or allied territory, thereby extending the operational reach of armies. Armies can also switch out characters and retinues in allied territory just as they would in owned territory.
Alliances also affect how player would use armies. Armies are now dependent on military supplies to ensure factors such as morale and replenishment remain tip-top, and while being in friendly territory improves supplies, campaigning in enemy territory reduces them. Extrapolated to extremes, this means that striking deep into enemy territory for long periods will erode an army to uselessness over time.
In short, the system places more realistic limits on an army's effective range. Both coalitions and alliances enable player to increase this range, as a fellow-member's territory is treated as friendly for the purposes of gathering military supplies. Coupled with the fact that player will gain campaign line-of-sight over alliance-member territory, alliances therefore create staging opportunities against enemies that lie further afield.
Voting[]
Members of a coalition or alliance who want to execute actions which directly affect their fellow members must submit to a vote. Both coalitions and alliances require an all-parties vote if a faction applies to join, or is invited by an existing member. Members can also call a vote to eject another member. Other actions may or may not require a vote depending on whether the alliance is a coalition or a military alliance; if a vote is required, it will be noted in the diplomacy option.
Voting can have an impact on diplomatic attitudes between members. If a member proposes an action, the result of the subsequent vote affects the attitudes of the voters in line with how they voted. If the outcome matches the way they voted, their attitude will improve towards the Warlord who proposed the action. If the vote doesn’t go their way, their attitude will fall. Sometimes it might be worth lending player support to an initiative player might not entirely comfortable with in order to keep the relations with other members strong.
Strategy[]
It's by no means impossible to solo way through in Total War: Three Kingdoms, and indeed the player ultimately need to stand alone when ascended to the lofty status of Emperor. But to ignore the benefits of coalitions and alliances would be a failure to exploit the leg-up they can give the player in terms of inter-factional relations, group defence, and crucially, in combating other powerful, multi-factional alliances which inevitably rise as the campaign progresses. The AI isn't shy about signing coalitions and military alliances of its own, and player will see major power-blocks forming as other faction's goals and interests align.[2] [3]