Guide Nod's Building a Winning Alliance Guide

DeletedUser5554

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Hey guys some of you might know me some of you might not. To those who don't and wondering why you should take your advice from me well let me explain!

I've actually been at Grepolis on and off since Gamma. I started alliance building and leading in Epsilon and got my first 12 on my 3rd attempt in Theta. Since Theta I have yet to have an alliance held out of the top 12 in points, ABP, and Overall fighting. I also co-lead lead the arguably best alliance in Delos currently. My record war stands at 35-2 now and most of my alliances were built from scratch with very few Grepolis experienced players. I hope you guys choose to continue reading and enjoy the read.

1) Making the decision: So you want to take the steps into leading and expect to be successful? Well here's somethings you need to accept right off the bat an alliance leader commits huge chunks of time to making his/her alliance good over their own game progression. It also means listening to your member's needs over your own and understanding you are responsible for everyone under your flag be it just one player or one hundred. Anything less than this level of commitment and time will certainly lead to disaster.


2) Creating The Alliance: So you want to make an alliance on a new world and get a fresh start? Well here's some must dos.

A.Premades: Premades are a huge help you should ALWAYS look to use the Acropolis section of this forum to try to make one before setting out in a world. Why? Because its a stronger membership base before you hit the ground. If you picked up 12 players from the forums then that's 12 players you didn't have before and that's going to make recruiting a little easier once you actually get to the world. But be sure to join in a close area where they can help each other. Make a Skype and organize the time and direction before hand. *Note* if you don't have tons of forum cred then your premade might not go as far but you should still go for it someone is bound to join.

B.Making a statement: Before we get to recruitment its important to make a statement before BP even ends. Make an interesting alliance name and to the point profile. An interesting name will draw eyes and a organized and to the point profile will make those eyes look to you to join in. Do not name your alliance "Spartans" Not 300 Spartans, not Michigan State Spartans, not meet the Spartans. No Spartans or anything like that.

Recruitment: There's two types of recruitment Premade and In game. Know them both because they're both important.

Premades: Remember that if someone is trying to sign up in the forums then they are forum active so check their rep power and title. This sounds silly but if you see a guy/gal ranked as "Chiliarch" and often switching between green, grey, and red then that means not only is that guy forum active he/she is relatively unpopular. That is hurtful right away because if you let him/her join then they could go on the externals and give you a bad name before BP even ends. Lots of people check your worlds externals. Especially initially, so if they see a player making a jack wagon out of themselves then chances are they'll look the player up and see your alliance. Early on that may as well be a death sentence before BP ends. Don't be over cautious some guy in the grey/first green bar with maybe 10-20 posts is always worth trying out. Also remember names don't always mean everything I've joined several alliances where the highly rated popular guys bailed or failed. Its kind of like the NFL draft you might get Andrew Luck or you might get Ryan Leaf (biggest bust known to NFL). Just because someone's forum status is high doesn't mean they're always good in either leading or playing.

In Game: Before we even start have a base line for recruitment set up and always be adjusting it. Remember it's just a baseline think of it as college admissions. Not every college will reject you because a test score is too low or a GPA is missed by a little bit. But you should have one or the other if not both if you're applying right? The same goes for Grepolis if someone started awhile back and hasn't grown and isn't known as a power house leader then don't pick them up. If someone just joined but has a great set of stats under them then maybe they're worth trying out.

However when recruiting players remember to send a message and an invite if you think they are worth it. You may as well copy the message and save it in your note pad. Explain who you are and bb code your name and your alliance name. Explain why you are a good pick and be to the point. Also keep in mind that you may have to get down and dirty to recruit this means poaching. Poaching is A okay if they aren't green. If someone starts a war over poaching what they're really trying to tell you is 1. They are probably bad leaders and 2.They probably have relationship/abandonment issues. But getting back don't expect the members to come to you. You have to go to the members. Actively message them and always be polite and respectful even if they say no.

NEVER USE FEAR OR INTIMIDATION AS A MEANS OF RECRUITING IT WILL KICK YOU IN THE BUTT!

4)Training Your Alliance: You should spent your whole BP and pre-conquest time training inexperienced players for combat and fighting. Face it if you're reading this guide you probably don't have the top play maker in the world in your alliance. But that doesn't mean you can't create some top play makers and have them backed by other play makers. First thing is first grab all the grepowiki guides and commit and entire forum tab to them and other guides. You will have noobs and you need to ensure that they know how to play.

A)Drill Aggression Into Their Heads: One thing you need to get going right from the get go is to drill the need for offense and troops into every players heads. Private message friendly pointers, make sure they have a good set of troops, and be ready for some fights. Once BP comes off its going to be a toss up for some alliances after all its a moment of truth. Its not about if you can hold the strong hold islands it's that one or two man on another alliance's stronghold island you need to be prepared for. Those guys will have to accept they're probably going to the grind and fighting hard in their first few weeks which could set them back but it will create tons of farms if done right and gain you some team credit which is important. By the end of the week you want to be top 12 ABP and everyone in your alliance should have some kind of fighting experience and team work experience.

B) Encourage Active Alliance Forum Use: A alive forum is an alive alliance you should have tabs devoted to general discussion and news, offense, defense, conquests, a hidden council tab, a chat, and a market tab at least. All of these will play a key role in your alliance staying active. You should mass mail encouraging active forum use and keep inventing new ways to keep everyone active in the forum and game. Personally I loved to create mini contests like "bragging rights" which was a contest to see who could get the biggest kills out of bp. This made sure that the alliance was fighting, communicating, and if they made a mistake like attacked with archers or swords I could point it out. It's very useful to use these types of contests. Anyone not taking part in the forums doesn't exactly need to be booted I've had plenty of silent lookers who responded on every siege/revolt.


C) Get on Skype!: Skype will be very important it kicks the living daylights out of the alliance chat and is FREE to use. It allows instant communication and private conversations which will reduce the chance of a forwarded message for sensitive material as some players have no idea how to screen shot. It will also get a player more involved and make him/her feel like they're part of something which means they're more likely to be in it for the long haul.

D)Boot when necessary: Remember sometimes you'll get idiotic or just plain rude members. If you've tried to explain to them what's up and they won't hear it or ignore and continue doing their thing and not the team thing kick them out and let them be some other alliance's problem.

5) Picking Your First Targets: Remember everyone is a target so nobody is safe out of BP. But some tips for finding good targets are looking to the MRA's if an alliance has multiple alliances or high amounts of players it's considered a "Mass Recruiting Alliance" these guys are disorganized, will pact with anyone, but still think they're the best for being in the top 12 based off sheer membership. Hitting them is the PERFECT way to get easy farms many of them are one hit wonders so if you clear them once they'll quit. That means they just fed your alliance AND got your team important ABP. The resources will replace troops, fuel construction, and drive players to conquest. You should always pick MRA's as your first targets for war and farming. It'll get you easy quick combat experience against a flailing alliance and allows you to fight on multiple fronts without getting tied down.
 

DeletedUser37948

Guest
ouch well ive always thought that there is a good eliment of luck as well as skill in the success of a new team ,but ive not been aware of nods recent escapades into leading, but I always apretiate his American sports referances on an en server very inclusive :)
 

DeletedUser

Guest
another american sports reference.

bill belicheck can't play football, but he can teach it.
dan failed, but doesn't mean this isn't sound advice.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
Its not that the guide is bad Chalna, its the irony that he can sit here and preach how to lead, but yet he cant do it himself. There is numerous things on this list that he completely failed to do.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
Its not that the guide is bad Chalna, its the irony that he can sit here and preach how to lead, but yet he cant do it himself. There is numerous things on this list that he completely failed to do.
There's a saying in my country: "Those who know - do it, those who don't know - teach how to do it."
 

DeletedUser

Guest
Its not that the guide is bad Chalna, its the irony that he can sit here and preach how to lead, but yet he cant do it himself. There is numerous things on this list that he completely failed to do.
exactly
 

DeletedUser30636

Guest
i personally had the opportunity to start putting a team together with nod, it never completely took sail so i never had the chance to lead along side him. but what i can say with as far as we got. he really does have good advice. as they are saying above me, just because your not necessarily good at something doesnt mean you cant know the proper way to do it. for example, my father is an awful bowler. but he knows how to properly do it.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
i personally had the opportunity to start putting a team together with nod, it never completely took sail so i never had the chance to lead along side him.
Well consider yourself lucky mate, you would of been doing all the heavy lifting while nod went on the externals and told everyone how good of a leader he was, either that or if the alliance failed he would of gone on the externals and blamed you.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
I do not know nob, but regardless of whether he's been successful or not, there's good advice in this guide. I recently played through the world Edessa from start to finish, and was a total noob when it started. By the end I was one of the primary leaders of my alliance and helped lead my team to victory. I'll just highlight or add to what has already been said based on my experiences in that world.

<<<===============================================>>>

an alliance leader commits huge chunks of time to making his/her alliance good over their own game progression
This point can't be stressed enough! If you want to be successful, you will need to spend LOTS of time working for your team outside of actually playing the game itself. This includes things like doing admin/forum mod stuff [writing guides/announcements/news updates, making sure forums are used effectively and kept clean, checking stats/activity, and so on], diplomacy, strategizing, managing players, answering questions, being active on Skype, etc... I spent many many hours of my spare time doing these things for my alliance, and it made all the difference. So many alliances are disorganized, and it is often due to a lack of committed leadership. If you're not ready to commit the time and effort required, I suggest you consider leaving the leadership responsibilities for people who are. Also, having strong forum skills is a major help here. Make good use of bbcodes, links, images, and formatting.. it makes your posts easier to read, and your members will appreciate the effort you put in (i.e. they'll be more likely to read them).

As far as recruiting, always be on the watch for spies/leaks or otherwise disruptive players. Every alliance gets a few somewhere along the line, and they can completely destroy your alliance if you don't find them and kick them out. This requires you to keep a close eye on stats/activity, players' histories, and what your enemies are doing. Other teams might try to convert your players into spies by offering them a place in their alliance, so beware of that too.

Make an interesting alliance name and to the point profile.

I agree. The epically long profile descriptions just look messy... Your team's performance/stats should speak for themselves. Keep it short and sweet.. a brief mission statement and a list of who to contact for recruiting/diplomacy is all you need.

Also, USE SKYPE! I honestly don't see how you can have a winning team without such close and immediate contact between members. Having a general Skype chat for the whole alliance also helps members feel more involved, and will make them more active. An alliance without strong and frequent communication is sure to fail.
 

DeletedUser41523

Guest
You seem pretty high up there on that horse. Careful not to fall off. And with that its time for an old school Nodcrush response.

Well consider yourself lucky mate, you would of been doing all the heavy lifting while nod went on the externals and told everyone how good of a leader he was, either that or if the alliance failed he would of gone on the externals and blamed you.



Where do you even get the basis for this claim? The last time I even lead on the same world as you was Paros. Remember? You founded and alliance and then left others to do that heavy lifting you're talking about. One day i'm playing as a warm up to ease back into Grepo and poke some fun on the externals, next day i'm having to secure an ocean from a bunch of Italian turtles, a crazy and paranoid Canadian who also lead a bunch of turtles, and their ally. What happened to all that "I won't do the heavy lifting" stuff?

Before that was Pella, I don't want to brag, but if you think the Fear's were the best leaders at BoM, then prepare for a shock. Don't know if you saw their epic collapse when I left to adjust to college. But they made a major diplomatic blunder and MOS made them pay for it if I recall. At one point a lot of the alliance was messaging me saying they'd follow me I left for MOS or something. I didn't organize it, declare anything of the sort, etc. I just had people asking. Most successful ops in BoM were run by me, I also got to juggle with diplomacy, Which I think I did relatively well with. Any other time before that I lead with relative success before life called. I also admit fully that I lost twice and yes the losses were my fault and nobody else's, especially on Ithica.

Cythera was the only time I tried to delegate things, which caught so many people unprepared that the alliance literally imploded. And for that I do own up to the mistake and apologize. I wasn't prepared to lead there and then and was stupid for trying at a time that I couldn't manage a three speed world. I've told many people this also. So lets not act like PMB got destroyed by anyone or anything like that or that I lead the team to ruin. Most the players are alive and kicking and are better off than what I could give them. Over all the project wasn't a failure, I just wasn't fit to lead them at that time.

If you're choosing to take stabs over things from DT, then I have nothing for you other than an apology. How I acted was very dramatic, perhaps over dramatic. However, I wasn't content to get harassed by a drunken lunatic (herbit) for a world. Clearly you weren't either, because if I heard right, you didn't stay long after either, nor did DW, or half the alliance for that matter. I think the only person who gets complaining rights for that world is Tyrone, who we all left high and dry there to clean up the mess. This is the only world I've ever taken a stab at anyone for an action I took. I owe my team an apology for that and I've learned better than to dramatically storm out if I feel I don't belong, then i'll politely say so and give up without a fight. But I still stand by my decision and am still glad I left. Because the worst of days in Cythera kicked the out of the best days in Thebes with our drunken friend. If you want to question my leadership abilities, then feel free to hit up Delos and pose as me. See how fast you get an invite into ER/EOD.

As for not owning up and blaming others. Go refer to Ithica (2 yrs ago), the last actual loss I even had, where it took most the world to take down my alliance. Which of course I learned the value of good diplomacy at last. I didn't blame anyone for getting caught in that situation, I know what I did there and how it got that way. I didn't blame my coleaders, my players, etc. I know that was all me. Tau, I lacked knowledge on how to take on significantly larger alliances or deal with spies and successfully run ops.

Again, i'm not sure where you came up with such an odd claim. I can only assume you still have a bone to pick about something that happened months ago. So i'll just leave this with my humble apology for that. I assume that this will only be responded to with some kind of stab. So lets just save each other time and call this little "debate" a draw and skip it. Readers are here for guides, not drama, thanks.

Also while i'm here I may as well come out and give you an apology Zero Point, I was a tool in Paros and probably annoying. So i'd like if we can forget about it and move past it if we ever met again in a server.

To Mods: Nice timing posting my guide a year later and half complete with the other half lost, real smooth. ;)
 
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DeletedUser27700

Guest
I don't see how any of this is related to the guide itself.
Debate the merits of the guide please, it doesn't matter what the player did in past worlds.
 
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