Alliance Train (Pre-Season 1)

Alliance Train in Pre-Season

The Alliance Train works the same way in pre-season as in later seasons, but your alliance faces specific challenges early on. Fewer active members, fewer trade contracts, and lower Alliance Gift levels mean you need to be more deliberate about how you run the train.

For the full mechanics breakdown, see the Alliance Train Guide.

Pre-Season Challenges

Reaching Top 20

Your alliance must be in the top 20 server rankings to receive the daily regular train. In pre-season, this means:

• Focus on alliance growth — recruit actively to hit the 20-member minimum and climb the rankings
• If your alliance is not top 20 yet, you can still use the Mega Express Train (2 per day). The commander calls it and becomes the driver automatically
• Getting into the top 20 should be an early alliance priority because the daily train is a significant resource advantage

Limited Trade Contracts

In pre-season, members have fewer trade contracts available:

• Gold Express requires 5 refreshes — with fewer contracts donated, reaching Gold Express is harder
• Coordinate donations — make sure passengers are donating their maximum 3 contracts each
• With only 5 passengers per wagon (20 total possible passengers), you need a good portion of them donating to reach 5 refreshes
• Do not waste contracts — the driver should use free refreshes first before spending donated contracts

Lower Alliance Gift Levels

Early alliances will not have the Gift Level bonuses:

This means your driver's guard teams matter more in pre-season because there are fewer protections against train attacks.

Pre-Season Train Strategy

Driver Selection

In pre-season, the driver choice is even more important:

• Pick your strongest player as driver — their guard teams need to be as strong as possible without the Alliance Gift Level protections
• The driver gets the best rewards (locomotive + all wagon cargo), so the driver role is a reward, not a burden
• Distribute heroes evenly across all 3 guard teams — train defence is a 3v3 battle, so one stacked team and two weak ones gets exploited
• If your alliance only has a few strong players, rotate the driver role among them so everyone benefits from the driver bonus

Maximising Participation

• Run the train at a consistent time — in pre-season, members are still learning the game. Routine is crucial
• Post a reminder in alliance chat 30 minutes before the train enters preparation
• Explain the mechanics — new players often do not understand wagons, contracts, or the boarding process
• Track who participates — in pre-season, getting 15-20 members to ride daily is a realistic early goal

Contract Strategy

With limited contracts, prioritise reaching Gold Express:

1. Driver uses all free refreshes first
2. Passengers donate their maximum 3 contracts each
3. If short on contracts, ask members who are not riding to still donate contracts to the driver
4. Even 5-10 active participants donating contracts should get you to Gold Express

Wagon Selection in Pre-Season

In pre-season, your resource needs are different from later game:

• Prioritise construction and research resources — you are building and researching constantly
• Speedups are always valuable — choose wagons offering building or research speedups
• Hero materials — if a wagon offers hero EXP or shards, it is worth considering for the long-term
• Spread across wagons — do not all pile into the same wagon. With the 5-passenger limit, overcrowding wastes participant slots

Building Toward Late Game

The train improves significantly as your alliance progresses:

• Alliance Gift Level upgrades make the train faster, safer, and add the VIP seat
• More active members means more contracts donated and Gold Express every day becomes easy
• Stronger drivers mean fewer failed guard defences and better rewards for everyone
• The habits you build now — daily participation, contract donations, wagon coordination — carry forward seamlessly

Common Pre-Season Train Mistakes

1. Not starting the train at all — some alliances forget about it or do not prioritise it. The daily rewards compound significantly
2. Always using the same driver — rotate among strong players to avoid burnout
3. Not donating contracts — passengers who board without donating hurt the whole alliance's rewards
4. Weak guard teams — in pre-season without Gift Level protections, weak guards mean lost rewards from attacks
5. No consistent schedule — if the train starts at different times every day, members miss it
6. Ignoring the 24-hour rule — new recruits cannot ride for 24 hours after joining. Let them know

Related Guides

• Alliance Train Guide — full mechanics, wagons, contracts, and Gold Express details
• Alliance Strategy Guide — alliance management and growth
• Resource Management — using train rewards effectively