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Creating & Managing an Alliance
Quick answers
- How many players can join an alliance in Iron Realms?
- Up to fifty lords ride under one banner. Alliance tags are 2 to 6 letters and must be unique within your kingdom.
- What do alliances do in Iron Realms?
- Alliances hold forts and Seats of Power, declare phased wars, run weekly bounty boards, reinforce each other's walls, and share alliance technology funded by member donations.
- Is Iron Realms free to play?
- Yes. Iron Realms is free to play in any browser with no download and no account required. Every building, troop tier and Seat of Power is reachable without spending money — purchases buy speed and cosmetics, never a higher ceiling.
- Does spending money make you stronger in Iron Realms?
- No. Nothing purchasable raises your power ceiling. A charter audit runs on every build and fails it if any offer would sell power. Spending compresses time: the summit takes about 24 months free, or 18 months with the $9.99 monthly Charter held throughout.
- How long does it take to max a keep in Iron Realms?
- About 24 months of free play at roughly half an hour a day, or 18 months with the $9.99 Warden's Charter. Keeps cap at level 45 and troops at tier 13 — the same summit for everyone.

An alliance is the heart of the mid-to-late game. Alone you can clear camps and grow; together you hold seats, win wars, and shape a whole realm. This guide takes you from founding or joining a banner all the way to running one.
Join or found?
- Join an established banner if you are new — you inherit its help network, forts, and know-how immediately. Open the Alliance menu, browse the alliance finder, and request to join one that is active and near you.
- Found your own if you want to lead. You become its first leader and set its name, tag, banner, and message of the day.
Ranks & roles
An alliance is a small hierarchy. Ranks carry powers, so promote deliberately:
| Rank | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Leader | Everything: promote/demote, kick, set war and battle plans, disband, manage forts and the Discord webhook. |
| Officers (R4+) | Invite and manage members, set the message of the day, run rallies, and speak in the private officer sub-channel. |
| Members | Chat, help timers, join rallies, garrison forts, and contribute to alliance tech and the war effort. |
Managing members
- Invite from the finder or approve requests. Aim for active lords in a compatible time zone over raw numbers.
- Promote reliable players to officer so invites and rallies do not bottleneck on one person.
- The message of the day (MOTD) is your standing orders — the current target, the muster time, the rules. Keep it current.
- Kick only inactive or disruptive members; a healthy banner is chosen, not crowded.
Talking to each other
- Alliance chat — your main room, always in the HUD so you never miss a muster.
- Officer sub-channel (R4+) — a private room for planning without tipping your hand.
- Kingdom chat — the whole realm, for diplomacy and trash talk.
- Discord webhook — a leader can pipe alliance activity to a Discord server so the banner stays coordinated off-app.
Alliance forts & garrisons
Forts are the alliance's own strongholds on the map. Claim one, then garrison it — members station real troops there (not just gold), and donate resources to level it. A well-held fort projects power across a region and feeds your Conquest score. See Alliances & Seats of Power for the seat side.
- Station troops to defend a fort; recall them home when the front moves.
- Donate wood/stone/iron to raise its level and its garrison cap.
- Assign officers to coordinate who garrisons what, so no fort stands empty.
War: rallies, declarations & scoring
- Rallies — an officer opens a rally on a target; members join with troops; it launches as one overwhelming host. This is how you take anything bigger than your own keep.
- War declarations — formally declare on a rival alliance for phased, scored conflict; spoils pay out on resolution.
- Battle plans — leaders set the standing plan so every member knows the current objective.
The Conquest Season & the Bounty Board
- The Conquest Season is the grand alliance-vs-alliance contest: hold seats and forts, win wars, and record deeds to climb the standings for season-long glory and rewards.
- The weekly Bounty Board sets cooperative combat goals the whole banner chips at together — a reliable, fair source of spoils.