Playing Team games is the best way to play Red Alert. It adds a new level of strategy, tactics, and more that can't be found in free for all games. Most Team games are 2 vs 2 on Kali and some are 3 vs 3. Here's some things I've noticed that goes wrong and right during team games.

Make Sure Everyone Has the Map Before You Play- Most of the time, you can't send out maps to people and start a 4 player game simultaniously. Even if it does work the game will be off to a slow start. Make sure everyone has the map and then everyone will connect in sync with each other much better. To give someone the map either give it to them in Kali or start a 1 vs 1 game. Send him the map, wait for the game to start, then leave.

Be Sure You Know How to Play RA!- I'm serious! Some people play on teams and they don't fully know how to play RA. One game I got into (I was Soviet, he was Ally) I asked him if he knew how to Cronoshift Tanyas (if you don't know how, go here. Most people know how to since its an old and well used strat. Its the best strategy Allied players can use.). He asked me what I was talking about. So I explained it to him about cronoshifting the MCV and making the barracks and so forth. Then he asks 'What's a tanya?' I was thinking to myself 'get me out of here NOW!'. Everyone should know what a tanya is before they start to play online. Make sure you KNOW how to play the game BEFORE you play in team games. Good players may not mind a not-so-good teamate but they WON'T tolerate people who don't even know how to play the game!

Be Sure You Know How to Ally- Much time is wasted on this. You just click on the other person's unit or structure and press A. How hard is that to do and to remember? Some people keep on pressing A repeatedly so they are constantly allying and declaring war on the player, making all the units confused as possible if they should or should not shoot. Don't waste our time knowing how to ally. Its so simple and its in the manuel and you can waste a lot of time for your team. I've seen teams lose because they didn't know how to ally properly.

Be Sure You Ally With the Right Person- If its First Sight, be sure you ally with the first person you see. But if the teams are set make sure you do ally with the correct person. Its hilarious when other people (that aren't on my team) ally with me. Thanks for letting me see your base you idiot! Allying with the wrong person will reveal to your opponent your base, and you can't afford that.

Communicate!- Many teams lose because the teamates did not communicate well at all. Some people think Team games is playing FFA but with an ally. You need to communicate so you know the status of your teamate, sharing enemy intelligence information, and plan out tactics. Attacks work much better if they are planned out. If you plan together you can attack on multiple fronts. If someone is focusing on boats, then another needs to focus on tanks. And perhaps someone needs to do air, but who? Communicate with each other and plan it out.

Make Sure You Know How to Communicate- I get a good laugh when people use the F8 key to send messages to their teamate. Its hilarious when you hear something like 'I'm gonna transport tanyas through boats in the back of his base.' Then the guy is shocked when I blow up his transport as if I didn't know he was coming. Haha! To clear this up with people who haven't played team games F8 is messages to everyone, F1-F7 is to individual players.

Plan Your Attacks- Don't do stupid stuff especially when you have a teamate to help you out. Plan attacks together, your attacks will be much stronger and effective.

Do What your Teamate Tells You- If your teamate tells you to do something, do it. If its something stupid, then tell him what you are going to do differently. Don't let your teamate think that you're going to do something and then you don't do it. The results would be disasterous.

Don't Leave- Don't leave the game! Some people leave the game when their base defenses are gone, but their base is still there. You can still do a good amount of damage by staying in the game. If its a water map and your base and all your ground units are destroyed and you have only boats left, don't quit. Your boats can do a heck of a lot of damage to your opponent. Its stupid for people to quit for their teamate to be stuck with the computer. The computer can defend itself pretty well, but it sucks nevertheless. I once got into a 5 player game with the players CPU, Saber, Ragnar97, and Doc_Hans. It was me and Saber vs everyone else on HJK. Me and CPU started out next to each other so early in the game we killed each other leaving my teamate Saber defending against two people. Saber is good, but I don't think he's THAT good, to take on two. CPU found a crate and killed my guys hiding in the ore nearby that were waiting for crates as well. I thought I was dead but I discovered one of my oretrucks (that were on crack at the time) had somehow gone to the other side of the map to get ore. I led the oretruck into Saber's base and got a crate with an MCV. I built up right when Saber was losing to 3 and the two of us were able to beat the other three. Even if you have one rifleman left on a map you can STILL help out in someway. Don't surrendur unless your teamate is dead as well. Quitting before you're dead is like stabbing your teamate in the back. Don't do it.

Always Have a Spare MCV- Put it in your teamate's base and start to build a base where he is and he should do the same at yours. The reason is if somehow one of the bases, you or your teamates, are destroyed then you are not out of the game. Having a spare MCV has saved my hide, and my teamate's, on more then one occasion.

Make Sure You Play the Game- No screwing around! Don't do stupid stuff or try insane strategies. Also, try to play the game all the way through without inturuptions if possible. I was in a four player game when my ally was talking on the phone all that time. Here I was, busting my butt trying to save my base in flames while he's chatting on the phone. If Westwood had put a pause feature in multiplayer games this wouldn't be a problem. I'm not saying ignore the phone when it rings while you're playing Red Alert (I take my other phone off the hook) but don't let your teamate suffer losses because of you.

Back to my Kali Page.