[Wolfman77]

Thanks I'll try that one out. I was thinking more along the line of having 90% or so of your resources from trade. That way If you didn't ally with anyone you would stand very little chance against anyone who did have one or more alliances. Also if you were only allied with one other empire, and they cut ties with you it could wreak havoc on your ability to even maintain your fleet. I have no idea how this would turn out but I might give it as try and see what happens.

I should note however that I have no experience against other people, and an aliance with the AI is usually only good to keep them from attacking your colony ships while you colonize their systems at the begining of the game. This might change that, though I don't know how the AI will do with this. They seem to always make treaties with each other though.