One person's damage number decides what the entire alliance is paid. That is not an exaggeration of the MVP mechanic; it is the mechanic.
The four stages, and the deadline that kills the event
Alliance Exercise moves through Selection → Preparation → Battle → Rewards. Your R4s and R5 choose the difficulty and the battle time. Miss that step and there is no consolation prize: if no battle time has been set by 22:00 server time on the last day, the event expires. Set it on day one.
Donate Construction Parts — twice over
Donating [Construction Parts] does two separate things, and most members only know about one:
- Each donation grants +500 Alliance Contribution to you personally.
- Donations raise the alliance's battle damage bonus, up to a maximum of 5 bonus levels per Exercise.
Once the fifth level is reached, further donations still pay contribution but no longer raise the bonus — so the alliance should push hard early and then stop treating it as urgent. Construction Parts come from Daily Tasks, which makes this one of the few event preparations that costs nothing but attendance.
The battle is 30 minutes and somebody has to press start
An R4 or R5 starts the battle manually. It lasts 30 minutes, and the Marshal's Guard appears as the target. Commanders rally against it in the usual way, and there is a bonus most alliances leave on the table: R4 members and officers who start a rally gain an extra damage bonus. If your officers are only ever joining other people's rallies, the alliance is losing damage it has already earned the right to.
MVP: the 1x to 10x multiplier
The player who deals the most damage across the battle is the MVP, and the MVP multiplies Alliance Rewards by between 1x and 10x. This is the argument for coordinating rather than everyone doing their best independently: concentrating buffs, gear and rally leadership on one strong hitter is worth more to the alliance than spreading them evenly. Decide who the MVP candidate is before the battle, not after.
Offline Participation is a safety net, not a plan
Offline Participation will auto-join your strongest lineup in the final 20 seconds of the event, but only if three things are true at once: an ally's rally is about to end, that rally has a free slot, and your troops can physically reach it in time. Fail any one and you are not in the battle. First Fun is explicit that this is not guaranteed. If you know you will be away, tell your officers rather than trusting the toggle.
The "Insufficient Time" warning in the last five minutes
In the final five minutes the game starts warning you about insufficient time when you form a rally. It is a precaution, not a block — the warning fires because the rally's assembly time plus its march time may run past the end of the event. You can still proceed. Whether you should depends on the distance, and that is a judgement the warning is not making for you.
Sources: First Fun’s official English help centre — How does [Alliance Exercise] work?, Why should I donate?, What rewards can I get?, What is the MVP bonus?, Offline mode and rewards, "Insufficient Time" warnings