Well calmjukiller, your opening post even though concise has everything mentioned in it, so i will hope to try and put forth my thoughts but i might not end up doing a good job of it.
To be FAIR there is nothing FAIR in war but in a sense all war's are FAIR.
Something that might seem fair to one may not seem the least bit honorable or justified to another, so it will be very difficult to bring a context to fairness in conflicts.
The course of wars have been changed by even the slightest change in balance or status quo brought about by another dimension introduced in the equation in this case we are referencing to a third party/tribe.
Here it might not be a favorable situation for the tribe at the receiving end, but the tribes gaining from it will find it all the more fair, as they will/might be gaining ground that was not possible before.
As for the gangbanged part, gangbang is a very numeric term if taken in the literary sense, its many against one.
But i think in this case it is getting a forum mention because here the being outnumbered is not the only notable point, it is also the quality of the gangbanging opposition.
There have been gangbangs(atleast tried) against tribes in this world before, the only one that comes to mind easily is the alliance formed against i believe VIRTUS formed by a no of smaller tribes, here the opposition was more than one number so can be termed as a gangbang,their idea was strength in numbers but they didn't have the firepower to back it hence it fizzled out.
That gangbang was in my terms FAIR, why because they tried(and/but failed) to turn the tables on virtus, but virtus on the other hand was not too worried due to the quality of the players they had it wasn't exactly stacked against them.
So i think there are too many intricate details involved in a war,gangbang's just being one part of it that a person cant judge it being platonically fair.
Wars will always remain fair to some and unfair to others.
Just editing to add the diplomacy bit,
Diplomacy for me is just a veil to cover true intentions , its just a device that helps you to keep out of trouble/wars untill the point you think you are ready for it.
It in itself may not be worth the bit of paper it was forged on but has done wonders when tactically used, and there is no doubt in more cases than otherwise diplomacy wins wars.
