Guide Created by Nag EhgoegSo you want to go to war... and who can blame you (you power mad dictator)! But first you need an army. This thread is intended to tell you how to build an army and how we handle war here.
1- Don't Godmod:“Godmoding” can basically be summed up as doing anything which isn’t fair. Having an unrealistically sized army, dictating your enemies actions (or losses), refusing to ever take damage or lose are all examples of Godmoding. Godmoding isn’t fun. It hurts the game. This guide aims to eliminate it.
One key issue is that some players have more than one nation. Colonies of a nation do not count
at all towards the size of the parent nation's army and they don't get an army of their own. Colonies are a liability that must be defended by the homeland. Other players control two separate nations. In this case, separate nations both get their own militaries, but they may not pool their resources against the same target - even if they both have a reason to attack the same nation.
2- An army that fits:Look at your nation's physiognomy. Without a coastline, you don't have to bother about amphibious landings or maintaining a navy. So lay the emphasis elsewhere. Is it highly mountainous or afforested, then large parts of it will be inaccessible to armour, so don't blow your funds on tanks. Is your nation wide-spaced and open? Then don't only get heavy tanks rolling for they are easily outflanked, speed and agility are just as important. In the Middle East, there once was this guy named Goliath... Well, you know where I'm going.
3- Budget:The more technologically adroit, the more expensive they'll be. One F-22 could just as well get you the tenfold of MIG-19's. Remember, an AK-47 is just as lethal as a Tomahawk cruise missile. Also take into account for instance that logistics take up a lot of the army's funds and material. The rule of thumb is one fielded infantry guy takes about five people working in logistics. Also, keep in mind that most of the military budget goes to wages, training, supplies, ammo, maintenance, fuel, ... you know, stuff that constantly needs money being put in.
Calculators, like NS Tracker or NS Economy, give you your XML stats on how much you spend on your military. If you spend more than 40% on your military then consider your spending to be “high”; if you spend between 20% and 40% then consider your spending to be “normal”; and if you spend less than 20% then consider your spending to be “low”. Also look at your economy and see if it’s green (Frightening, All-Consuming, Powerhouse, Thriving or Very Strong), yellow (Strong, Good, Fair, Reasonable or Developing) or red (Struggling, Weak, Fragile, Basket Case or Imploded).
4- Army to Population Ratio:The smaller your armed forces are compared to your population, the more professional you can expect them to be (and the less your economy will suffer) so not exaggerating in size pays off.
More specifically then.
5- Build an army:
- Get a bunch of soldiers and keep in mind you need five people in logistics for each of them. A nation with a high military spending can support having 0.3% of it’s population in the military (not counting logistics - that's three million soldiers per billion citizens). A nation with normal spending can support 0.2% of it’s population (two million soldiers per billion). A nation with low spending can support 0.15% (one and a half million per billion).
- Get some vehicles. Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) combine punching power with manoeuvrability; light tanks and infantry fighting vehicles both have speed and manoeuvrability – either are perfect for supporting mechanised infantry; artillery and missile launchers can take out other tanks from a distance and substitute for bombers; armoured personnel carriers means your forces are not exposed; armoured reconnaissance vehicles let you scout the terrain; and anti-aircraft artillery to deny your enemy from shelling you into oblivion. So the question is... how many can you have? Well as a general rule of thumb you get 200 ground vehicles for every billion people you have. Nations with a red economy get 100 vehicles for every billion people they have, while nations with a green economy get 300.
6- Build a navy:You'll need some ships but make sure it's a balanced force.
All nations can afford two aircraft carriers or amphibious assault ship for every billion people in their population. Nations with normal defence spending OR a yellow economy get four aircraft carriers (or assault ships) for every billion people. Nations with high defence spending AND a green economy get six aircraft carriers/assault ships per billion people.
Your capital ships, however, need support. Thus for every aircraft carrier/amphibious assault ship take between: 8 to 12 destroyers, 4 to 8 submarines, 4 to 6 frigates, 2 to 4 mine hunters and 4 to 8 cruisers.
- Get some aircraft carriers, they're essential in modern naval warfare.
- Get some destroyers, powerful escort ships capable of acting independently.
- Get some submarines (both the attack kind and the missile kind), they're stealthy and are necessary to attack destroyers and aircraft carriers that aren't yours.
- Get some frigates, to help hunt down the enemy's submarines and shoot down enemy planes.
- Get some mine hunters so can pass through mine fields.
- Get some cruisers, fast and powerful boats to help in destroying enemy ships.
- Get some patrol ships, to protect your waters from hostile insertion.
- Maybe get some river patrol craft.
- Maybe get some amphibious assault ships.
- And finally get some oilers and thugs to help and supply your ships.
What about battleships?In Ye Olden Days, the bigger a ship was, the better. Battleships, Super-Battleships, Battlecruisers and Dreadnaughts were heavily armed and armoured war-machines that ruled the oceans. In today’s modern naval warfare, the bigger a ship is, the bigger target it is. Capital ships nowadays are big because they
have to be – because they need to carry aircraft or masses of ground troops. None-the-less battleships are
cool. As such, feel free to take them as Capital ships (i.e. instead of an amphibious assault ship). If you’d prefer, take them as Cruisers or Destroyers – as these perform the same battlefield role as a Battleship. In the interest of fairness, no matter what you call your ships (or how big they are) their effectiveness will be unaffected.
7- Build an air force:Without an airforce, you might just as well give up anyway. Control the air, you control the ground. Make sure that if you have (an) aircraft carrier(s), that your planes are adapted to air carriers (eg. don't only have only C130 Hercules transports cause although there have been successful experiments to make 'em land on aircraft carriers they really aren't fit to do so).
- Get lots of jet fighters (about 300 for every billion people you have) to gain air superiority, escort your bombers, patrol the skies, attack bomber formations and participate in astonishing air shows.
- Get some heavy bombers (30 for every billion) to bury the enemy under a carpet of bombs.
- Get some transport planes (20 for every billion) to airlift your forces or material (heavy transport planes will get your heavy stuff lifted but can't land everywhere, light ones will land everywhere but won't take your Abrams tank).
- Get some helicopters (200 for every billion): attack helicopters, transport helicopters and navy helicopters.
- Get some support planes (20 for every billion): AWACS to monitor your skies, electronic warfare planes to blind their radars, to scan the waters for submarines, to tank your fighters in the air,...
Nations which spend more on defence than average (high spending, green economy) get more aircraft. Nations which spend less (low spending, red economy), get less.
8- Inconnu - The “Less is More” Shtick:All the numbers provided are rough guides. A nation which specialises in Naval Warfare might have a few more ships but fewer ground troops and vehicles. A nation with no navy probably has a few more planes.
Furthermore, all the above numbers assumes average quality troops and hardware. If you want your troops to be twice as good as average, then you get half as many. And vice versa if you want them to be half as good as average, you get twice as many. Modern technology, however, is somewhat limited. Under no circumstances can something be more than five times better than average, and typically things which are less than a third of normal effectiveness aren’t employed by any modern military.
Needless to say, armies don't run on experimental equipment. If you want something better than average, then have it. But if all your gear is state of the future... then we're going to call godmoding on you. Technology like EMP guns, futuristic fighter jets and experimental body armour should be kept to a minimum - a few prototype weapons makes for a good story, but a futuristic army is more annoying than fun.
Another important issue to note is that the term “for every billion” is thrown around a lot. In all cases feel free to round
up to the next billion. And of course, you can always count your stats as being worse than they actually are.
One final note is that just because you can, doesn't mean you should (especially if you don't have a military budget to speak of). You are under no obligation to field the largest military you can afford.
9- Let’s get busy!:So now you have your army, you can go invade whoever you want right? WRONG!
If you want to go to war with someone (or indeed do anything that might effect them negatively) talk to them first. Send them a PM saying what you want to do and why you want to do it. They should them PM you back and you can discuss the results of what you want to do. Assuming you’re going to war, you can decide who’s going to win and the effects of the war on all sides.
Guide Created by Nag Ehgoeg 
