NationStates Jolt Archive

:?: Can anyone out there tell me how I make military units. I keep seeing stuff in the forum, 'WAR ON BULLYBEEF' and stuff like that, but how the hell do I get the units that I would need to defend myself if anyone decides to attack me? :?:

This is a question that comes up a lot. The whole thing is role-played and refereed by the forum moderators and neutral third-parties. A good rule of thumb seems to be that 2% of your nation is "active military" with as much as 5% as "reserves". Some nations however are very militaristic and their total military pushes 25% or more of their total population.

BTW, welcome to NS!

This is a question that comes up a lot. The whole thing is role-played and refereed by the forum moderators and neutral third-parties. A good rule of thumb seems to be that 2% of your nation is "active military" with as much as 5% as "reserves". Some nations however are very militaristic and their total military pushes 25% or more of their total population.

BTW, welcome to NS!


Thanks loads for the info, but how do you change how militaristic your nation is, is it decided when you make the nation?

No, it's RP. Which means role-play. Which means you just make it up. But if your country is like a peaceful liberal democracy with 5 million people don't tell people you're fighting that you have an army of 4.5 million...

i do not have the sligtest clue.

check the sticky at
==> NationStates Forum Index
==>Nationstates
==>Sticky: New to NationStates? View these Great Threads!

You'll find there all you need to know how to go about things here..

Welcome to NS.. :)

This is a question that comes up a lot. The whole thing is role-played and refereed by the forum moderators and neutral third-parties. A good rule of thumb seems to be that 2% of your nation is "active military" with as much as 5% as "reserves". Some nations however are very militaristic and their total military pushes 25% or more of their total population.

BTW, welcome to NS!

While I appreciate this intro, it is a sign of the collapse of NS (somewhat).

By the older standards (old NS fogie speaking), 5% should be the ABSOLUTE max on forces (both active and support, including all reserves and forces save for some national guard and coastguard units).

In real life, the largest serious military is about 0.7% of the population....the US is one of the most militaristic states (outspending the next 20-50 nations COMBINED and due to be outspending the combined military spending of the rest of the world inside of 20 years) and has some of the largest serious armies (China and North Korea have large forces, but quality tends to be poor and their armies shouldn't be RP'd unless you know how to allow for the weaknesses as well).

The average NS state has a military between 1 and 3% of its pop, with a military spending of less than 50% of the GDP.

EDIT: Oh, and welcome to NS, all...check out the stickies and ask more questions there.

yeah, like my army is 1.4% of my pop. and my defence spending is much higher than any other part of my budget, so i dont have a super huge army, but one that can defend almost 2 billion people.

This is a question that comes up a lot. The whole thing is role-played and refereed by the forum moderators and neutral third-parties. A good rule of thumb seems to be that 2% of your nation is "active military" with as much as 5% as "reserves". Some nations however are very militaristic and their total military pushes 25% or more of their total population.

BTW, welcome to NS!

While I appreciate this intro, it is a sign of the collapse of NS (somewhat).

By the older standards (old NS fogie speaking), 5% should be the ABSOLUTE max on forces (both active and support, including all reserves and forces save for some national guard and coastguard units).

In real life, the largest serious military is about 0.7% of the population....the US is one of the most militaristic states (outspending the next 20-50 nations COMBINED and due to be outspending the combined military spending of the rest of the world inside of 20 years) and has some of the largest serious armies (China and North Korea have large forces, but quality tends to be poor and their armies shouldn't be RP'd unless you know how to allow for the weaknesses as well).

The average NS state has a military between 1 and 3% of its pop, with a military spending of less than 50% of the GDP.

EDIT: Oh, and welcome to NS, all...check out the stickies and ask more questions there.

I would have to agree with this... and, yes, welcome! :-) (Who knew text-based RP's like NS could ever be so addicting?)