NationStates Jolt Archive

Questions questions questions....

Im a newb here and i dont want to do anything wrong but i see no help about these subjects im having problems with.

Do i have to buy weapons, ammo, ships, Aircraft, Subs etc. And catalog them so then i know what i have and what i lose during warfare ?

If so how do i calculate how much i can spend, ive read somewhere that its 4% of my budget for defence. cant i select as much as i want of my defence budget on what i want ? what other areas is defence spent on ?

Can i just make things up as long i take into consideration prices of equipment and my defence spending, so that when i wage war im not seen as god-modding ?

thanks for your help...

It's all roleplaying. I suggest that you read the stickied threads in International Incidents (II), Gameplay and NationStatesm in order to get a feel for how this is played out.

A word of advice: do not wage war until you've built your country up in terms of population, economy, et cetera.

As Katganistan said, definately read the stickies. These ones specifically address what you are asking:
Economy, Militaries, and Invasions - More things to know:
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=297064
What logistics is:
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=275828
Calculators:
GNP (http://members.fortunecity.com/thracetailteann/html/gnp.html)
GDP (http://www.pipian.com/stuffforchat/gdpcalc.php)
GDP (http://twr.1colony.com/ver8/calc8.0.html)
NS Economy (http://www.thirdgeek.com/nseconomy.php?nation=) (add your nations name to the end of the url)
It is a good idea to catalog what you have and how many people are in your military. It can be as simple as having it in a text document.

You can buy things from peoples storefronts if you like. If your economy is strong, you can assume you can build stuff yourself. If you want to design stuff yourself, you may want to check out these threads:

Some info on naval vessels
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=292413

Some things you should know about tanks
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=288671

Things you should know about aircraft
http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=322078

If so how do i calculate how much i can spend, ive read somewhere that its 4% of my budget for defence. cant i select as much as i want of my defence budget on what i want ? what other areas is defence spent on ?
It's up to you to figure out how your national budget is divided. You can get your budget from the calculators above. Check out real life national budgets to get a feeling of how it should be done. For example, the US spends ~16% on defense, which is quite a bit. Typically, about 1/3 of a defense budget is spent on the procurement of new equipment.

Also, try to keep the amount of people in your military below 2%.

If you are still confused, feel free to telegram me.

thanks for the advice,
Im getting an understanding now of how the game works.

Thanks very much for your help, much apreciated.