NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, everybody talks about their strength. "RAWR! My ships are t3h l337!" And so forth. But what built-in weaknesses do you people have? Let me start with mine.

First of all, my navy is built of only a very small and constantly falling amount of capitalships [50 and falling]. The majority of my ships are literally thousands of small, small, small Hughie Mk II’s. Those Hughies are each unique, modified to hell and back by their crew. This causes several problems:

1. My ships have limited FTL range. Defacto, I have no force-projection capability outside of 2500 ly from Sol unless I build up some refueling stations.

2. My ships have very limited firepower, unless they carry a [very] limited amount of anti-capship missiles and WMD’s.

3. My ships are a logistics drain, thus demand for thaving resuply-maintenance stations all over the place.

As per my ground forces: I still use slughtrowers and 20th-century era rifles. ‘nuff said.

I also use cavalry [on bikes] and Ctan’s chainswords.

Further, the arrogant, flamboyant, utterly fearless character of my people often leads them to their doom. Think DS9’s Captain Watters.

Culturally, Allaneans have severe disadvantages:

1. They don't understand decorum. At all. They are barbarians in that sense. Suits? Ties? What the?

2. They hate and suck at diplomacy. The word "compromise" sounds to them as "betrayal", due to their descent from the worst of libertarian nutjob-types. [I'm allowed to say that I am one myself].

3. The Allaneans are incredibly arrogant and flamboyant, as mentioned bove.

What about yours?

With regards your maintenance thing; your ships would also be significantly more difficult to repair, because they're all so modified. Witness;

<Engineer> Hello, you said you were having engine problems?
<Pilot> Yeah, the quadruple-reverse-fold hyperdimensional flux capacitator is blown.
<Engineer> The whatnow?
<Pilot> It's a Menelmacari thing, I picked it up in Vinyatirion. 250% better acceleration!
<Engineer> But this is a fleet supply depot. We don't stock them, and it'll take three weeks to refit your ship to carry the standard double-fold capacitator. Looks like you're out of the running, mate.
<Pilot> :(

... You get the picture, I'm sure. Here, for your edification, are some of the myriad problems with the Tsarainese military;

- Lack of force projection. The Ground Command, and to a lesser extent the Air Command, takes a while to deploy, and requires foreign staging-posts to work at all well. It's meant to stay in one place and defend the Mother Country, which it does very well.

- Lack of numbers and general disability to compete with major powers. The Star Command remains small and somewhat underpowered, despite major programs to redress the balance. The Greater Ascendancy deals with this by avoiding military engagement if at all possible, and by having rather more formidable allies.

- Lack of initiative. Due to the hierarchical, burecratic, legalistic nature of Tsarainese society, the more rigid of Tsarainese commanders will interpret their orders to the letter and not one step further, for fear of official censure. This is partially mitigated by effective communications and efficient military command structures, but remains a problem in some cases.

1) Frail economy. Guffingford relies for about 75% on the mining and low-tech industrial sectors, and allowing little room for high-tech expansion. The monetary system is beyond repair, and a collapse is looming for years. Due to the conservative stance, nothing is going to change any time soon.

2) Landscape, weather and climate. Because of the 360 days of sunshine a year in the central parts of the nation, vegetation is a rare, and so is water. Deserts, big and small are expanding, but this is lessening because of well-planned and smart environmental policies. However, draught is still a serious threat to the agricultural sector.

3) Corruption and 60% on defence. The amount of corruption in Guffingford has gone through the roof. Just about everyone can be bribed, some even for a bottle of Ol' Booze. If you don't have friends, you aren't a player. Simple as that.

Oh for joy, what a thread for me! ;) I’ll jot down some of my flaws…although, I’m sure there are more than those scribbled down here.

1./ Men propped up by propaganda - Once the brainwashing methods instilled into Kriegos citizens and even colonials, once the hold is broken, which is a very hard thing to do, the Kriegos will completely turn. Fuelled by hatred at the lies that were shoved down their throat since birth. Also, the men's loyalty starts to flake when away from Kriegorgrad or a zone worthy of propaganda bombardment i.e away in foreign soil during a war

Kriegos citizens require constant stimulation, which is why you'll find that some of the more remote Kriegos villages are very casual regarding Fedorenkov when compared to the overcrowded cities.

2./ Poor as f**k equipment - Most of the Kriegos military is using weapons no less than 60 years old, Enfield rifles serve as M16's or L8A1's, Sten guns stand in the stead of MP5's and pistols that don't store bullets by method of revolver are relatively unheard of. MIG-21's square off against hyper-advanced super fighters and grumpy old excuses for ships with rust and all stand vigil against sleek subs beneath the watery surface.

You get the idea.

3./ Paranoia for the win - Kriegorgrad has culled its own population a few times over with the hideous amount of purges employed by the permanently alert oligarchs, fearful of any opposition by its own people. Of course, while this does weed out more than a few of the more rebellious of the Kriegos people, it's worth keeping in mind that for every rebellious spirit, about a thousand loyalists are ready to give their lives for Fedor. Of course, fear-based purges don't tend to be very forgiving, regardless of your affiliation.

4./ We all love bureaucracy - The Kriegos bureaucracy is disgustingly inept, they can't get the job done. It is a given that at any one time, at least half of the population is lacking in something, be it food, clothing or drink. This, of course, leaves the sprawling oligarchic war machine crippled and it makes it extremely difficult to maintain power projection. Once men land on a foreign beach, they have about two days of supplies, then its grab and scavenge from there-on-in.

5./ Conscripts for everybody! - As I'm sure you all know, the Kriegos military is hideously inefficient, its men propped up by lies and equipped with awful weaponry. However, the thing is, most of the massive Proletarian Guard didn't even volunteer, they were simply ripped out of their homes and sent off to a three year bootcamp, which, while producing well trained men, leaves them proficient in weapons ageing and useless by modern standards. Of course, this doesn't stop a well placed .303 round bringing down a cocky, well equipped trooper from a western style country.

6./ Economy is for losers… – Kriegorgrad’s bizarre economy is its greatest strength and most glaring weakness. Over 60% of the Collective Oligarchy’s industry is geared exclusively towards military applications in one way or another, of course, this means that Kriegorgrad’s economy is constantly being driven into the ground, however, with Kriegorgrad’s endless lies, the citizens under its rule have no idea that their living standards actually are impoverished, they’re told that they are the richest country in the world – and who are they to compare it with, so for all they know. Kriegorgrad is the richest nation in the world. Period.

Also, this leaves Kriegorgrad will a vast amount of ammunition and supplies for its war machine, although, at the detriment of the civilian population.

7./ Solidarity fails, man… – Due to its oligarchic nature and awful bureaucracy, Kriegorgrad’s agendas often lack precision, if not direction. It is only on important issues that the oligarchs really meet and discuss, so jumbled and conflicting messages coming from the top are normal and it often comes down to the subordinates of the oligarchs to pick which of the options is the most reasonable (or politically advancing).

your ships would also be significantly more difficult to repair, because they're all so modified

Yes, I know, I mentioned that. I do try to alleviate that, by requesting that all mods comply with a certain standard [think modularity], but of course Allaneans, being Allaneans, break rules.

The weaknesses of Czardas include:

The navy, or lack thereof. Czardas can get a maximum of about 100 ships out into its waters, not counting about 20-30 submarines. Most of them are up to 50-70 years old, upgraded repeatedly and repaired so many times after being destroyed by <insert name of naval power here> that they look more like patchwork than anything else. In addition, they have practically no missile range, except for about ten arsenal ships.

The army has its own problems. These are primarily limited to the lack of manpower. Czardas has never been able to field an army larger than 2.7 million troops, due to many problems but primarily because the vast majority of citizens simply don't want to fight. Instead of joining the army, these citizens inexplicably form ill-trained and -equipped militia groups, some of them larger than the army itself.

The economy. Due to years of isolationism and mismanagement, Czardas's economy is nowhere near as powerful as those of other nations in the immediate vicinity, with a maximum GDP of about $5.6 trillion. Not only can Czardas not support the kind of defense equipment other nations have, but its industry simply won't work well if a large part of the workforce is called into battle. This is undoubtably a problem, one that cannot be resolved except by pouring more money into business, which the people seem to be strongly against.

The river network. Most of Czardas is occupied by the drainage basin of the Zaïr river, which flows into the sea near the capital. Basically, if an enemy force can get control of the river, they have control of most of the country, including the important cities of Czarna and Dorándor as well as access to Adarion and potentially Mjenaz, Arkaia, and Viyèl in the interior.

Hmmm... as I try to have a good military et al., I'm not really sure what my major weaknesses are (other than the fact that I have no überdreadnoughts/megaheavy tanks etc.), though one could argue that my Abrams tanks lack a good amount of offroad mobility.

And then there's the fact that I have a Mars colony and virtually no spacefleet to speak of (I might have to rectify that someday.)

NB. They ain't my chainswords. I just can manufacture 40K chainswords if I want to. Very few people would have one in my country, and then, only as curiosities.

Of course, if Allanea existed, I would probably export them to him. :p

The Imperial Faith Union of Isam.

Weaknesses....

- As Isamites are educated from birth to follow the Church of Christ Imperator they have a rather narrow viewpoint, which can hinder at times (all their perspectives are based around faith)

- Because soldiers are trained to never retreat unless at the command of a churchman (officers are clergy) this can lead to some rather unfortunate consequences.

- The Hierarchy is paranoid. Extremely so

- Isam is basically self-sufficient, and follows Imperialistic/Isolationist cycles, resulting in some interesting technological advancement patterns.

Hmm...

Well, let's start with the obvious things...
I'm a freaking Anarchy.
0% Taxes means the government (such as it is) has to fend for itself for money. Usually through their own patents, copyrights, and so forth.
Highly advanced, yet very small military means that any losses are nearly catastrophic. Having highly trained, cyber-enhanced, mildly-psychic soliders are wonderful things, but having one killed is a huge blow, and represents the loss of a considerable amount of money.
Utter lack of local manufactoring. The Hack hasn't designed a tank since... well... ever. Before importing from GMC, they relied on designs from before the revolution. There's pretty much 0 heavy industry, which also means a decided lack of jobs for unskilled laborers.
Rampant consumerism. Hacker citizens carry massive amounts of debt to feed the consumerism that's been born of hypercapitalism. In a nation that can make The Next Best Thing every couple weeks, that means a lot of money being spent.
Total lack of welfare. As in: there's none. Zip, ziltch, nada. There's a reason that Nice People don't go to the lower levels of the Warrens.
The Warrens. Imagine tenament housing, but underground. Not too bad on the upper levels, but go below level 30 or so...
That whole "Semi-Autonomous" part (since changed to 'Federated'). Being a protectorate has its advantages, but the fact that the Hack sold itself out still grinds on some people. And, there's the whole problem of the fact that the Oligarchy only rules because the Supreme Commander thinks that fully annexing the Hack would cause more problems than its worth.

And people think I ignore the drawbacks of my nation...

Personally I defer to NSTracker as per my taxes and such - and interpret the 0% as zero percent income tax.

Mind you, I RP consumerism as an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

And since people are now debating cultural, rather than just military weaknesses, I'll add those too.

KRYTENIAN MILITARY WEAKNESSES

- Pacifism in the masses. Aside from the military, most people panic and run away should an enemy go "boo" at them on TV. (Case in point: The AOlympic bombings and subsequent mass exodus to the FIFA Region)

- Tiny Navy. The KAF is THE biggest Air Force in its region. Alas, they cant all fit on four aircraft carriers....Indeed, the total naval force has about 75 ships, tops.

- Lack of heavy artillery. The Krytenian Army has but a few dozen tanks, in an infantry of around 250,000.

- Yes, I said 250,000. Serving a populace of over three billion. That's one soldier for every twelve thousand people.

KRYTENIAN CULTURAL WEAKNESS

- Football, football, football. If you don't know footie, your average Krytenian couldn't give a monkey's.

I've actually created a thread related to Sarzonia's biggest weakness militarily.

1. A poorly-trained, ill-equipped army with shoddy leadership.
Currently my Senate (which is actually the LOWER house in my Parliament) is conducting hearings to fix what's broken with the Army. I was going to do that before Operation Hellfire happened, but I decided to conduct a flashback thread because of my army's performance against Pantera in the war as a way of explaining how an army could go from being a national disgrace to fighting tooth and nail against the Reavers.

2. Shortages.
Sarzonia does not have very much petroleum at all. It only keeps a three week supply for dire emergencies. It must import oil. Sarzonians are avid consumers of coffee, but they grow tea. Not many Sarzonians drink tea, so they export it heavily.

3. An air force that doesn't have much modern equipment (compared to its enemies).
They fight bravely and when their technology is comparable to their enemy's, they do very, very well. But when their enemies have vastly superior technology and equally good pilots, it's trouble.

The Navy is Sarzonia's strength, but it's been built up at the expense of the other branches of the military. However, in the aftermath of Hellfire, Sarzonia's going to become decidedly more militant and will spend more to ensure that their Air Force and Army can catch up to an elite navy.

Overengineering You've a tank that can shoot targets on the moon with casual ease, but unfortunately you can't drive it to the front because the tracks/ floaty fields have issues that have to be addressed first...

Lack of Secrecy In a society with as rampant an amount of information being exchanged as in DA - With its techno-telepathy, implants, etc - keeping things secret is hard. Hiding the initial movements of a military operation? They'll be broadcasted over twenty different stations, in real time. And due to the fractured society with its manymanymany different semi-independent entities, there's not much one can do against it.

Cowardize/ (Armed) Pacifism Having lost the majority of its population to a cataclysm, the majority of the survivors tends to be less-than-fond of risking wars. Sure, frontline units are automated, and don't have to hold a sentient mind, but civilians are rather regularily targetted, in NS... Nobody's fond of going to war, and/ or fighting it to the end. Of course, not getting into wars to begin with could/ should be considered an advantage, but meh.

Rampant Consumerism What Hack said.

Individualism The exact opposite of Tsaraine's lack of initiative. Most shipminds suffer from considerable hubris. Heck, most everyone does - Unsurprisingly, given that they often deal with baseline humans - and as such, discipline is... Well, 'Discipline' is generally regarded as a taboo word. Military planning - Between high-profile entities like shipminds and operators, not throughout the whole population - has a lot to do with direct democracy (And semi-violent discussions to make a point), and very little with traditional chains of command. Needless to say, this is highly inefficient (If allowing for quick reactions when necessary. But the drawbacks are kinda significant). And while their general posthuman status helps a little, god help them if they face an opponent who has the same technological advantages without the 'social' disadvantages...

Of course, this also means that 'Orders' are generally interpreted as 'Suggestions'...

Hyperurbanisation Great for defence (Assuming that one attempts to conquer. It's quite neat to do an 'Every bomb hits' raid...), but ever seen an army that knows nothing but the city trying to fight a battle over open terrain? With equipment meant for the city, that is.

Corruption As I just saw it below, I shall add it. Excessive individualism, high fracturisation... There have already been multiple instances of rather simple but successful information-sellouts (To Drakonian Imperium, to name but one example), and they'll do it again. Not to everyone, but if it isn't the Thelasi...

And of course, most of this points aren't limited to the military.

Military

1. Navy: The UCSNE does not field a very large navy and it isn't anything to be admired for offensive purposes. Posessing no superdreadnoughts and only a handful of battleships and littoral warfare vessels, the navy has significant gaps after long periods of isolationism.

2. Air Force: Maitinance. High logistics ratios and costs for spare parts are a serious burden, making it mainly a defensive force and highly reliant upon secure supply lines.

3. Army: Not quite as bad as the other services, though many would consider the new emphasis on superheavy tanks like the Mk II and XXV to be ridiculous.

--

Other flaws

1. Yay consumerism. High debt.

2. Though the lower class is small, it is extremely poor and few have much care for it.

3. Speaking of which, UCSNE citizenry is considered rude and callous. They have little interest in the affairs of other nations and often other citizens.

4. Corruption. Half the government is 'owned' by private corporations. Money goes a long way in government decisions.

5. The Greenbelts. Between the city states and manufacturing centers can be found a rough and tumble world that makes the wild west look tame and seems more at home in a Mad Max movie than a first world nation. The government cannot afford to police them so mercenaries are common and they create many problems for the city in terms of narcotics.

Mind you, I RP consumerism as an advantage rather than a disadvantage.Rampant consumerism. As in: More than is healthy.

"Hey, the new PlayStation 345 came out today! I gotta get it!"
"Didn't the PlayStation 344 come out last month?"
"Your point?"

Lets see… Knootian weaknessess (this thread is a bit oriented on the military so I’ll talk about that.)


Most of the country is below sealevel. Quite vulnerable when attacked.
Military culture is anti-hierarchical. This means more initiative, but it can also cause delays in the chain of command. (More about that here. (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Knootian_Defence_Force#Military_culture))
Pacifistic inclinations make the population not very willing to support wars generally.
Military has been underfunded for decades; funding is good now, but many ships are refits and much of the weaponry is second-hand.
The KDF is easily overstretched due to widespread “colonial” possessions and small size of the professional core force.


And then the more military-political stuff:
Politically indeterminate due to the whole “democracy” thing. Leads to course changes. This leads to counterproductive foreign policy at times, the Prime Minister changes and therefore the relations with nations change.
The economy is strong, but very open and reliant on the import of food and some manufacturing products. Knootoss tends to be *a* chain in the production of goods rather than an autarchy. This means more efficient production, but also greater reliance on the outside worlds.
Dutch heritage, some people are bigoted against it for some reason.


I’m probably forgetting lots of stuff here anyway.

Hmmm... as I try to have a good military et al., I'm not really sure what my major weaknesses are (other than the fact that I have no überdreadnoughts/megaheavy tanks etc.), though one could argue that my Abrams tanks lack a good amount of offroad mobility.

And then there's the fact that I have a Mars colony and virtually no spacefleet to speak of (I might have to rectify that someday.)

Surely Syskeyia has more weaknesses :)

for the most part anyone who reads my writeup in NSWiki can figure out what Pilon's great weaknesses are, and it also really depends on who you ask as to what is considered weakness as opposed to strengths.

Most definately the greatest flaw of Pilon is their Alien Culture, it makes it very difficult for others to understand Pilon's point of view, culture, and many of our practices and this has led to some tensions, even some violence.

Weaknesses? We don't need your stinking weaknesses!

Cultural weakness:
Being reptilian, Sakkrans have trouble understanding the motives behind much of what humans consider 'important'. This results in some rather hairy face-to-face situations sometimes.

Physiological weakness:
Also being reptilian, Sakkrans have trouble with environments that aren't optimal for them. This means cold, dry or hot places are too difficult to live in, and very dry places give them respiratory failure. Sure, they have medecines for that problem, but what happens when the meds run out?

Military Fleet Weakness:
The ships are actually self aware beings cybernetically enhanced. What does this mean? It means they have to be grown and educated, which takes a reeeaaaal long time. As such, while the ships are strong, they are comparatively few. Also, they can succumb to disease such as Sail Rot, and even have the ability to go completely mad.

Well....

The motto of the Combined Goblin Collective: "Quantity over Quality" says it all really...

They're Goblins.

The Fleet

- Shyps generally resemble a mobile junkheap
- Shyps are normally so badly designed that bits drop off in space (as in, so badly designed that they break the laws of physics and actually drop in space)
- Goblin weapon systems are so malfunctional that approxomately 1/6 Shyps blow themselves up from firing their own guns.
- Alcoholism. Goblins are allowed to drink while on duty (although nothing stronger than Da Medium Stuff (60%) ).
- Goblin Shyps and even entire fleets commonly turn up in the wrong place.
- Shyps are stopped by pulling out the fuel, or pulling the plug from the wall socket
- There's a Big [colour] Button and Big [colour] Dial for each function. Colours are not standard throughout Shyps.
- Goblins aren't very good at aiming....

At Home
- Many, many things. I might get around to sorting out this section.