NationStates Jolt Archive

ok I understand that yuo gotta be in character and that you need no motive to declare war but how do you know if you win or lose? Isn't it cheating or something? Please help me!

No, you DO need motive.

No, you don't need motive actually. I could declare war on your right now. Of course, invading without motive could cause repercussions from other nations :)

Ah, well, yes, but for a good RP...

ok well I see people who have no motive for war so I didn't figure it was needed..ok now that that's out of our system tell me how I win or lose....that's my concern atm

And war isn't always about victory.
Sometimes failure is expected... or should be.
For example, a small nation, you will be slaughtered.
You need to have a large army or instead use guerrilla warfare and use stratigy techniques like blitzkrieg or shock and awe. Its really who ever is the stronger Roleplayer. And if you suck at that theres always the alternative of region crashing, and I've been down that road, you better avoid that, and terrorism too, it will get you no wheres.

There are no set rules, war is a Role-Play, with nations posting their forces, movements, losses and such.

I am not sure, but I do not think a war has ever been completed here in NS, they just fade away. You can claim to invade me, if I never respond, how are you winning?

Yeah but if you don't have motive and theres no point you probably have some sort of mental disorder.

A few wars with me has been completed:

Atticos-Harmonus War - Total Victory - Annexation
Atticos-McLeod War - Defeat - Payments and Arms Limitations
1st Atticos-FPC War - Draw
2nd Atticos-FPC War - Victory, independant nation created as buffer.
3rd Atticos-FPC War - Draw
there are a few others, but thats a few.

True, wars should be more organized and should actually continue.
Rpers should always make agreements before attacking and stuff but that wouldn't make much sense since you only invade enemys which is your motive usually.

arg I still don't get it. This is my undrstading so far....you find a good motive whatever that may be and then you just say "I declare war on <insert country here>" and then just make up all this stuff about your country like......"I have 50 million troops stationed at my northern border alone" now I myself have no bloody idea id I even have 50 people in my country. please help me out some more.....

Of all the major ones, there is not one. All I have seen ended in A. IGNOREfest, Godmod claim, no more posts, lack of interest, numberwanking, etc. Makes me wonder is adult attention disorder is real?

arg I still don't get it. This is my undrstading so far....you find a good motive whatever that may be and then you just say "I declare war on <insert country here>" and then just make up all this stuff about your country like......"I have 50 million troops stationed at my northern border alone" now I myself have no bloody idea id I even have 50 people in my country. please help me out some more.....

I suggest you talk to truitt.
He has an alliance where Rpers practice RPing with paintball rounds and laser tag weapons, also they test weapons, ect, ect, ect.And it is very good to have allys.You guys wanna ally, I'm starting a storefront this summer, discounts for all allys. Did some one say bribe.

ok thank yuo people. I appreciate the help. I am inded grateful.

I know my typing sucks and I do apologize for my typing errors through this whole thread.

Thats oky, I'm nt exctly te priz winer of te spling b.
But seriously, talk to truitt.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm new at this too. But here's the way I understand it:

1) You don't just arbitrarily say, "I have 50 million troops at my northern border alone," especially if this number exceeds your nation's population. The way I understand "proper" numbers to be calculated is by looking at your nation's population (in the first paragraph of your nation's front page description). You then estimate the number of troops & support personnel based on sex (depending on if you want all-male, both male & female, only males in the trenches but both male & female everywhere else, etc., etc.), age (usually only 18-40ish would be enlisted), profession (people that are essential to your civilian population & for supporting war efforts, such as doctors, factory workers producing munitions & other equipment, teachers, etc.).

So if you had a population of 5,000,000 and wanted an all-male army, you might guess that, of the approximately 2,500,000 males, 1/3 are too young, and 1/3 are too old, which leaves 800,000 eligible men. Then you might guess that, of that, (I'm making wild guesses here) half are essential to your nation's continued survival, which leaves 400,000, which you promptly enlist in your armed forces. Out of that 400,000, half might work behind desks, or provide support to active troops, or be military brass, or man radars, computers, etc....you get the picture. Which leaves you with 200,000 men with guns in their hands (or cannons, battleships, fighter jets, whatever).

And from what I've read in the forums, anywhere between 1% & 3% of your total population is a good range for number of active troops that you can send into battle.

2) Likewise, you can't just say, "I fire 18,000 nuclear warheads at your nation, leaving nothing but a giant, smoldering crater." From what I gather, your nation's armory should reflect its government (a militaristic government would probably have more & better arms than a pacifist one), its economic condition (if your country is flat broke & people are starving, you probably don't have multi-billion dollar fighters & bombers stashed away), and again, its size (if you're an established superpower with 3 billion citizens, you're in a better position to have well-stocked armories, whereas a 2-day-old nation of 5,000,000 would probably be a bit more rag-tag).

3) The war "ends" when:
- Two (or more) individuals, following the "rules" of roleplaying (keeping things realistic), figure out their realistic army & munitions sizes, play out strategies, battles, etc. and see where things go. One guy says his armies do something, the next guy plays off this new development & says his armies do another thing, etc., etc.. When one (or more) guy (or guys) decide they've been out strategized, out manned, out gunned, or are just tired of all the typing, a white flag is waved (or the last man standing is blown up) and a victor is declared.
- One or both parties gets bored or tired of all the typing, and the thread ends with no clear winner or loser.
- Someone gets frustrated or bored and starts leaning towards hyperbole ("My nation gets sick of being pummelled by your nation, and fires a super-duper fusion particle death bomb, which vaporizes your army"), the other party accuses the offending party of "Godmodding," and inevitably starts ignoring the Godmod offender.

All of you more seasoned NSers out there, feel free to add, correct, etc..

Thats oky, I'm nt exctly te priz winer of te spling b.
But seriously, talk to truitt.

Another thing, look at other roleplays, particularly the well-played ones. They're a good way to learn. Automagfreek's Announcement at the top of International Incidents has a good RP of a war if I remember correctly.

Basically, come up with realistic figures for your military (no more than roughly two percent of your population in peacetime and about five percent during wartime). If you attack, just post your attack and wait for your opponent to post any losses. If your opponent posts an attack, post plausible losses.

You get better as you roleplay more, like you would with any skill.