Exetonia Minor
18-10-2004, 14:17
This version includes suggestions from other NS members:
I may be a newish nation having returned after a 9 month rest but here is my v1.0 guide:
1:The 2-3% rule
It is important to understand how big your military actually is. As a rule of thumb, most playesr suse a base rate of around 2-3% of their population as their total armed forces including support personel. This is because to have a military any larger would be either to expensive to maintain or to much to keep control over. Many of the larger nations use even less for logistics purposes. It is important to note that in some instances where conscription etc applies, the standing army may be larger than 3% but, it should be lesser equipped to represent this fact.
2:The Budget rule:
It is important to understand that although you may have an absolutly huge military budget, thsi does not roll over from year to year if you do not spend it. You may only spend a certain amount of money per day in the various shop fronts in II because you are limited. There are various sites around which are useful and inform you of your budget such as THIRDGEEK (http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com/). Also impoortant to note is that you should, as a baseline spend at lkeast 10% of your military budget on upkeep. This is to say that 10% fo your funding goes on keeping your military up to date and in good working order. This can vary dependant on the size of your military ranging from just 1% to up to 50% and beyond.
3:The logistics Rule
It is important to remember, that just like real life, it would be impossible to keep your armed forces on constant high alert and ready to go. In reality, you would usually only have an absolute maximum of 1/3rd of your forces ready to go into battle instantly. The other 2/3rds could take months to get readu and deploy. It is considerd godmodding to just magically have your army appear in a nation as you should, by following ettiquette allow time for your forces to mobilise and describe how they get to the nation your attacking. This leads me nicely onto
EXAMPLES:
My 15,000 troops arrive in your country and begin opening up on your positions
The call went out accross the nation of '...' to begin prepping for war. Many a man was called back from annual leave and told to prepare for war. it was expected it could ltake anything up to 5 weeks for the military to be ready but, when it was, they would join the 1/6th already en-route too '___'
Alternatively, look HERE (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=275828) for an example.
4:Attacking a nation.
You should have an extremly good reason for attacking a nation or, the international community will either ignore you or come down heavily upon you. I have found the best way to arrange a war is to talk with the nationsate you wish to invade by whatever means you have avaliable and find out why the war is going to happen, when and where. Once these things are decided, you can procede to have your war. You may even get credit from other nationstates if they find the war enjoyable to read. Never go to war over an ooc: flame comment. This is liable to get you ignored. Instead, report any instances of laming to the mods.
For an example of a goodway to go to war click HERE (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366051)
5:Army consistency:
Remember, your military would not realistically comprise of all tanks for your army, all aircraft acrrier for your navy and all bombers for your airforce. You would usually have somesort of variation such as several pieces of artillery and some troop support. Below, are two examples of a bad Military and a good Military:
1500 M1-A2 Abrahms,
1400 various LBT's,
10 Nimitz class carriers,
850 F/A-14 Strike eagles,
200 Sh-60 helicopters,
150 B-53 Bombers
750 M1-A2 Abrahms
1500 various LBT's
300 MLRS (artillery)
900 support trucks
1500 APC's (various types)
15000 Soldiers equipped with various weapons such as AK-47s and m-4 carbines
1 Nimitz class carrier
4 Kittyhawk class carriers
425 varous stovl aircraft
100 SH-60 helicopters
3 various cruisers
15 various detroyers
25 various frigates
150 B-52 bombers
375 various fighter craft
(Then add on your logistical support such as landing craft etc)
6:Everybody looses sometimes
Remember, no one is invincible. Just because youve developed some super shield doesnt mean that your opponent wont eventually RP a way of getting a round it. You have to learn to take casualties as well as give them. This will make u an excel;lent RP'er and one many a nation is likely to enjoy rp'ing with. It is sometimes fun to loose and rp through the consequences o flosing a war such as annexation and oocupation and may even lead to a second war.
7:Nuclear Weapons
As a rule fo thumb, only nations more than two months old or in ceratin circumstances smaller (e.g, a small nation with a frighetning economy) may own nukes. This is because of the logistics and costs of having an firing/dropping them. The same goes for chemichal weapons. Another note of nuclear weapons is that during a war, they should be used as a last ditch method, not as an opening strike. This is because of the M.A.D. (Mutually Assurred Destruction) policy. It is boring to just use nukes rather than fight a war just because your going to loose anyway and may result in you being ignored. Most nations own nukes only to make sure that they themselves cantg be nuked (much like the real world)
Finally:HAVE FUN
The most important thing of all, as with all rp'ing is too have fun. If your not having fun, the somethings not right. Try and tweak the rp so you are having fun and if it doesnt work, abandon it and try again.
Hopefully, this guide has helped you. Any comments/suggestions on this guide are appreciated. Thanks, in advance, Exetonia
Threads also worth a look
F.Y.I What Godmodding is (Euroslavia) (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=274470)
Jaxusism's guide to RP'ing terrorists v2.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)
Euroslavias Guide to Nationstates (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357975)
Jaxusisms Guide to nationsates V1.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366303)(another good guide)
I may be a newish nation having returned after a 9 month rest but here is my v1.0 guide:
1:The 2-3% rule
It is important to understand how big your military actually is. As a rule of thumb, most playesr suse a base rate of around 2-3% of their population as their total armed forces including support personel. This is because to have a military any larger would be either to expensive to maintain or to much to keep control over. Many of the larger nations use even less for logistics purposes. It is important to note that in some instances where conscription etc applies, the standing army may be larger than 3% but, it should be lesser equipped to represent this fact.
2:The Budget rule:
It is important to understand that although you may have an absolutly huge military budget, thsi does not roll over from year to year if you do not spend it. You may only spend a certain amount of money per day in the various shop fronts in II because you are limited. There are various sites around which are useful and inform you of your budget such as THIRDGEEK (http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com/). Also impoortant to note is that you should, as a baseline spend at lkeast 10% of your military budget on upkeep. This is to say that 10% fo your funding goes on keeping your military up to date and in good working order. This can vary dependant on the size of your military ranging from just 1% to up to 50% and beyond.
3:The logistics Rule
It is important to remember, that just like real life, it would be impossible to keep your armed forces on constant high alert and ready to go. In reality, you would usually only have an absolute maximum of 1/3rd of your forces ready to go into battle instantly. The other 2/3rds could take months to get readu and deploy. It is considerd godmodding to just magically have your army appear in a nation as you should, by following ettiquette allow time for your forces to mobilise and describe how they get to the nation your attacking. This leads me nicely onto
EXAMPLES:
My 15,000 troops arrive in your country and begin opening up on your positions
The call went out accross the nation of '...' to begin prepping for war. Many a man was called back from annual leave and told to prepare for war. it was expected it could ltake anything up to 5 weeks for the military to be ready but, when it was, they would join the 1/6th already en-route too '___'
Alternatively, look HERE (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=275828) for an example.
4:Attacking a nation.
You should have an extremly good reason for attacking a nation or, the international community will either ignore you or come down heavily upon you. I have found the best way to arrange a war is to talk with the nationsate you wish to invade by whatever means you have avaliable and find out why the war is going to happen, when and where. Once these things are decided, you can procede to have your war. You may even get credit from other nationstates if they find the war enjoyable to read. Never go to war over an ooc: flame comment. This is liable to get you ignored. Instead, report any instances of laming to the mods.
For an example of a goodway to go to war click HERE (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366051)
5:Army consistency:
Remember, your military would not realistically comprise of all tanks for your army, all aircraft acrrier for your navy and all bombers for your airforce. You would usually have somesort of variation such as several pieces of artillery and some troop support. Below, are two examples of a bad Military and a good Military:
1500 M1-A2 Abrahms,
1400 various LBT's,
10 Nimitz class carriers,
850 F/A-14 Strike eagles,
200 Sh-60 helicopters,
150 B-53 Bombers
750 M1-A2 Abrahms
1500 various LBT's
300 MLRS (artillery)
900 support trucks
1500 APC's (various types)
15000 Soldiers equipped with various weapons such as AK-47s and m-4 carbines
1 Nimitz class carrier
4 Kittyhawk class carriers
425 varous stovl aircraft
100 SH-60 helicopters
3 various cruisers
15 various detroyers
25 various frigates
150 B-52 bombers
375 various fighter craft
(Then add on your logistical support such as landing craft etc)
6:Everybody looses sometimes
Remember, no one is invincible. Just because youve developed some super shield doesnt mean that your opponent wont eventually RP a way of getting a round it. You have to learn to take casualties as well as give them. This will make u an excel;lent RP'er and one many a nation is likely to enjoy rp'ing with. It is sometimes fun to loose and rp through the consequences o flosing a war such as annexation and oocupation and may even lead to a second war.
7:Nuclear Weapons
As a rule fo thumb, only nations more than two months old or in ceratin circumstances smaller (e.g, a small nation with a frighetning economy) may own nukes. This is because of the logistics and costs of having an firing/dropping them. The same goes for chemichal weapons. Another note of nuclear weapons is that during a war, they should be used as a last ditch method, not as an opening strike. This is because of the M.A.D. (Mutually Assurred Destruction) policy. It is boring to just use nukes rather than fight a war just because your going to loose anyway and may result in you being ignored. Most nations own nukes only to make sure that they themselves cantg be nuked (much like the real world)
Finally:HAVE FUN
The most important thing of all, as with all rp'ing is too have fun. If your not having fun, the somethings not right. Try and tweak the rp so you are having fun and if it doesnt work, abandon it and try again.
Hopefully, this guide has helped you. Any comments/suggestions on this guide are appreciated. Thanks, in advance, Exetonia
Threads also worth a look
F.Y.I What Godmodding is (Euroslavia) (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=274470)
Jaxusism's guide to RP'ing terrorists v2.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)
Euroslavias Guide to Nationstates (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357975)
Jaxusisms Guide to nationsates V1.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366303)(another good guide)