NationStates Jolt Archive

Hi

I'm really new to this, and wonder how my region can make war against another region?

What are the rules for declaring and making war?
How does one do it?
How does one win?
What happens when one loose/win?

Regards,

read the beginning of these two threads:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=367578
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357975

Now, you have to have a reason, ICly, to declare war. We usually find one. Then you post how you got your weapons and training (mainly for the newer folks). Storefronts help in this regard. Then, when you are ready for the war, you post a thread about it and on who it is. Make sure the defenders know they are attacking. To fight, you post what your forces do, but not the opponent. It is freeform, therefore you cannot post what the opponent does (and not be ignored, that is). Then you keep on going until someone "breaks" (usually the smaller guy). Once that is done, you "occupy" their land and nothing here affects what happens on the main NS servers as the forums are seperate.
Hope this helped,
CM

Also for you at the moment you cant use nukes. And dont try godmoding or you will get ignored. also respect the other rpers wishes if you want to have a good rp (like parthians for example, they dont like fighting in tech gaps)

Waging war in RP is quite easy. The hardest part for new players is to take losses.

You probably don't want to start out in the forums RPing war. Try terrorism or something simple. If you start out in the forums with war, you most likely will be labeled as a godmoder, warmongerer, or both.

Terrorism RP info (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)

While terrorism is arguably more simple than war (assuming that both are done properly), I would not advise it to begin with. Terrorism possibly has the most potential for abuse out of all of the basic RP types. On top of this, there are many large and powerful nations who take exception to acts of terrorism.

War is certainly not a good thing to start off with, although you should read up on the stickies and possibly read a few war RPs by respected players (Automagfreek, Praetonia, Sanctaphrax etc).

Maybe try something peaceful, such as a conference or a request for development aid. Remember, in any RP, description is good. Write it like a story.

Also for you at the moment you cant use nukes.
Is there a set population at which you are considered nuclear-capable?

I believe it is 1 month after your country is created that you can have nuclear weapons.

Here is a good place to start:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=380354


Something to keep in mind: This game is largely free-form roleplaying. That means we make things up mostly by consensus. Since you are a new player, you need to learn what the commonly agreed- rules and principles are, and a lot of them are written down in the link above.

Once you have read the threads in the link I provided, you'll have a lot better idea of how, why, and when to make war. More importantly, you'll know how, why, and when not to make war- which is most of the time.

Here is some advice on buidling a military:

BUILDING A MILITARY

A lot of people try to make their military equipment unique in one way or another- hence the fictitious designations for aircraft and other hardware. I do this myself, but I try to keep the designations fairly plain (my primary Air Superiority fighter is designated AS-12).

Take care using the GDP calculators. There are several versions available, and at least one is included in the link at the top of this post. Gross Domestic Product is the value of everything produced, sold, and services rendered by everyone in your country for a year. This is not the same as your budget. Your budget will be far less than the GDP, and your military budget will likely only be a small fraction of your national budget. One of the calculators in the link above will calculate the actual military size and budget for you.

When you start building a military, first decide what tech level you wish to roleplay. Star Trek-style FTL cruisers and handheld energy weapons? Elves, swords, and magic? Breech-loading cannons and steamships? This decision will begin to shape your military.

Having decided on a tech level, now you can customize a military force to meet the needs of your country. To keep things simple, assume that a Roman-era trireme would cost as much as a modern-era battleship, which would in turn cost the same as a Galaxy-class starship.

Using these rough equivalents and your military budget, post something to the effect that your national shipyards have begun construction of the BFS Humongous, which is expected to be commissioned in 8 months. A few days later, post something to the effect that Humongous has completed sea trials and include a brief list of capabilities (similar to the unclassified listings in Jane's Fighting Ships). Mention that several sister ships are also under contract.

In order to avoid that ubiquitous curse of the n00bie (Godmoding), make sure that you avoid buying or building too much. A brand new country will not have a fleet of anything- including rowboats. Brand new countries are extremely unlikely to have any capital ships at all. Start small and build up. If you are roleplaying modern technology, instead of building a battleship (which would totally bankrupt your country), start out by building several coastal patrol boats and maybe one or two destroyers. Later on, (when your country is in the 60 million + range), you can announce that the older ships and boats are being replaced by a new class of cruiser, along with newer destroyers and some antisubmarine ships (corvettes or frigates, in modern useage). Now you have the nucleus of a fleet.

This same process applies to aircraft, ground warfare equipment, spacecraft, etc. Something you should pay close attention to is the fact that a large part of your military will not be actual combatants- they'll be support personnel, making sure that the warfighters have the equipment and supplies they need to do their jobs. This holds true whether your primary assault force is dragons supported by Elven archers or starships with planet-busting beam weapons.

*****

As a newcomer, you are a very small fish in a pond filled with schools of sharks, pirhana, and barracuda- many of whom will consider you a delicacy. Most larger nations have more people in their Air Force than you have in your entire country, so be very careful about the nations you decide to annoy. That said, you are not required to play with anyone you don't choose to. If a large, carnivorous country says he is going to invade your country, you do not have to accept it.

On the other hand, using this power too often or just because you're losing will get you a bad reputation. Remember that term, free-form roleplaying? You can only play with people who agree to let you play with them. If you get a bad reputation, few people will agree to let you join their RPs, and many will ignore your attempts to join in. Bad reputations in this game are very hard to get rid of, and it doesn't take much for a newcomer to get a bad reputation.

Back to the whole war-making business. Let's say that you and another player decide to go to war. The very first thing the two of you should do is discuss the rules of the RP the two of you will write. What sort of technology is available? What maps will the two of you use (even if you have to create some for the purpose)? What allies each country will be permitted to call upon? These and many other issues should be decided before the first shot is fired. You should probably decide on a reason for the war. Wars in real life happen for reasons (they may not be good reasons, but they are reasons), and so it should be in NS.

So the two of you have told each other roughly how many troops you have, picked a map to fight on, chosen allies, and announced In Character (IC) your decision to go to war. I suggest creating an OOC (Out-Of-Character) reference and discussion thread for your war thread, and I further recommend you classify the war thread as Invite Only. This allows the primary players involved to choose which players they want to participate. Other nations wanting to get involved must request permission in the OOC thread before mucking up your nice war.

Your war RP will necessarily be turn-based (each player takes a turn posting an attack and/or defense), you need to remember to respond to the enemy's posts- especially regarding the casualties his attack caused. No one can post casualties for anyone else without their permission. You cannot say that your cruise-missile attack destroyed the enemy fleet. The enemy can't say that his air attack wiped out your defenses around your capital city. Once you post an attack, the other player posts his losses from your attack. You do the same thing in response to his attacks.

Because it is free-form roleplaying, you might not agree with your enemy's decision regarding his losses. He is not required to change his losses just because you think he should. This is one of the reasons for the OOC thread, so the two of you can discuss the problem without messing up the RP. If your discussion fails to convince hims to change the results, you can either continue the RP as written or throw a hissy-fit and quit posting. You're usually far better off continuing unless the other player is blatantly god-moding (refusing to accept losses regardless of the type of attack, or inventing wildly improbable lucky accidents that save a large portion of his forces qualify nicely). God-moding is one of the fastest ways to get a bad reputation. To avoid this problem, either RP only with players with good reputations or ask a non-involved player to act as an impartial arbiter.

Hope this all helps.


TEO

Wow TEO, Excellent work...

I think that all that has to be said is listen to TEO...

Ohhh, a good idea might be to contact a good RPing big nation and ask them to help them through your first RP (especially if it's war, they can send a very minor force and help you RP generally).

Oh a good tip is write a small factbook about your nation and do a small map in paint.

You probably don't want to start out in the forums RPing war. Try terrorism or something simple. If you start out in the forums with war, you most likely will be labeled as a godmoder, warmongerer, or both.

Terrorism RP info (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)


Here's a far better idea:

Diplomacy.

Remember that you're new, and therefore weak. Just about the best thing you can do is establish diplomatic relationships with other countries. This will do several good things for you.

1) It will get you noticed. There are several thousand people playing this game (over 120,000 different nations, I believe). One more voice in the chorus will probably get lost in the cacophony- especially if no one knows who you are. There are tons of "Embassy" threads on the boards. Read a few of them and figure out which nation (or group of nations) you would like to contact. Once you've read a few of them, you can even post one of your own.

2) In addition to getting you noticed, it will force you to engage in roleplaying with other nations. Every IC post is a tiny RP, whether you like it or not. Since the entire game on the forums involves free-form roleplaying, this will give you a chance to show off your writing skills, and give you an opportunity to RP when there's little at stake (unlike a war RP).

3) You will get exposed to the RP styles of a lot of people, and thereby help you develop your own.

4) While having formal diplomatic relations with another nation is not the same thing as being allied with them, it does give you access to possible help from other nations. Assuming you have established a good relationship with another nation, they might be convinced to help you out when you do get threatened with war. They may not actually fight for you, but they might sell you equipment, or offer to host peace talks, or maybe even just permit their Navy lurk menacingly in the ocean near your enemy and hint that negotiations are better than war.

Give it some thought.


TEO

Want to go to war with us? :D

AVAST! NEWBIE OFF THE PORT BOW!

*Godmodes shamelessly, nukes newbie off the face of the earth, laughs maniacally*

Seriously, I wish this dude the best of luck...

OR DO I?

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!

Want to go to war with us? :D
Sure. Mind if I wipe you off the map with my Naquadriah nukes, Antimatter Missiles, or ortillery?
[/sarcasm]

Seriously, if you need anything, just TG me on the NS page and I'll try and help.

Here's a far better idea:

Diplomacy.

Remember that you're new, and therefore weak. Just about the best thing you can do is establish diplomatic relationships with other countries. This will do several good things for you.

1) It will get you noticed. There are several thousand people playing this game (over 120,000 different nations, I believe). One more voice in the chorus will probably get lost in the cacophony- especially if no one knows who you are. There are tons of "Embassy" threads on the boards. Read a few of them and figure out which nation (or group of nations) you would like to contact. Once you've read a few of them, you can even post one of your own.

2) In addition to getting you noticed, it will force you to engage in roleplaying with other nations. Every IC post is a tiny RP, whether you like it or not. Since the entire game on the forums involves free-form roleplaying, this will give you a chance to show off your writing skills, and give you an opportunity to RP when there's little at stake (unlike a war RP).

3) You will get exposed to the RP styles of a lot of people, and thereby help you develop your own.

4) While having formal diplomatic relations with another nation is not the same thing as being allied with them, it does give you access to possible help from other nations. Assuming you have established a good relationship with another nation, they might be convinced to help you out when you do get threatened with war. They may not actually fight for you, but they might sell you equipment, or offer to host peace talks, or maybe even just permit their Navy lurk menacingly in the ocean near your enemy and hint that negotiations are better than war.

Give it some thought.


TEO

I know that terrorism isn't the best thing, but I wanted to give him an idea. The real message I was trying to get across was to keep it simple, and terrorism was the simplest thing that came to mind at the time.

I know that terrorism isn't the best thing, but I wanted to give him an idea. The real message I was trying to get across was to keep it simple, and terrorism was the simplest thing that came to mind at the time.

No criticism intended.

I just felt that diplomacy would give the newcomer a better chance to learn the basics- or (more accurately) survive learning the basics.

RPing terrorism is almost as complicated (and dangerous) as war. Its difficult to do properly- especially for a newcomer.


TEO