NationStates Jolt Archive

In this (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=372637) thread, there are many calculators of the military available:

Military calculators
Completed Calculator (The Evil Overlord): http://www.geocities.com/versionizer/CompletedCalculator.xls (Excel 2000)
Detailed Calculator (I have no idea who created it): http://www.geocities.com/versionizer/DetailedCalculator.xls (Excel 2000)
Lightweight Calculator (I have no idea who created it): http://www.geocities.com/versionizer/LightweightCalculator.xls (Excel 2000)
PBMC Export Calculator (Sunset): http://www.geocities.com/versionizer/PBMCExport.xls (Excel 2000)
Layarteb General Sheet (Layarteb): http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Files/Layarteb_General_Sheet.xls (Newer Excel versions)

I also found this (http://www.geocities.com/thecitizensdefencealliance/making_a_military.html) one in a different thread. (I'm using version 3.0)

What I want to know is: which one do you consider the best. I'm trying to create a realistic MT military, but I have no idea which one to use.

Worse still, I have no idea how to use them. Whilst the one not in quote tags has a guide, I'm still perplexed.

Can anyone help me choose a good one and show me how to use it? Thanks in advance if you can.

The evil overlord one is very useful, but just stick to basic stuff, avoid everything unit size and below. Just type in the totals you wish, i tried it and found it quite easy.

Tag

The evil overlord one is very useful, but just stick to basic stuff, avoid everything unit size and below. Just type in the totals you wish, i tried it and found it quite easy.

Thanks for the advice. Really, the only disadvantage of your words is that sticking to basic stuff only gives you basic stuff. But it's a start, and I thank you.

I am using the Evil Overlord one. Heh, and I thought I would never have a reason to use Excel.

I am using the Evil Overlord one. Heh, and I thought I would never have a reason to use Excel.

True. The only other thing I use it for is to see how far I can scroll down and to the left. The furthest I got was IV65536.

I've been using the Evil Overlord one for detailed information, and the Lightweight one for general statistics. These things are amazing. *worships those who have made my life easier*

me and my mate are going to completely build my army. We are gonna go from the ground up and cover everything from meals to ammo to what sorta loo there is gonna be at the main bases. if u are gonna do something like this these calculators are great for it.

me and my mate are going to completely build my army. We are gonna go from the ground up and cover everything from meals to ammo to what sorta loo there is gonna be at the main bases. if u are gonna do something like this these calculators are great for it.

Sounds ambitious. Good luck.

What type of loos will there be?

Sounds ambitious. Good luck.

What type of loos will there be?

Standard-issue M-1337 portable waste-disposal facilities, of course. :p

Okay, The Evil Overlord one seems to be the most popular. Does anyone have a guide on how to use it to it's full potential, or can write one? It would be appreciated.

Guide to Using Evil Overlord's Military Strength Calculator

The Calculator (http://www.geocities.com/versionizer/CompletedCalculator.xls) (click Open to open it in a browser window, or click Save if you want to save a copy to your computer; it'll work either way)

Here's a step-by-step guide to using this handy little military strength calculator.

1.) Enter the population of your NS nation into the box next to "Population." Include commas or don't, it doesn't matter.

2.) Determine the percentage of your population in your standing army (not taking draftees/reservists into account). Unless you have compulsory military service for everyone in your country, or you want to totally ruin your economy, this number should probably be between 1-3%. The maximum you should ever use in wartime is 5%, and even then your economy's probably headed down the toilet. The calculator will take the number (no need to include the percent sign) you entered and will calculate the total number of personnel in your entire military.

3.) Determine the percentage of personnel in each branch of your military. This is where you split your total manpower between your Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines. These percentages will vary depending on which branch(es) your nation focuses on. If you're not sure as to what breakdown would be good, try this one: 30%-30%-30%-10% (Army-Air Force-Navy-Marines). The calculator will automatically determine the total number of people in each branch of your military.

4.) Determine the size of various units in your Army. In the boxes under "Personnel," enter the number of personnel in each type of unit. For simplicity's sake, don't include logistics or support personnel in these numbers. If you're unsure as to what numbers to put down, try checking out this unit breakdown chart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_United_States_Armed_Forces). Based on the chart, a good unit breakdown might look like this: 50-250-1,000-5,000-15,000-45,000. This will give you 5 platoons per company, 4 companies per battalion, 5 battalions per brigade, 3 brigades per division, and 3 divisions per corps. In the next column, the calculator will display how many of each unit you have in your entire Army.

5.) Determine the size of various units of your Air Force. Repeat the above process, except with different numbers. Though I was unable to find any other unit breakdown charts besides the one for the Army, I do have some basic knowledge of air force unit divisions, and I used the following breakdown: 4-12-144-432-864. This gives you 3 flights per squadron, 12 squadrons per wing, 3 wings per group, and 2 groups per force. Again, in the next column, the calculator will display how many of each unit you have in your entire Air Force.

6.) Determine the size of various units in your Marine Corps. Unless you feel like making your Marine Corps idiosyncratic and different from your Army, just use the same figures you used for your Army. If you do feel like making your Marine Corps idiosyncratic and different from your Army, plug in your own numbers. Again, in the next column, the calculator will display how many of each unit you have in your entire Marine Corps.

7.) Determine the size of various units in your Navy. [Information to be posted here when I figure out just what the hell the Navy section is all about.]

Congratulations! You now have a potent RP tool that you can use to back up your military claims. You can also use it to go into much more detail in your military operations RPs, especially on the small-unit level.

OOC: I'll try and write up a few tips for it.

TAG for calculator guide write-up.

Really? Thank you.

OOC: My masterpiece...'tis finished. :p

Seriously, though, if anyone's got any input, feel free to share it. This is open-source, after all. (Well, sort of.)

tag

-guide snipped-

Thanks for this. You said that you'ld add in stuff about the Navy when you figured it out. Well, I don't know if it helps, but I found the crew in each vessel type (Destroyers, Cruisers, Submarines, Amphibious and Support) from this (http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ffiletop.html) website. Hope it helps:

Destroyer: 382
Cruiser: 364
Submarine: 134
Amphibious: 964
Support: 600

I can't confirm the accuracy of these figures, nor can I confirm their usefullness, but I'm sure I'm right on both accounts.

"Destroyer: 382
Cruiser: 364
Submarine: 134
Amphibious: 964
Support: 600"

It depends what size.
Generally a 150metre destroyer would have about 180 crew, nowhere near 382. That's huge or a destroyer. And i've no goddamn idea why the Cruiser crew number is lower than the destroyer's. The Cruisers should be somewhere in the nether regions of 400, with submarine being correct mostly, and Amphibious and Support depending on role.

EDIT: Arleigh Burkes are big O.o
Confusing americans

I use my own variation of the Evil Overlord calculator... I find it very useful... in addition to the "annual cost per item" equation, I've added an "initial cost per item equation" next to it. After all, your super battleship might only cost a hundred million dollars a year to maintain, but it's gonna cost a heck of a lot more to actually buy it the first year. I've also added other things to the format, such as my troop bases, logistics vehicles, even my missile silos. Then again, I've got WAY too much time on my hands, as anyone who's read my factbook can attest. :p

I find TEO's calculator to be a little restrictive as it has no idea of logistics or of different types of units. If I put in 5% (combatants, not logistics/militia, then it raises to 15% >.> I get 210 million combatants. Actually, that's about right.
I'll shutup now. However, when I did do it I changed Army to reserves and Marines to proffessional.
Army % 35%
Air Force % 15%
Navy % 45%
Marine % 5%
if anyone actually cares.
It therefore claims I can have 10,500,000 Marines (or proffessionals)if I fund 5% of my military as the proffessionals. I don't think that that is anywhere near correct.
And under navy, it has only five items. It has no indication of SSBNs (totally different to "submarines") or aircraft carriers or battleships. In contest with popular agreement battleships are not a waste of money in NS, or even in RL (if you were actually fighting a war)
And again it's also missing a few naval groupings. I've no idea of how to do this, so I might sound a little cynical.
Also I don't like how the others have based their calculators of American military technology. I find that highly insulting considering any decent, well funded, navy, army, or airforce in NS could completely thrash the US Military...
my two free pounds on the subject,

PERSONALLY, I don't use calculators, just ns economy (cos it's cool) which I actually heavily rely on. I just take my military budget from there and work out what I can afford and what i can't. Which is why my landbased airforce completely blows <.< >.>

I'm actually trying to complete my own calculator right now (I'll post here when it is done. ) My problem with most of the calculators listed is that they don't seem to take into account the cost of the military. They base all calculations on percentages of population without regard to cost. 2% of your pop. in the military is all well and good if you have a budget to support them. You can't have more people in the military than you can afford to feed, clothe, arm, pay, etc. I use the 3rd geek calculator to get my budget and figure that my military runs no more than 1.5 million people including logistics and support per trillion in my defense budget.

I'm actually trying to complete my own calculator right now (I'll post here when it is done. ) My problem with most of the calculators listed is that they don't seem to take into account the cost of the military. They base all calculations on percentages of population without regard to cost. 2% of your pop. in the military is all well and good if you have a budget to support them. You can't have more people in the military than you can afford to feed, clothe, arm, pay, etc. I use the 3rd geek calculator to get my budget and figure that my military runs no more than 1.5 million people including logistics and support per trillion in my defense budget.

Very true. I'm interested in your calculator. When do you think it will be finished?

"Destroyer: 382
Cruiser: 364
Submarine: 134
Amphibious: 964
Support: 600"

It depends what size.
Generally a 150metre destroyer would have about 180 crew, nowhere near 382. That's huge or a destroyer. And i've no goddamn idea why the Cruiser crew number is lower than the destroyer's. The Cruisers should be somewhere in the nether regions of 400, with submarine being correct mostly, and Amphibious and Support depending on role.

EDIT: Arleigh Burkes are big O.o
Confusing americans

OOC: For my own copy of the calculator, I'm going to plug in naval personnel figures based on the figures for my IPS-made vessels. For the guide, I'll put in that the user will have to look up crew figures for whatever vessels they use in their navy themselves, since not everyone who uses this guide will be using IPS vessels.

EDIT: As our friends across the pond say, "bugger it." This damn Navy thing is just not clicking with me. Anyone else want to have a crack at it? If you want, you can check my Reference Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=437943&page=3&pp=15) for statistics on all the Praetonian vessels I use in my navy.

Mauiwowee, I'm not going to explain why I use 15% as a number.
Halberdgardia: that seems a better idea than using the US figures.

Tag

Very true. I'm interested in your calculator. When do you think it will be finished?

ASAP is about all I can say, probably w/in the next week though.

Mauiwowee, I'm not going to explain why I use 15% as a number.


I didn't ask you to explain or critisize you for using that number. I critisized the various calculators in the original post for seemingly failing to take budgets into account.