Forum_Fluffywuffy
10-04-2009, 19:37
OOC: NOTE: All of this pertains to modern (present-2020) nations. I wrote the original post in 2004 and have edited it very slightly, as I feel it could be useful to today's players. Spelling mistakes are (hopefully) fixed. The original was written when I was 14. Interesting going back to read how I've changed.
When one first joins, or even wants to make improves to their army, the first question is obviously "how many men should I have in my army, and what should they be armed with?" Many people use 5% of the nation's population as total number of people in the army at wartime, yet some real life nations have more than that. Israel, I believe, is a nation of 5 or 6 million people, yet they have a million or so man army. That is roughly 3 times that of our limit, so I propose (amongst other things) a change in the unofficial rules: rather than make the limit a fixed number such as 5 million, make it whatever is justifiable by the nation based upon war/peace status, number of nations involved, etc.
So, why would you need 20% of your people in the army? For most nations here, you wouldn't. I would assume the government might have to enact strict food rationing etc. etc. to support it, and unless the people are die hardedly patriotic, they would complain, possibly revolt, go on strike whatever. 5% is very hard to justify anywhere either. So for most people, 2% or less is an ideal number as it doesn't eat much of the nation's resources and still allows for good number of troops. In the United States, the ratio is about 0.5% of the population in in the military.
Let's look more at the effects of conscription along logical lines. You, before the draft, were living peacefully in your country, with no intention to join the army. You then were thrust into the army, against your will, and continually defy authority, and because you are conscripted, do not give your best. Volunteer militaries are much better than conscripted militaries because the people in the military have a will to fight, they wanted to fight, etc. They will demand better training and weapons too, I would suspect, and command would be pressured to make them better. As for the cost of an infantry unit: I'd say roughly $70,000 per soldier to make it through basic training, armament, and a year's pay/benefits/housing/whatever. This is more or less, depending on your minimum wage laws, gun cost, quality of housing, electricity consumption, or whatever. Just to give you an idea of how much it takes to run, let's say, a million man army with this money, it is 70 billion dollars for no tanks, planes, ships, extra guns, extra armor, APCs, or any other equipment. All you get for this is a soldier, a gun, armor, uniforms, training, and a year's pay. This is more or less depending upon your training/armament standards etc. See above.
“We have men in the army. How many of these are actually soldiers?” Roughly half of these would be soldiers, as a military has huge logistical needs. Because of this, a million man army is really about half support troops—men driving trucks to deliver supplies—and half actual combat troops. More advanced armies, armies in the homeland, armies with smaller supply lines, etc. will all have smaller logistical needs. An army on the other side of the bloated NS Earth would need better supplies.
"Now that my army has men, how many tanks/planes/APCs/ships do I have?" Well, let's see what the ratio of military men/tank etc. is in a modern army such as the US or Russia In America, it is 312 men per tank, 107 men per infantry vehicle, 287 men per airplane, 382 men per helicopter, and 6,489 per ship. In Russia, there are 152 men per tank, 114 men per APC, 532 men per aircraft, 1,220 men per helicopter, and 5,360 men per ship. Other countries, such as many non-US NATO nations, China, and others, have much higher ratios. For example, in France they have 801 men per tank, many less tanks than America or Russia per person. (For my source, go to http://www.cdi.org/products/almanac0102.pdf Yes, you need Acrobat Reader or whatever it is called.) Use all the numbers above to create a more realistic fighting force, if you follow the America or Russia school or follow closely.
"Now that I have my air force/army/navy with numbers, how many nukes should I have?" This is an easy question to answer: it depends. Many nations such as the US or Russia do not have enough ICBMs or SLBMs to launch all of their nuclear weapons. I am sure they don't have enough bombers either. This is likely due to the end of the cold war, and your nation may not have this if you so choose, but those not engaged in a cold war would likely have the "hedge," as they call it, of nuclear weapons to be rebuilt quickly should the need arise. Regardless, there should be, if you are like the US or Russia, only one every 265 military men (counting reserves, as before)
"But even with this, should I have nukes this early?" If you are a new nation, I would suggest that you develop nukes wisely. Your first nuke is likely going to be a Manhattan Project type thing, so you won't be building ICBMs for quite a long time, not even high yield nukes. These things also, in this early development, can explode if you drop them, etc. etc. Be sure they are very crude if you are new, and you work up to nukes with nuclear power, etc. If they show competence and realism in creating nukes, then I am sure that they can get them without being ignored. Needless to say, a new nation won't be building a large nuclear force until development of ICBMs or long range bombers, and until they are larger and can afford it.
"Now that I've got numbers, can I afford it?" Depends. Using a GDP calculator, such as the pipian (http://www.pipian.com/stuffforchat/gdpcalc.php?nation=) or thirdgeek (http://www.thirdgeek.com/nseconomy.php) calculators, calculate your budget. Military should never be more than 50%, unless you are in a cold war/real war and need to catch up with someone. 30% is good, I'd say. "How should I organize my army?" It depends on what your army is to be like, your doctrine, and your style. US divisions differ from European ranks, and Russian divisions are differant from other European divisions I think. Look up ranks of nations, adopt one of them, or develop your own.
"How should my newly developed weapons be?" For a new nation, somewhat crude, slight improvements on modern designs, not all that innovative for a little while. For an older/established nation, look up modern weapons very similar to your design and then create something from scratch. Don't make it outrageous, like a super nuke that destroys Earth, or a super invincible tank force field generator of death. Also, if at all possible, make sure it fits your doctrine. A land locked nation wouldn't have developed a carrier. Well, this so far concludes my thing, feel free to ask/donate more questions to the cause! Donated stuff (to be cont'd, forum is dying)
When one first joins, or even wants to make improves to their army, the first question is obviously "how many men should I have in my army, and what should they be armed with?" Many people use 5% of the nation's population as total number of people in the army at wartime, yet some real life nations have more than that. Israel, I believe, is a nation of 5 or 6 million people, yet they have a million or so man army. That is roughly 3 times that of our limit, so I propose (amongst other things) a change in the unofficial rules: rather than make the limit a fixed number such as 5 million, make it whatever is justifiable by the nation based upon war/peace status, number of nations involved, etc.
So, why would you need 20% of your people in the army? For most nations here, you wouldn't. I would assume the government might have to enact strict food rationing etc. etc. to support it, and unless the people are die hardedly patriotic, they would complain, possibly revolt, go on strike whatever. 5% is very hard to justify anywhere either. So for most people, 2% or less is an ideal number as it doesn't eat much of the nation's resources and still allows for good number of troops. In the United States, the ratio is about 0.5% of the population in in the military.
Let's look more at the effects of conscription along logical lines. You, before the draft, were living peacefully in your country, with no intention to join the army. You then were thrust into the army, against your will, and continually defy authority, and because you are conscripted, do not give your best. Volunteer militaries are much better than conscripted militaries because the people in the military have a will to fight, they wanted to fight, etc. They will demand better training and weapons too, I would suspect, and command would be pressured to make them better. As for the cost of an infantry unit: I'd say roughly $70,000 per soldier to make it through basic training, armament, and a year's pay/benefits/housing/whatever. This is more or less, depending on your minimum wage laws, gun cost, quality of housing, electricity consumption, or whatever. Just to give you an idea of how much it takes to run, let's say, a million man army with this money, it is 70 billion dollars for no tanks, planes, ships, extra guns, extra armor, APCs, or any other equipment. All you get for this is a soldier, a gun, armor, uniforms, training, and a year's pay. This is more or less depending upon your training/armament standards etc. See above.
“We have men in the army. How many of these are actually soldiers?” Roughly half of these would be soldiers, as a military has huge logistical needs. Because of this, a million man army is really about half support troops—men driving trucks to deliver supplies—and half actual combat troops. More advanced armies, armies in the homeland, armies with smaller supply lines, etc. will all have smaller logistical needs. An army on the other side of the bloated NS Earth would need better supplies.
"Now that my army has men, how many tanks/planes/APCs/ships do I have?" Well, let's see what the ratio of military men/tank etc. is in a modern army such as the US or Russia In America, it is 312 men per tank, 107 men per infantry vehicle, 287 men per airplane, 382 men per helicopter, and 6,489 per ship. In Russia, there are 152 men per tank, 114 men per APC, 532 men per aircraft, 1,220 men per helicopter, and 5,360 men per ship. Other countries, such as many non-US NATO nations, China, and others, have much higher ratios. For example, in France they have 801 men per tank, many less tanks than America or Russia per person. (For my source, go to http://www.cdi.org/products/almanac0102.pdf Yes, you need Acrobat Reader or whatever it is called.) Use all the numbers above to create a more realistic fighting force, if you follow the America or Russia school or follow closely.
"Now that I have my air force/army/navy with numbers, how many nukes should I have?" This is an easy question to answer: it depends. Many nations such as the US or Russia do not have enough ICBMs or SLBMs to launch all of their nuclear weapons. I am sure they don't have enough bombers either. This is likely due to the end of the cold war, and your nation may not have this if you so choose, but those not engaged in a cold war would likely have the "hedge," as they call it, of nuclear weapons to be rebuilt quickly should the need arise. Regardless, there should be, if you are like the US or Russia, only one every 265 military men (counting reserves, as before)
"But even with this, should I have nukes this early?" If you are a new nation, I would suggest that you develop nukes wisely. Your first nuke is likely going to be a Manhattan Project type thing, so you won't be building ICBMs for quite a long time, not even high yield nukes. These things also, in this early development, can explode if you drop them, etc. etc. Be sure they are very crude if you are new, and you work up to nukes with nuclear power, etc. If they show competence and realism in creating nukes, then I am sure that they can get them without being ignored. Needless to say, a new nation won't be building a large nuclear force until development of ICBMs or long range bombers, and until they are larger and can afford it.
"Now that I've got numbers, can I afford it?" Depends. Using a GDP calculator, such as the pipian (http://www.pipian.com/stuffforchat/gdpcalc.php?nation=) or thirdgeek (http://www.thirdgeek.com/nseconomy.php) calculators, calculate your budget. Military should never be more than 50%, unless you are in a cold war/real war and need to catch up with someone. 30% is good, I'd say. "How should I organize my army?" It depends on what your army is to be like, your doctrine, and your style. US divisions differ from European ranks, and Russian divisions are differant from other European divisions I think. Look up ranks of nations, adopt one of them, or develop your own.
"How should my newly developed weapons be?" For a new nation, somewhat crude, slight improvements on modern designs, not all that innovative for a little while. For an older/established nation, look up modern weapons very similar to your design and then create something from scratch. Don't make it outrageous, like a super nuke that destroys Earth, or a super invincible tank force field generator of death. Also, if at all possible, make sure it fits your doctrine. A land locked nation wouldn't have developed a carrier. Well, this so far concludes my thing, feel free to ask/donate more questions to the cause! Donated stuff (to be cont'd, forum is dying)