The army has many different types of military units, weapons and ammunition. Part of the army is defensive, another is offensive; it has a navy and a nuclear force.
The army uses soldiers and officers that are recruited from the general population but it can also use professional soldiers and officers.
Building an army, that will be capable of defending the country or even conquer another country and maintaining such an army, requires an understanding of the various components.
The army is divided into four major parts. The defensive army is only capable of defense. The Offensive and strategic armies are meant for active attacks on your enemies. The strategic army consists of mainly nuclear forces. The fourth part is the navy. It has ships, carriers command ships and a naval air force.
The fighting forces of the army are organized in military units. These units are setup with different types of weapons and can consist of both offensive and defensive weapons. Strong armies have many military units consisting of many weapons and ammunition of high quality.
The army needs many weapons and ammunition to be able to fight. Weapons must be maintained and the army is using ammunition to keep its army units, soldiers and officers trained. It also uses services and supplies to be able to function.
Military Services, military supplies and Fuel.
Military services, Gasoline and aircraft fuel are in use by the army along with military supplies. One unit of military supplies is needed for each soldier and each officer per game month. The use of military services, gasoline and aircraft fuel depends on the types and number of weapons used by the army.
The army also uses ammunition for training. This is ongoing all the time, even in peaceful periods. Maintenance products are also used. There are several types on maintenance products for defensive, offensive, strategic and naval forces.
To set up a military unit, (War menu, army unit features), the country needs specific weapons ammunition and materials that can be purchased on the product market (trading menu or the war menu). These weapons must be stationed in military bases and airports.
Starting the process, make sure your country has at least one defensive base, offensive military base, and also defensive and offensive air ports. All these objects can be purchased on the market and will show up on you map when they are delivered to the country. Some bases are already available when you enter the game.
Up to 50 military bases can be set up of each type. In addition to the defensive and offensive bases there are also strategic military bases and strategic military airports.
Building of military bases depends on the number of weapons the country has. At least 1000 weapons are needed per military base before a new base can be set up.
The maximum number of weapons per military base is 20.000. If a country has more than 20.000 weapons per military base, some of the weapons will be moved to the reserves.
Most weapons can be purchased on the world market. (Check the trading menu and the war pages for defensive and offensive armies). Also check the military unit details in the military units document to find out how many weapons of each type are needed for each military unit and purchase enough weapons to be able to set these units. When trying to build a military unit, details about all the weapons needed for the unit will show up and they must be purchased before the unit can be set up.
Units can be setup as recommended in the default numbers but it is possible to set them up with different numbers of weapons as long as the number of weapons falls within the predefined limits.
Purchasing the weapons can be limited by the monthly spending limits for the country and will take some time. Cash must be available or the purchasing will be prohibited.
Weapons (and ammunition) are purchased on the open market. Weapons corporations are not different than any other corporations and many offer their products on the market.
The trade system in the game has a contract feature that allows the producers of weapons to sell their products by agreed contracts to specific customers of their choice. Countries may agree to share in the production of weapons and ammunition they need and sell each other by contract.
In the real world, it takes countries years to get deliveries of large numbers of weapons and train their military to use them effectively. The quantities as allowed in Simcountry, make it possible to build an army quite fast but the dependency on the military spending space, also allows some time for others to react.
The maximum monthly spending on weapons and ammunition depends on the financial situation of the country and also depends on the potential use of boosters that can increase the maximum spending per game month.
Purchasing ammunition for the military units takes place in the same way. Each weapon requires a specific type of ammunition and when setting up a military unit you will see exactly how many pieces of ammunition are needed for each unit.
The setup process of the unit can be tuned and numbers of ammunition pieces can be changed to your wishes.
When setting up a military unit, there are required quantities of military services, military supplies and fuel. Trucks are needed to take care of the logistics of the units. The required quantities of materials and the required number of trucks must be available in the country or setting up the units will not be possible.
The Military spending space functions as a maximum spending limit. It prevents unrealistic spending on weapons and ammunition.
The spending space depends on the difference between income and cost in the country and it increases if the country has a larger positive balance. It also depends on the population of the country and higher population numbers result in a larger spending space.
There are minimum levels that will be around 50B per game month for countries with a low population number. These levels will increase with the population. The max spending space per game month is 250B. If the military spending space remains unused, it may accumulate up to 700B. On the Fearless Blue world which is the war world, all these amounts are twice bigger.
When weapons or ammunition is ordered, the military spending space, declines by the value of that order. Contracts are treated as orders. If you sign many contracts for delivery of weapons and ammunition, you may exceed your spending space.
To increase the spending space, grow the economy, so that more money is available for weapons. Short-term shortages can be fixed quickly by the use of a military spending space booster that will add a onetime 400 B to the military spending space.
7. The economic effect of having a large army [ top ]
The cost of maintaining a large army can run in the tens of billions per game month. The decision to build such an army must be taken carefully with an eye on the economy.
A large army has a profound effect on the economy of the country. Purchasing weapons and ammunition can run in hundreds of billions per year and the economy must be able to pay for it. If financial resources are not available in the country, you will need to use additional resources to pay for the weapons and ammunition.
Recruiting many soldiers and officers into the army, removes these people from the economy and may make it hard for corporations to find workers. Corporations cannot function if workers are not available and a fast growth of the army may reduce the production in the country. Use of professional soldiers and officers can offset this problem.
The size of the army depends on the choice of weapons and the numbers being deployed. It may have 100.000 soldiers and officers. Large armies at the top of the world lists reach more than 3.000.000 servicemen. The size is completely up to the president to decide on.
When building the army, it is important to plan in advance but review your decisions from time to time as the military buildup of your neighbors and potential enemies is changing.
As mentioned before, the army needs large numbers of officers and soldiers to operate the defensive, offensive and strategic forces. When additional weapons are purchased, the army automatically recruits officers and soldiers to operate the new weapons.
When weapons are lost in war or reduced by discarding or selling them, the army will reduce its size, as smaller numbers of soldiers and officers are needed to operate the smaller force.
Additional officers, when needed, are recruited from the ranks of medium level managers up to 50 years old. A reduction in the number of officers returns these officers back to the work force and into the group of unemployed medium level managers.
Soldiers are recruited from the ranks of low-level workers up to 50 years old and when not needed in the army, always return to the ranks of low-level workers.
The army has a priority in hiring the staff it needs. When the army needs a very large number of officers, it may hurt the economy of the country because such hiring of officers may reduce the number of available medium level managers.
Shortages may increase fast if large numbers of weapons are added to the army and many corporation may be forced to reduce their production and later, if the hiring of medium level managers as officers continues to increase, stop operations altogether.
The same applies to the hiring of soldiers who are recruited from the ranks of low-level workers. The numbers here are larger than the number of officers but also the pool of available workers is much larger than that of the medium level managers.
Not all low-level workers and medium level managers are candidates for recruitment. The army only recruits from the age groups of 18 to 50. The age groups of 50 - 65 years old are never recruited into the army.
In order to prevent the economy from a collapse as a result of such shortages, messages are printed in the country's newspapers showing that more than 50% of the medium level managers are now recruited into the army.
It is also possible for the country to purchase professional officers and soldiers on the direct trading market. These professionals are then automatically recruited into the army and reduce the numbers of medium level managers and soldiers that are needed in the army. It is even possible to build the entire army based on these professionals.
10. Setting up Military Units - recruiting soldiers [ top ]
Once all weapons, ammunition and materials are available, it becomes possible to set up military units and add them to your army.
Military units need soldiers and officers and their number depends on the types of weapons and the numbers used to operate each wea[pon in the unit. The total number of soldiers and officers that are needed to operate all the weapons in the military unit are part of the unit.
The operating crews are recruited from the general population at the time the weapons are delivered in the country.
Military units may be disbanded if there are shortages of soldiers and officers.
When armies are large, the remaining number of medium level managers may not be sufficient and factories may be forced to stop production. The availability of the older managers who cannot be recruited by the army may prevent a total collapse of the economy and give the user some time to increase the education priorities for such managers and reduce the shortage.
The availability of medium level managers is a very important issue. Having a sufficient number of unemployed medium level managers is in fact needed if the army must increase its capabilities and the economy is expected to keep at a high pace. Many players fail to manage this issue and their economy suffers. As was mentioned before, the professional army can provide a different solution to the problem by reducing the need for recruitment of workers and managers.
It is possible to split the army into an active part and a reserve army that can be activated in case of war. The split can be achieved, weapon by weapon for most types of weapons in all branches of the army:
This feature makes it possible to have a large army but keep part of it inactive to reduce cost.
The feature also makes it possible for countries to trade weapons without direct effect on their economy as the weapons can be sold out of the reserves and put into the reserves by the receiving party without major changes in the numbers of soldiers and officers.
With this feature, players can reduce the number of soldiers and the cost of the army to a lower level and call them to action if needed.
The cost of the reserve army is set to 25% of the cost of the active force both in terms of soldiers, officers and other cost of maintaining the weapons.
There are also disadvantages.
Moving forces between the active and non-active army can be done at a pace of 10% of the total force per game month. Keeping the complete army in the reserve, means that it will take 10 game months to reactivate the full force. War declarations allow for a 4 months wait period before the war actually starts. Keeping 60% of the army in active duty allows for full deployment when war starts provided the player takes quick action when war is declared.
It is also possible to keep a larger percentage of the defensive force in active duty and move a larger percentage of the offensive forces into the reserves.
The feature makes it possible for all players to rethink their positions and develop a strategy that will allow them to benefit from a larger workforce and reduced defense cost without adding major risks to their country.
If the country is unable to maintain its army due to lack of soldiers or officers, 20% of the weapons are moved to the reserves and 20% of the military units may be disbanded. This takes place each game month until the number of servicemen declines sufficiently and shortages of soldiers and officers subside.
If the number of bases is too small and more than 20.000 weapons are based in each of the existing bases, deactivation will take place to reduce the number of active weapons to 20.000 per military base. These numbers are counted separately for defensive, offensive and strategic bases.
If any of these cases occur, a message is showing in the country newspaper.
13. Automatic Reactivation of reserved weapons [ top ]
If war is declared on a country and the president did not login in the short period before war is started, defensive reserves will be reactivated automatically. The auto defense function is defending the country with all the available defensive weapons. The reserves, reactivated at 10% per game month, are part of the available army.
This feature, like the temporary war protection feature, is intended to make it easier for players who are out for a short period and who are not able to optimize their defense while the weapons are available.
The reactivation will only function if the country has enough soldiers and officers for the army. If these are not available, the reactivation will fail.
Automatic reactivation is optional. It can be turned on or off.
14. Secured Mode and Deactivation of Weapons [ top ]
Countries in secured mode can deactivate all their weapons more quickly and deactivation is unlimited. Except for the last military base of each type, all the weapons, of all types can be deactivated.
15. Ordering Weapons when Military Bases are Partially Destroyed [ top ]
To order weapons, you need a military base that is not damaged. If the last base of a certain type is destroyed in war or nearly destroyed, no weapons that are stationed in this type of military base can be ordered. If one base is repaired for 10%, or a new base is set up, ordering of weapons becomes possible.
To set up a navy, either a carrier or a fleet command ship must be purchased first. When available, other navy weapons and ships can be added.
Purchasing and operating multiple carriers is limited to Premium Members only. All other players can operate one aircraft carrier, one helicopter carrier and one fleet command.
Players are free to sell all their weapons and ammunition and eliminate their army. Their countries may remain undefended and if war protection is off, can be conquered quickly by another player.
Weapons can also be destroyed and will disappear from the country stock. Only weapons in the active army can be destroyed.
Some military bases will always remain in the country. The last military base of eeach type cannot be removed.
Defensive Land Forces
The defensive army consists of military units that are based in defensive military bases and airports. The military units are composed of tanks, armored vehicles and more and it has defensive fortifications scattered around the country where garrisons that are also a type of military units, are located and fight back in case of an attack.
Defensive land force units cannot be used in attacking an enemy. They are only used for defense of the country, blocking the advance of attacking land forces.
Defensive Military Bases can be destroyed in war. The last base will never be destroyed completely (max 99%) and will house the remaining defensive land forces that are not part of military units. A defensive military base can hold up to 20.000 land based weapons. If many more weapons are available, more bases are needed or the weapons will be moved to the reserves.
The defensive forces are only capable of defense. If you have only defensive forces, you will not be able to attack any country.
All defensive weapons and their capabilities are described in more details in the weapons document.
Defensive Air force
The defensive forces include an air force with defensive aircraft that are organized in air wings. The defensive air craft include helicopters and interceptors that are capable of intercepting enemy fighters and bombers and can also respond to ground attacks.
Radar planes should also be part of the defensive air force. Radar planes make it possible for your defense to concentrate its firepower on the incoming attack and know in advance where the attack will hit. Without radar planes, your defense wings will have to protect all the targets in the country and their capacity at any specific target will be very limited.
The defensive wings are located in defensive airforce bases. These bases can be destroyed in war. The last airport will never be destroyed completely (max 99%) and will house the remaining defensive aircraft. A defensive military airport can hold up to 20.000 defensive aircraft that are not part of any defense wing. If many more are available, which is unlikely, more air force bases are needed or some of the aircraft will be moved to the reserves.
Defensive missile installations
The defensive army can include various types of missiles that are used to intercept enemy aircraft, incoming missiles and hit back at the launching installations in enemy territory.
Each weapon and ammunition type has a defined range and capabilities in intercepting attacks. Details of all weapons and their capabilities are included in this document and in the weapons document.
The defensive missile types and their ammunition are used as part of military units that include multiple types of weapons and ammunition.
Offensive weapons are used to attack enemy targets. If you are only interested in a peaceful country and a strong economy, do not purchase many of these weapons. The weapons are costly and use large numbers of soldiers and officers that would otherwise work in the industry in your country.
Offensive weapons, as part of military units, can attack countries further away.
In war, your offensive army will be organized in military units that can move around the country and invade enemy territory. When attacking your enemy, you can choose which army unit will carry our each attack. It can attack either the target itself or the garrison protecting it.
To see details of the target, the offensive army uses long-range radar planes that will enable it to see the enemy forces that are stationed at each target.
Radar planes can be launched to see the details of targets and report about the weapons that are stationed near such targets.
Attacking another country involves many army units that are moved close to the targets you want to conquer. These army units require many soldiers and officers to operate their weapons. They use large quantities of ammunition, military supplies and gasoline. They also use military services to maintain their weapons and other materials.
All these materials and ammunition are supplied to the army units by supply units that are moving the supplies between bases in your country and the locations where the army units are stationed. All these materials must be available in your country or the army will not function. If an army unit is out of gasoline, it will not be able to function and it needs ammunition to fire its weapons.
Maintenance of the army is an important part of the cost for the country. The maintenance cost repeats each month and comes in addition to the initial cost of purchasing the weapons.
Offensive Military Bases can be destroyed in war. The last base will never be destroyed completely (max 99%) and will house the remaining offensive land forces that are not part of any army unit. An offensive military base can hold up to 20.000 land based weapons. If many more weapons are available, more bases are needed or the weapons will be moved to the reserves.
Offensive Land Forces
Offensive land forces are use in army units or they are based in an offensive military base. Offensive weapons can be purchased only if at least one offensive military base is available in the country.
The forces include Heavy Tanks, Heavy Artillery and Armord Vehicles (not the same as used for defense).
Military units that include land based offensive weapons can attack any enemy targets if these targets are within range of the army unit and if they have all the ammunition and supplies that are needed for the unit to operate.
Attacks can take place close to the country borders or at a very large distance from your own country as long as the units are sufficiently supplied.
Offensive air force
The offensive air force is based in offensive air bases and is organized in air force units. Weapons can be purchased if at least one offensive air base is available. These forces include fighter planes that are used to attack enemy air wings, bombers and attack helicopters that are used against most targets and long-range radar planes. Large numbers of attack drones can also be part of air force units.
The air base must be protected against incoming missiles, land forces and air attacks. The radar planes are essential for effective attacks and are an important target for incoming attacks.
Offensive Military Airports can be destroyed in war. The last airport will never be destroyed completely (max 99%) and will house the remaining offensive aircraft. When destroyed for 90% or more, weapons that are stationed at the base will not participate in the war effort. An offensive military airport can hold up to 20.000 offensive aircraft. If many more are available, more air force bases are needed or some of the aircraft will be moved to the reserves.
Offensive missiles
The offensive missile batteries use an offensive military base as their home base. They make part of military units and can be moved close to targets in enemy territory. Offensive missiles are used in attacking enemy planes, enemy bases, airports, missile batteries and any other targets including civilian and economic targets.
The missile-batteries include mid range missiles and offensive anti aircraft missiles. They also include cruise missiles that are very precise and have a good chance of hitting their targets and also conventional long-range batteries that are accurate and destructive.
The strategic forces include nuclear or chemical weapons only. They include large and small nuclear weapons that should not be used in any war but may deter others from an attack.
Strategic forces require strategic bases, launchers and bombs. All of these are extremely costly. A strategic army will significantly increase the monthly cost of your army.
Strategic Military Bases can be destroyed in war. The last base will never be destroyed completely (max 99%) and will house the remaining strategic missile forces. When damaged for 90% or more, weapons that are stationed at the base, cannot participate in the war effort. A strategic military base can hold up to 20.000 strategic weapons. If many more weapons are available, more bases are needed or the weapons will be moved to the reserves.
The Strategic air force
The strategic air force requires a strategic air base. The only airplane in use is the strategic bomber that is capable of carrying heavy nuclear payloads. The hydrogen bombs are extremely powerful and capable of destroying a large city including the capital.
The defense forces of the attacked country are likely to target these strategic bombers with nuclear defense missiles to prevent a possible damage.
The strategic air force is expensive to build and to maintain. Countries need a strong economy to be able to build and defend such a force against likely attacks.
Strategic missiles
The strategic missiles are based in a strategic military base. At least one base must be available when purchasing these weapons. The weapons include nuclear missile batteries and tactical nuclear batteries, which come at a relatively lower cost for nuclear weapons and although very powerful, have a smaller destruction power compared to the larger weapons.
Strategic bases are probably among the first targets to be attacked. They represent a danger to your enemy and must be heavily protected with many defensive weapons and missiles.
Nuclear weapons can be used against various targets. Each weapon is effective against a specific set of targets.
Nuclear Missiles
Nuclear missiles can be used against all military bases, the capital and large cities. The destruction level in all cases is 100%. The weapons can be intercepted if one nuclear defense battery is available at the target and at least one nuclear defense missile is in stock.
A military base, if hit by a nuclear missile, will be completely destroyed and all weapons that are stationed at the base will be destroyed too.
Cities of any size will be fully demolished with many dead and injured.
A nuclear missile explosion will create a severe nuclear disaster with implications to a wider area in the country. It will also cause damage in neighboring countries, causing a level II nuclear disaster. Countries in the wider area around the neighbors will also be affected and suffer a level I nuclear disaster.
Nuclear Submarines - using nuclear missiles
Nuclear submarines are using missiles that are similar to the land based nuclear weapons and the results of a successful attack are the same.
The nuclear submarines have the advantage of their mobility, making it possible to attack targets all over the world by moving the submarine into range of the target.
Submarine Nuclear missiles can be used against all military bases, the capital and large cities. The destruction level in all cases is 100%. The weapons can be intercepted if one nuclear defense battery is available at the target and at least one nuclear defense missile is in stock.
Strategic Bombers - using Hydrogen Bombs
This is the most dangerous nuclear weapon in Simcountry. The effects of a nuclear bomb are the same as the effects of a nuclear missile. The effects on surrounding countries and their neighbors are also the same.
A strategic bomber can only be stopped if the target is protected by at least two nuclear defense batteries with at least two nuclear defense missiles stationed at the target.
Hydrogen Bombs can be used against all military bases, the capital and large cities. The destruction level in all cases is 100%.
Tactical Nuclear Weapons
Tactical Nuclear weapons can be used against all military bases. They are not effective against any civilian targets. The destruction level is 100% against defensive and strategic bases and 50% in case of offensive bases. The weapons can be intercepted if one nuclear defense battery is available at the target and at least one nuclear defense missile is in stock.
A successful explosion will cause a level I nuclear disaster and will have no effect on neighboring countries.
Chemical Missiles
Chemical missiles can be used against all military bases, the capital and against large cities. The destruction level is 50% for the bases, 5% for the capital and 10% for large cities. The weapons can be intercepted if one nuclear defense battery is available at the target and at least one nuclear defense missile is in stock.
Once the country has an active army, it has to maintain it, train its military units to achieve high quality and supply the army with ammunition and materials that are used on monthly bases to keep the army active.
23. The Cost of building and maintaining the army [ top ]
The cost of building and maintaining an army is divided between the initial cost of purchasing the weapons and ammunition and the cost of maintaining it.
The defensive weapons are in general cheaper than the offensive and strategic ones. The strategic nuclear weapons come at a very high price.
Weapon pricing depends on the general product market and prices fluctuate widely. Surpluses in some weapons lead to price reductions and shortages cause prices to increase. Some countries may decide to downsize their armies and sell many weapons. This too can have an effect on the markets.
The same is true for ammunition that is also purchased on the market and represents a high cost when large quantities are needed.
Each weapon needs a crew to operate and additional materials for maintenance. The purchase of 100 tanks requires the army to recruit 100 or 200 officers, and several hundred soldiers and more cost to operate and keep these tanks in good condition. Ammunition is also used in peacetime to maintain a basic level of training for officers and soldiers.
The number of soldiers and officers needed to operate each weapon are specified, per weapon, in the weapons document.
All weapons are using some ammunition in peace time and the ammunition that is used each game month is subtracted from the quantity of ammunition that is available in the country or in the military units. When units need more ammunition it is supplied from the country stock. The numbers used each month is available on the pages listing product availability and monthly use.
When ammunition stocks are low, the country will order new ammunition on the market and the cost of the ammunition will show on the cash flow page which is part of the financial overview.
Military units have weapons and ammunition and they have several types of supply products that are needed for its operation. The units use some supplies and some ammunition in peace time and when needed, new supplies will be delivered by supply units from the country stock.
The materials and ammunition must be available in the country or otherwise, the units will become unusable.
