"beginner" is a pretty broad term.
what i'd recommend, is setting up 20 Interceptor wings, and 10 Helicopter wings, and max upgrade them. if you upgrade them to 450, then later on, when you have trouble, you can double them, with the extra being 330Q, and end up with 40 I-wings at 390. Its unlikely that another newb will have enough Offensive air wings that have a high enough Quality to match, that is if you can get federation air support, which you can set up with your own countries.
Set up about a dozen large and small supply units, with LT, and LTA. If you manage to fill your garrisons, you'll need more of these.
as far as garrisons. for your capital, cities, and bases, you'll need nuke D. 10 NDB, with 50 missiles each. as far other weapons, thats gonna depend on your available funds, and manpower.
further with garrisons, its unlikely that you will fill each garrison. focus your heavie
Thank you for your help you guys. i'm still a bit confused about some things here and there will ask more questions later.
When building ones' army, is the economy hurt? For example if my profit per month is 20B and I start working on maintaining an army, will my profit go down?
If so how do I make it so that my economy isn't hurt.
Why are nuclear weapons not allowed to be used? I do not see the point in having them but not using them. Would it be just for deterrence?
Yes, your economy is hurt, but not as much, or its just me. I spend 8B roughly on military, and I have a Defense Rank of 41, with 650,000+ troops. It counts as roughly 33% of my total spending, but I get away with a 6B-10B profit. Also, most of your profit right now is Beginners Booster which helps you earlier in the game. Also, nuclear weapons can be used, but only in a PvP fight, but the Security Council may bite your butt if you use them excessively. But here's a Simcountry LAW: The best way to make money is through Raiding, you can get 2.5T profit if you fight a War Level 3 CCC.
make sure to buy 120 military supplies, and services. the lower your gov salaries, will also save allot of costs. trying to buy High Quality weapons and ammo, and upgrading, to have a more consentrated fire power, as opposed to over whelming, will also help.
in theory, you should only be facing off with those of your same build up level. for defense against those stronger than you, search out a federation, of your same temperment, that can assist you with air defense.
additionally, for upgrading focus on your air defense, thats where you'll get the best bag for your buck.