How To Create a Military Doctrine For Your Nation

[Welskerland]

This is a very helpful guide.

I do have one question though. My nation is landlocked and is bordered by three different nations. Welskerland is on fairly good terms with one of them. Welskerland fought one in the past and they still hold a grudge and the third one is hostile even though there has not yet been a war between us.

I thought about having a subway system for just for military transportation. The subway trains can transport soldiers and some cargo, but not vehicles, how effective would this be in a defensive war?

[Allanea]

I don't think a subway system would be effective in wartime at all, except in the sense of using a local subway for civilians to hide from bombings in.

A subway system that's incapable of moving vehicles is, of course, completely useless.

You should maintain, if you plan to rely on rail:

1. A national rail system capable of transporting industry standard cargoes (look up the width standards on real-world trains).

2. A Military Rail Force capable of building additional rails in wartime. If I recall correctly, (don't quote me), modern military rail forces are capable of laying down rails at 10 kilometers per day per railroad forces company. It'll be crappy rail, but it will function in addition to your peacetime rail, not in replacement to it.

[Stormwrath]

Bringing this one back here.

Okay, I want to develop a military doctrine based on the fact that Stormwrath has two borders: one in the south and one in the east.

The north is bordered by the Sea of Montalia, and it is where 39% of the population is located. Major seaports and harbors, including the capital, Tidal City, are located in the north. The terrain there is mostly plains, and the only thing separating the west from east is the Jarovilla River which is very wide in the north.

The west part from center of the country, particularly Floricia, has hilly terrain, and a few small mountain ranges. The central part of Stormwrath is a breadbasket for the country. It is also plains, only with a few more hills. As you move east from center, you encounter high mountain ranges, forming a buffer for the eastern border.

Moving south there is a rift separating New Tracillia from the rest of the country, but not completely. It can only be accessed by Arellano and four other states, which serve as the states you have to get through to access the central and north. New Tracillia also has mountains and many valleys, and many industries are located in this part. New Tracillia is the only state to border our neighbor to the south, which historically has a large military, based on land warfare.

Aside from that, the country needs to focus on naval and aerial dominance due to the fact that we are dependent on foreign trade and that we narrowly lost a war which involved a lot of air domination.

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[Allanea]

1. You want to maintain the ability to block off those mountain ranges to the passage of enemy troops. For this purpose you should have contingency plans to blow up the main mountain passes.

2. You should maintain a large force of mountain infantry, because your enemies will likely attack you through mountainous areas.

3. Ask yourself - is the goal of your navy to defend your coasts primarily, or to provide your nation with long-range force projection?

4. Towed artillery is easily strategically mobile and can be airlifted in mountainous terrain.

5. Naval and aerial dominance costs a lot and a lot of money. It's going to soak up a large percentage of your military budget.

[Bratislavskaya]

So if I have a nation dominated by taiga, with small amounts of swamp and meadows, next to the sea, mainly (but not completely) just outside the arctic circle, I should have an emphasis on light troops and navy right?

[Allanea]

If you have actual inaccessible stereotypical Soviet Taiga forests, probably.

[Bratislavskaya]

If you have actual inaccessible stereotypical Soviet Taiga forests, probably.

Yeah. My nation is in the Arkhangelsk Oblast, so that's what it's like. Should I have regular heavy units for actions outside my nation?

[Allanea]

You might want to look at some kind of mobile reaction force for that.

P.S. Also maybe look at what RL Russia has based in Arkhangelsk Oblast.

[Bratislavskaya]

You might want to look at some kind of mobile reaction force for that.

P.S. Also maybe look at what RL Russia has based in Arkhangelsk Oblast.

I think it's mainly air force and navy they have up there. They dropped the Tsar Bomba on one of the islands, and Severodinsk is the home to Sevmash, the Russian Navy's main shipyard.

[United Pacific States of America]

My nation has a large coast, a spread out islands but our main threat lies past mountains should I split my doctrine with heavy navy and infantry supported by aircraft?

[Allanea]

You might want to look at some kind of mobile reaction force for that.

P.S. Also maybe look at what RL Russia has based in Arkhangelsk Oblast.

I think it's mainly air force and navy they have up there. They dropped the Tsar Bomba on one of the islands, and Severodinsk is the home to Sevmash, the Russian Navy's main shipyard.

If I recall correctly the region is also home to a force of Marine Infantry.

[Allanea]

My nation has a large coast, a spread out islands but our main threat lies past mountains should I split my doctrine with heavy navy and infantry supported by aircraft?

What is a "heavy navy"?

[United Pacific States of America]

My nation has a large coast, a spread out islands but our main threat lies past mountains should I split my doctrine with heavy navy and infantry supported by aircraft?

What is a "heavy navy"?

I mean should I focus on both navy and my infantry

[Allanea]

You should have a variety of ground forces stuff, and not just infantry.

[Valaran]

Just a quick question:

What is usually considered the appropriate percentage of a force (for both infantry and armor) to keep in reserve when conduction an operation/mounting a defense? I understand the exact number can and should vary, but I'm asking this to get a ball-park figure.


(I personally would have said 25-30%, but this was more of an educated guess rather than an well-researched figure )

[Allanea]

I don't really know the answer to that one. It probably varies widely. I know on the tactical level the Soviets keep as many as 30% in reserve but don't quote me on that.

[Valaran]

I don't really know the answer to that one. It probably varies widely. I know on the tactical level the Soviets keep as many as 30% in reserve but don't quote me on that.

Fair enough, and I didn't know that, so thanks all the same


And, as has been said before, this guide is incredibly well done and helpful!

[Holy Empire of Avalon]

Been thinking about tactics for awhile now in terms of my nation's defense and this what I have so far in effect for defense
Avalon is an island nation thus I have a full naval blockade around the island, artillery batteries on the coastal lines as a secondary defense, air bases throughout the nation to aid in all operations if needed, and infantry trained to aid in ship to ship and anti amphibious warfare if needed.

Anything to add to that or did I do pretty good?

[Mapleston]

Nice guide! Btw, can you help me create a military doctrine for my armed forces? The current situation is:

1. I have an empire
2. I have one neighbouring country on my west and northwest side which is generally my ally.
3. Various nations constantly try to claim land to my northeast
4. We are a democracy
5. My colony is on the far eastern part of the world, bordering a country (Vertfort)which I gave independence in the 1850s. They also share a Queen with us (Like the UK and Canada)
6. Problem is, Vertfort borders both an ally and a potential enemy (which is a superpower) And add to that, Vertfort is rife with communist rebels trying to overthrow the current Government there.
7. Vertfort and I have nukes, but the potential enemy bordering it has only chemical weapons.
8. My other potential enemy is within striking distance of an overseas province of mine, which consists of numerous islands. And this potential enemy has nukes and is also a superpower. I presume that he has a large navy.
9. The reason why I keep referring to Vertfort is because it is my number one ally and we have a mutual defence treaty.
10. I have another potential enemy to the far south which is a communist state. It has many tanks like the Armata and the only way that they can go to attack us is either by air or if they take a canal that is controlled by an ally who, alas is also a close ally of his.
11. My mainland is a peninsula and it stretches from the sea up to the mountainous interior. We also have a long coastline. Besides that, we have a long but not too long stretch of plains near the coasts. Most of my major industrial cities and my capital are situated in the coasts. The interior of the peninsula is mostly rural, but has a few major industrial cities. We have an excellent highway and railway system covering all the major cities and also providing good access to the far-flung rural areas. Lastly, we have a mountainous backbone which spreads from the centre of the peninsula up to the interior.
12. We have two years of compulsory military service.
13. My citizens are well-educated and besides the two year draft, they also attend a compulsory basic military science course in college.
14. We are a fiercely patriotic people, but since my country is greatly influenced by the UK, France and the Netherlands, we always follow the rules of war, but the French are a bit sensitive to the issue of the draft while the Dutch are a bit tad reluctant to attack without support and the two generally think of the British as warfreaks.

Thanks a lot!
Mapleston

[Allanea]

First of all that's really detailed and really good, thank you.

1.I don't think you need to worry much about chemical weapons use. Chemical weapons are not really effective in combat and are really only mostly useful for committing war crimes with.

2. think what's absoulteny necessary, to maintain an empire in the modern day, is to have an effective and powerful navy capable of both force projection and of patrols throughout your national mainland. You also need some kind of paramilitary force that's capable of establishing a regular presence in your colonies, either as part of your general military or a police force.


3. You want to have a mobile defense force on the islands, armed with anti-ship missiles so they can make landings more difficult.

4. Anywhjere where there's a large flat open space you want to maintain a large force of tanks, plus of course you want to maintain (like Russia does) a small set of mountaineer units to fight in your mountains. This should be relatively small, since you don't expect to be attacked through the mountains themselves.

[Ardoki]

Brilliant, magnificent post. It's very thought-provoking and helpful, you've helped the NS RPing community out a lot.

Bravo.

[Mapleston]

First of all that's really detailed and really good, thank you.

1.I don't think you need to worry much about chemical weapons use. Chemical weapons are not really effective in combat and are really only mostly useful for committing war crimes with.

2. think what's absoulteny necessary, to maintain an empire in the modern day, is to have an effective and powerful navy capable of both force projection and of patrols throughout your national mainland. You also need some kind of paramilitary force that's capable of establishing a regular presence in your colonies, either as part of your general military or a police force.


3. You want to have a mobile defense force on the islands, armed with anti-ship missiles so they can make landings more difficult.

4. Anywhjere where there's a large flat open space you want to maintain a large force of tanks, plus of course you want to maintain (like Russia does) a small set of mountaineer units to fight in your mountains. This should be relatively small, since you don't expect to be attacked through the mountains themselves.

Thank you very much for answering! That was very informative and educational. I will try to incorporate what I had learned in this guide. By the way, can you give any piece of advice for the Army (besides tanks and mountaineers) and the Air Force? Once again, thanks and good luck!

[Bankampar]

tag

[Scvecia]

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[Yatzatz]

I'm an island nation in the North Pacific. We have a very strong military, primarily Navy and Air Force. We have experience fighting larger countries, having fought the Japanese in WW2 and the Russians three times during the Cold War. We are surrounded by three extremely large powers, the US, Russia, and China. Our military today has overseas bases in North Korea (we had a brief war with them in the 1980s), Sri Lanka (long story there), Israel (supporting Israel, not against Israel), and Japan. We have been having tension in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans with India.

Anyone care to comment on that?