Planning a war

No, I haven't suddenly succumbed to Napoleonic delusions nor am I 'on the warpath' about boat repairs. I have to work out a realistic scenario for a forthcoming (hopefully fictional) modern war. Writing about a three thousand years ago fictional naval engagement was relatively easy, I mean who really knows what went on? Hopefully you found it a realistic scenario and enjoyed reading it, even though nobody has commented on it.
My present problem is writing about a war in the present day. It's simple enough to find out relative strengths, equipment and locations of bases (within reason, of course), but it's another matter to come up with a realistic sounding briefing for a head of government. Of course, previous recent wars do provide guidelines, but if you're trying to come up with a new sneaky strategy, then a lack of knowledge of things military is a distinct disadvantage, still, I struggle on. I might even say that it's a bit of fun, except of course you hope that what you're writing about never happens.

On a brighter note, I've had my first (and for the moment only foreseeable) royalty payments from Emma the Agent. She transferred them via Paypal, which I suppose is easier, although by the time she'd had the payment in pounds, it was changed into NZ dollars because of course she doesn't have a Sterling bank account, then transferred by Paypal who take their cut, I was left with £32.21p!! Actually, their fee was in the order of £2. I suppose if that's a flat fee then it's not too bad, but as a percentage it's horrendous. I must investigate further.