Where to place Supply Depots?

Where to place Supply Depots?  They have to be close to your units to utilize them, so they can go into the hex with the units, perhaps on the front line, or in a hex behind, but adjacent to the line.

During the first half of the game with no aircraft it is easy to keep supplies behind the lines and more units on the front.  BUT, come round 5 and airpower, the supplies become a valued target for the allies.

So, do you place them with the front line units, decreasing attacking power but increasing protection of the supplies or place them in the rear, usually with smaller numbers of units protecting the supplies?

Frimmel’s Axis Strategy (which is very good-great job Frimmel) suggests to keep supplies and trucks out of the front line as much as possible.  Supplies and trucks can be considered more valuable than tanks–without the fuel, the tanks are merely roadside art.

But what has everyone’s game experience found?  Are you able to keep trucks/supplies out of front lines for all/most of the game or do you push them right to the front to protect them from aircraft and move more quickly forward?

Your thoughts?

@frimmel:

As Axis I like to bring supplies into the line when the aircraft hit the skies. I tend to leave the Axis INF and/or ART on the reinforcement chart in turn 3-4. That way I bring them on with the supply truck prior to the aircraft turn for the extra AA instead of having to pay to move them. I will also leave INF behind as the line advances in a hex I would like to supply from during the next turn.

I tend to put one dump in the line getting all five AA dice and another one behind it getting three or four dice (2 from supply and truck one or two from a straggling Inf or art.) This has a tendency to split the Allied air cover giving you a bit better chance to not get completly mauled in any one spot.

Putting these two types of hexes adjacent to each other can also have the benifit of a unit on the line being forced to retreat to the supply dump by aircraft. This occasionaly nets another AA dice if the Allied planes have split up.

Each turn the Axis faces planes they must be aware of where the hexes that MUST attack and move are. You will come up against protecting the dump that supplies those and sacrificing the others.

Interesting point about staggering the dump two deep.  I believe you are saying to put one right behind the other.  Have to try that.

I generally put them right into the line when the airpower comes, as my group has not been splitting up the Allied air forces–they take everyone and pulverize 1 target as best they can.  So I need as many AA dice as possible to parse them down.  It would be nice to find a way to make them split the targets, but we found that airpower was neutralized when you split up didn’t level everything you had really on the trucks.  Those may be more important than supplies.  I have had 15 supply chips sitting off board but only 1 truck to move them.  “How’d that work out for you?”  --Not well.

Even losing 1 truck per Airpower round is still enough to win though, especially if you can capture some supplies or (better) trucks from the Allies.

I can often also leave 1 truck at least off board in rounds 5-6 altogether, if you feint towards Bastogne and then reallocate the bulk to the central road towns just north to insure a breakthrough.  You put enough towards Bastogne to attack and keep the Allies resupplying, but make sure and punch through the northern 3 towns and the central towns.  If they pull from Bastogne, you can take it.  If they don’t, you can take enough and not need it…

Since you supply to more hexes from less spots; less trucks.