AAR's featuring supply?

[GBS]

I'm struggling with handling supply. Could someone that handles this feature well give more detail on how to keep troops supplied as they advance? Depots, Center of Ops etc. This would be a big help to many of us newbies. Thanks.

[Herr Colonel]

Sure thing! I'll put something in this AAR (or do a concurrent one which I may start in a day or so).

[Bis]

I turn the supply over to the computer and keep moving the Center of Ops. When I send a corps far away, I give it independent command and assign it a depot.

[EricLarsen]

GBS,
Never let the computer handle supply is the most important thing to remember, or you'll end up with looted supply centers and lots of little supply wagons traveling hither and yon. If you park corps within 3 hexes of any supply depot they will automatically draw supply, 4 days for the French and 2 for the Austrians. You actually get an extra day if the divisions are already in supply. As long as that supply depot has supply it will automatically feed any corps within that 3-hex range.

The other important thing for supply is when you plan a long movement with combat coming up as well. Then you want more than the standard supply for a corps and you can "overstuff" corps with supply for those long marches into combat. You can send up to 300 supply to a corp, I usually opt for about 200-250, and make sure the corp is sitting so the supply catches up to it before marching off. The supply wagons lose supply as they travel but supply in a corp HQ does not suffer that supply depletion. In Full FOW I wait until I see the supply wagon reach the corp HQ before giving the corp HQ new march orders. By the time the orders arrive the supply gets sucked up into the corp HQ.

Another interesting way to supply corps is to use the independent supply option to supply a corp from a supply depot that is not the supply distribution center. You can send a corp orders to use independent supply from some depot and then switch it back to being able to receive supply from the supply center. This is good for corps way away from the supply center but near a supply depot.
Eric