How do I use ammo trucks?

[Charles22]

Well how's about getting back on track ammo truck-wise then?

I post the following as a point of consideration for campaigners against the AI, how scripted campaigns would work in this regard, I do not know.

It occurs to me that the AI doesn't use ammo trucks (or buy them), and therefore that usually is giving the player an unfair advantage, just like airdropping when we know the AI cannot do the same thing. There are limits to this needless to say, that we should never do anything because the AI does them not, but the question should always be on our minds to police ourselves and see if we aren't giving ourselves a large advantage, and then, perhaps, complain how the AI is terribly lacking, when we have a significant part in the blame.

As for me, I have been using ammo trucks with my forces, but it's to somewhat shore up a disadvanatge I often suffer from the AI, so it's not a great advantage by any means. And that is I use the one of the two ammo trucks I have, primarily to feed the four IG's in core. That and a core 100mm btry are usually all the artillery I have, so you can see how giving the IG's more ammo isn't too bad to somewhat match the AI having much more artillery than I do. On rare occasions, usually after the battle is already half way through, I may have a need for that 2nd ammo truck to add ammo to some of the units who had really lost a lot of ammo. Yes, that is an advantage over the AI. Not a significant advantage for the most part, particularly since it's so late in the fight they're used, and because it is only one truck for that, so the re-supply amount isn't terribly great.

If I am correct, the AI wouldn't use ammo trucks well anyway. Probably do lame things like march with the advance and start feeding front line AFV's. OTOH, getting units that are depleted to go to some safe zone to meet it would probably take a programming miracle this game would not have attempted.

Just something to consider in your gaming.

[m113apc]

The use of ammo trucks is a matter of taste.
I use them, not many but I have some, and they are a part of the strategy.

The advantage I get in having these vehicles, I make up to the AI in numbers & strength.
So the AI gets to buy more stuff than me. And often, the AI has masses of arty of all kind, onboard and off board, pounding away on my forces.

I would really love to see those enemy ammo trucks driving away in the middle of an enemy attack or advance. I guess many in here have seen the results of an ammo dump going of, with secondary explosions. I have lost a few because of that.

When I think of it.
Have anyone tried, or thought about using them as IED.
Just think about it. You are expecting an enemy advance through a dense forest, or something similar, where you can place your ammo dump or vehicle.
You place it so the enemies don’t see it before its one hex away; my guess is that the AI will blast away on that unit. That would do some damage on the enemy, wouldn’t it?

[Imp]

Ages ago I had a real tough battle for both sides, he had managed to reload his TOS-1s But I was after them & he was having to use them in direct fire mode vs my tanks. There were lots of little clumps of close cover & on his turn 3 ammo trucks charged my armour. Stopped 2 at a couple of hexes which if I remember both blew up the third got right up to a tank but luckily did not go bang when it died.
It was a totaly crazy battle you would load the game & see a tank company had vanished before even hitting the replay button.