4.01 artillery dialog greyed out with mortars on map

[nimtz]

Not sure if this is a bug or what, playing with 4.01 "CW 18 Platoon" Scenario, you get a single platoon as the allies and a mortar detachment, but the arty dialog is greyed out so there's no way to make use of that stocked and ready mortar.

Am I missing something here, is this an issue with 4.01? Can anyone else reproduce the issue?

 

Thanks!

[A Canadian Cat]

Don't have the game in front of me but the Commonwealth 50mm mortars are not call able. They can only be used in direct fire roles. If that is the mortar type then this is as expected.

[General Liederkranz]

I just opened up the scenario and it is indeed a 2" mortar. The briefing says no artillery available and this one can't be used for indirect fire.

Edited May 24, 2019 by General Liederkranz

[domfluff]

Yup, working as designed. The ww2 2-inch mortars are a platoon asset, which provides smoke and some HE in direct-lay mode during a platoon attack. Emphasis on the smoke.

That mortar, plus the general accuracy of the bren and lee enfield, are how a Commonwealth platoon matches up to the suppression of a German one, so it's really important to their correct employment.

Being able to put smoke onto a target to isolate return fires or cover the route for an assault, immediately and at any practical distance can be an extremely powerful asset.

The airborne mortars are a little more interesting still - they're essentially the same weapon, but without the stand so they're held by hand. The ones the actual airborne use only have smoke rounds, and they've recently been been given to carrier platoons with a mix of HE and smoke.

The modern "51mm" ones in CMSF 2 are also supposed to be used in direct lay mode more often than not, but they can be called in indirectly by squad leaders, and they are mostly intended to be used with HE, rather than smoke - the opposite of their ww2 role. Arguably they're less useful in Syria than Normandy, but they can still put out accurate plunging fire more effectively than the 40mm underbarrel grenades, so they definitely have a place.

If we get British forces in CMBS, I'm guessing that they'll have the 60mm mortar they brought in during Afghanistan at the platoon level. That'll do the same basic job, but will be a little more powerful and more awkward to use.

[user1000]

speaking of mortars they must have fixed mortars not engaging. saw the british 51mm mortar guy  engaging at a flak piece yesterday on a quick battle.

[domfluff]

Oh, they definitely engage

[Erwin]

Once really fire them from the shoulder like that?  I thought it was a myth like the Jap "Knee mortars" that would break one's knee if fired as sometimes depicted.

[domfluff]

Oh, god no. The Carrier 2 inch actually has a larger base plate (I can't find a good picture right now), and the airborne mortar has a smaller one, that looks a bit like a spade (guess where you stick that).

With the latest patch, they've taken away the infantry 2 inch, and given them an acquirable airborne one. That's certainly not 100% accurate in detail, but it allows the platoon to operate as it would in practice - i.e., firing from the back of the carrier, or dismounting to use it on foot - so I think it's an acceptable compromise.

What the above should look like:

Edited May 29, 2019 by domfluff

[domfluff]

There's also this, but this looks even more staged to me: