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Question; How to use British 2inch mortars


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Hello, i am currently playing the excellent Scottish Corridor campaign, in the 3rd mission i am given a recon element of 3 bren carriers.

2 of the bren carriers have 2inch mortars onboard with ammo. I made the teams take the mortar + ammo, disembark. 

But i cant get the teams to fire their mortars. Does anyone know how to make teams fire their mortars? 

Thanks for any replies. :rolleyes:

 

Regards Paul

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Sorry for the too hasty reply. I have not tried the Market Garden module, so I just assumed they would work like the US mortars.

 

Basic troubleshooting:

 

Do the mortars have clear lines of sight?

 

Are they firing inside their minimum/maximum ranges?

 

Do they have the right type of ammo?

 

And if that doesn't work, the long shot: Sometimes the game lets you place a target marker on a difficult to target location, but then your troops seem to disagree and just refuse to open fire. It usually happens with very dodgy line of sight, through trees etc. Try targeting a spot that should clearly be in range and with a good clean line of fire.

Edited by Bulletpoint
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2" mortars work like Brxias or leGrW36, not like M2. They do have smoke but these ones were Acquired, and those bren carriers have HE rounds, so I'm sure Paulus picked up some boom. IIRC, 2" in "normal squads" (or teams) are fired just as part of the element's small arms. I think the problem might lie in the small scout-type teams that are riding in those carriers and which have in this case picked up the mortar. They have a bren gunner with the "Gunner" specialisation, and usually I'd expect a mortar to be snagged by a "Gunner" specialist. The TacAI probably considers the Bren a better weapon in most cases, so has the Gunner use that instead of the mortar. Maybe if you target something that's "just out of LOS" (like mortars can shoot at in direct lay, but Brens can't) it'll activate the mortar. Generally, though, I'd consider the tube surplus and use the ammo to resupply other 2" teams.

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Paulus,

 

Per Bayonet Strength, the recommended ammo load for a British infantry platoon was 12 x HE and 18 x Smoke. The 2-Inch HE bomb may seem puny, and certainly is compared to the altogether more unpleasant American 60 mm mortar bomb, but the 2-Inch in its latest form serves/served on as the 51 mm Mortar. The vid shows it in very exciting action, and judging from what's said and heard, I'm pretty sure they're firing HE. Warning! Audio definitely NSFW or shell pink ears!

 

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

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Hi tnx for responding, i did some testing myself. Even after emptying their ammo stores they still will not use the mortar, taking min-max range, target visibility, actually taking the tube, in account. (anyone with the Commowealth module, can reproduce the test easily, mission three Scottish Corridor) So the best thing to do is IMHO is to distribute the HE rounds to the regular mortar teams. 

 

I really like playing the British, their relative  "light" organic support weapons, makes it challenging to come out on top of a firefight.

And the mortars are a great asset, both the HE to suppress, and the smoke to screen. Makes me really use and preserve my support weapons.

 

Regards Paul

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hmm very odd i used to love those recon teams the mortars HE was basically guaeanteed KO on half a Gernan squad and you had bren and sten for flexibility. id test more though friend i have all mods and patches and my 2 inchers arw firing just fine as Germans. tactically whilst the HE shouldnt be discounted especiallu against German MGs and HQs or somethinh important their real shine and worth lie in being smoke chuckers to cover squad movements in the last dashes to the close in fire fight.

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Sublime,

 

SPOILER ALERT!

 

SPOILER ALERT!

 

In 18 Platoon, which was a debacle for me, I nevertheless managed to do real damage with my 2-Inch Mortar prior to being shot to pieces. As I recall it wiped out weapons and men alike in some sort of pit covering one of the bocage openings. In one discussion I read about 50 and 60 mm mortars, the posters were saying such a small mortar bomb (describing the 50 and 51 mm sort) was equivalent to a hand grenade. If so, I have absolutely zero interest in being anywhere near such a detonation. The standard US M67 frag grenade has a lethal radius of 5 meters and a casualty radius of 15 meters.  Some frags can be hurled clear out to 250 meters. Also, I couldn't find the right firefight video with the 51 in it. The one I was thinking of was broad daylight, clear skies, and the foe behind and firing over a wall. The vid showed the entire firing sequence from firing, through impact, assessment, aimpoint adjustment and firing again. The second round took out what I believe was a MG, to the delight of the troops in the vid. The detonation plume was as high as the eaves on a single story building. One round dropped into the courtyard of a typical high walled and gated home is going to ruin the day of everyone present--by frag effects and a significantly contained and rebounding blast impulse.

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

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Hello, i am currently playing the excellent Scottish Corridor campaign, in the 3rd mission i am given a recon element of 3 bren carriers.

2 of the bren carriers have 2inch mortars onboard with ammo. I made the teams take the mortar + ammo, disembark. 

But i cant get the teams to fire their mortars. Does anyone know how to make teams fire their mortars? 

 

I am new to the game but have been trying the CW 18 Platoon scenario which features a 2" mortar.  As you say, there is no deploy order.  In real life the 2" mortar was very quick to set up and didn't need a support strut or tripod because of its small size.  I have been able to get it to fire in the game simply by giving a target command, and after sending off a bomb or two it is shown as "deployed".  My conclusion is that the designers skipped the need for a deploy order because of the very short set up time.  And as someone mentioned above, I have found that very marginal lines of sight maybe show as valid but don't necessarily result in a shot.  In 18 platoon I resolved that by moving the mortar team a little to the side! 

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k there u have it. all of these are good basically for knocking lit one hmg or 2,lmgs. a squad of men basically and also best used on target light so they dnt burn thru mortar ammo at a prodigious rate. rhe true killer of small caliber mortars is the US 60MM nothing even can compare.

whilst the brixias and german mortars aew nasty little things the brit 2" really shines not at killing (which you should certainly use it for anyway) but as a smoke mortar for the squad. itll shoot its WP first. so usually i target smoke enemy positolns to cause harm and block LOS the next turn smoke the paths the infantry will take.then you get a few assault teams together and they rush the enemy while your 2" now shell enemy units that gace appeared to threaten your advance otherwise heavy weapons crews or hqs. and your brens lay down suppressive.

Edited by Sublime
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Sublime,

 

Completely concur regarding potency of 60 mm mortar in CMBN. Here's why.

SPOILER ALERT!

 

SPOLER ALERT!

 

SPOILER ALERT!

 

In "A New Dawn" I was playing the Germans vs AI and found myself on the receiving end of close range on-map 60 mm mortar fire. The only thing worse than regular 60 mm mortar fire is receiving same while trapped in a sunken Normandy lane with nowhere to go! I put all kind of fire on the blasted thing, which was, I believe, behind low hedgerow, and it wouldn't die until I finally managed to get it in a crossfire--at great cost in casualties among not just the mortared, but my flanking force. That mortar tore up an HMG crew, badly dinged up my infantry and holed the tires (fortunately, not enough tires to Immobilize) of my SdKfz 234/1 armored car. 

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

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