Has this been brought up before?

[FFE]

Perhaps I stumbled upon a virgin topic:

Should mortars be able to fire while occupying Tall Pines or Woods?

I have been thinking it would be a bad idea if a round connected with a nearby tree.

[Michael Emrys]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by FFE:

Should mortars be able to fire while occupying Tall Pines or Woods?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Can they? I admit that I've always assumed that they could not and so never tried. In fact, I never set them up in anything but open ground, behind some kind of obscuring terrain, which may represent excessive caution on my part.

Michael

[Foobar]

iirc, they can fire while in buildings too..

not that i mind, whilst i have a mortar unit in a building..

[Priest]

I do not think they can fire in buildings and as far as the forest goes i believe they find a clearing.

[JonS]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Priest:

I do not think they can fire in buildings ...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

er, they can. I found out to my cost a while ago that the fired round doesn't travel very far ...

[Captain Wacky]

LOL! I was gonna say, that would be a pretty big lapse in logic on the part of BTS! Good think I read your second post, I was about to go exploit that "bug," much to my own dismay, im sure

[blindseye]

Strange, I set up mortars exclusively in heavy woods or light woods on hills with lines of sight, admittedly near the edge of the woods. To date, after hundreds of battles fought, I have not noticed any detrimental effect from firing mortars from woods. I have never tried to fire them from inside a house however.

[Slapdragon]

Mortars in real life can fire from all but the thickest double canopy, as witnessed by their use by US troops in Vietnam. Since the European woods is not dense jungle, they should be able to find and exploit firing positions. Note that checking for arc obstruction is a normal set up procedure (according to the post war M29 FM).

If it were low arc cannon or howitzers firing indirect it or if the woods were double canopy jungle it would be a different story.

The one flaw is that the mortar angle is not fugured in the game, so some objects that should cause dead spots do not. For example, a mortar can side right up against a church and still plung fire at short range.

[JonS]

Err ... in my post I was specifically refering to firing from inside a house. I set my mortars up inside woodlines all the time.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Slapdragon:

... The one flaw is that the mortar angle is not fugured in the game, so some objects that should cause dead spots do not. For example, a mortar can side right up against a church and still plung fire at short range...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Leaving aside the comment "the one flaw ..."

Unless I'm readiing you wrong Slap, what you've described should be no problem - firing at short range, the barrel normally has a steep angle, leading to a high angle of departure for the rounds making it more likely that the round will successfully clear nearby crests (including adjacent buildings). Granted, the fact that you can get right up close to a building in the game stretches this point.

However, at longer ranges the barrel will be at a lower angle, creating more crest-clearance problems. Therefore, IMO, the deadspots or blindspots you refer to are likely to be at longer, rather than shorter, ranges.

Regards

JonS

[Slapdragon]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JonS:

Err ... in my post I was specifically refering to firing from inside a house. I set my mortars up inside woodlines all the time.

Leaving aside the comment "the one flaw ..."

Unless I'm readiing you wrong Slap, what you've described should be no problem - firing at short range, the barrel normally has a steep angle, leading to a high angle of departure for the rounds making it more likely that the round will successfully clear nearby crests (including adjacent buildings). Granted, the fact that you can get right up close to a building in the game stretches this point.

However, at longer ranges the barrel will be at a lower angle, creating more crest-clearance problems. Therefore, IMO, the deadspots or blindspots you refer to are likely to be at longer, rather than shorter, ranges.

Regards

JonS<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You are correct, I was thinking right and typing wrong.

[Slapdragon]

I did find one technical notice, that would relate partly to the flaw but may explain firing in the building. The note discussed setting up of 60mm Mortars in doorways and protected by sand bags. The note warned that the mortar must be presighted by the crew to prevent accidents. It goes on to say, "this method of employment drastically increases the tube's minimum range, and is only suggested for actions in built up terrain."

The note was post war (1955).