Opinion wanted on Mortars

[Nemesis Lead]

Guys,

As I have gained experience in CM, I have fallen in love with on-map mortars and mortar halftracks in particular.

Would love to hear your opinions on the following: Which is best(for the money)on the battlefield?

1) A Brit 3-Inch mortar that is transported by a Universal Carrier (powerful mortar, but you have to dismount to use it; also no MG on Universal Carrier).

2) A US M4 Mortar Halftrack (huge ammo supply and a MG, but expensive).

3) A German SPW 251/2 Mortar Halftrack (cheap with a decent ammo supply; no MG).

Please only reply is you have real experience using mortars.

[flamingknives]

3", any day. Better blast, at least an equivalent ammo load and easier to hide - you can drop the mortar team off into cover and hide the carrier somewhere else. The pair is about 80-90 points isn't it?

Unless of course, you mean real experience of using physical mortars. In which case it's a daft question, as there's not many people in the world who've used any two of you list, let alone three.

[Wicky]

CMBO or CMAK

[dieseltaylor]

3"

[Nemesis Lead]

Wicky--CMAK.

Flaming Knives--I mean real experience using mortars in the game. While it would be great, I doubt an 80 year old Tommy or GI would reply to me.

[flamingknives]

Thought so, but adding that on the end seemed a bit unnecessary.

[Zveroboy]

I feel like I am naked when playing without mortars in CM.

I would say the 3-inch and universal carrier combo since it is more versatile and can go thru terrain the halftrack cant. But the ammo depth of the mortar halftrack is really tempting too. As for the MG, well your halftrack should be positioned behind a hill, a ridge or some woods, it is not supposed to be in sight of the enemy so you shouldnt need it.

my 2 cents

[flamingknives]

The Carrier is also more resilient if it does end up under direct fire or artillery fire, has a lower silhouette and is faster across poor going. on top of that, carriers are often organic to larger CW formations, so you only pay for the mortar.

[Wicky]

I also highly recommend the 3" with HQ spotter, but beware the mortar unit and crew can't hop across a wall as I discovered in a scenario when I dropped them off and sent them to get set up in a position. Had to call back the carrier to get them across.

[Nemesis Lead]

Flaming Knives,

Larger CW formations? What do you mean? Would love to find a way to get the carriers cheaper.

Wicky--I always have HQs to spot for me. The mortar never shows itself if I can help it.

[Bogdan]

I particularly appreciate those mortar halftrack, like the SPW 250/2 or 251/2. They are always ready to fire, no setup time.

The lack of MG isn't a problem, as I always try to use them behind a hill/ridge. In sight of an enemy unit, halftracks tend to withdraw...

The good combo may be to deploy them behind on obstacle, in command with a section/company HQ which could lead the firing. Using a Jeep/Kübel to mount and dismount the HQ unit is also good to make a fast "mobile mortar section" for mobile operations

[flamingknives]

Originally posted by Nemesis Lead:

Flaming Knives,

Larger CW formations? What do you mean? Would love to find a way to get the carriers cheaper.

Wicky--I always have HQs to spot for me. The mortar never shows itself if I can help it.

Motorised companies and most, if not all, battalions have discounted carriers.

[YankeeDog]

Well, you don't generally have a choice since all of the options are from different nationalities, but usually I would choose the 3" + Carrier combo over any of the Mortar HTs.

It's always nice to have the option of disembarking the mortar and pushing it forward through a bit of trees or whatever.

For even more cost savings, you can get 3" + Jeep when playing Commonwealth. Depending on the details of the battle, you may not need the armored transport. I find this particularly true when defending, where you can plan covered communication routes carefully, or on more heavily wooded maps where it's easier to find concealed approach routes for unarmored vehicles.

Plus, when your Carrier/Jeep is done moving your mortar team, it can trundle off and go move some other heavy weapon. With mortar HTs, the wheels are stuck with the mortar. As noted, Carriers are pretty cheap, and you can often get them at a "group discount." Once you're done moving the mortar, it's great to have for shuttling HQs, HMGs, etc. around.

I don't find the MG on US Mortar HTs much use -- its armor is so thin, it's vulnerable to even HMG fire. Every once in a while, you can pop one out very late in a game for some MG hosing, but otherwise you're usually risking an expensive loss.

The only time I see the Mortar HTs as superior is in long, rapid advance scenarios. Here, the disembark and setup time required with the foot mortar teams can be a real liability. Mortar HTs can fire pretty much as soon as they get to position, which is nice when time is of the essence.

Actually, IMHO, the ammo-deep 3" teams are probably one of the most useful units Commonwealth TOEs have to offer. It's great having wads of cheap HE to toss around the board, with so little risk of return fire.

Cheers,

YD

[flamingknives]

Ah! I knew someone was going to say that! Gamey, gamey gamey! The large ammo load of the 3" is based on having a carrier to cart it about in. I always feel faintly guilty about running the carrier off to do something else, so I usually don't bother.

[YankeeDog]

What's so gamey about having the Mortars unload, and then the Carrier run off somewhere else? Who's to say the Carrier isn't unloading the ammo, too before it leaves?

I suppose you could give yourself a 1 turn "unload" penalty before you send the carrier off for another job if you're really concerned about it. . .

Cheers,

YD

[Kingfish]

Originally posted by YankeeDog:

What's so gamey about having the Mortars unload, and then the Carrier run off somewhere else? Who's to say the Carrier isn't unloading the ammo, too before it leaves?

I suppose you could give yourself a 1 turn "unload" penalty before you send the carrier off for another job if you're really concerned about it. . .

Cheers,

YD

I remember reading somewhere that the crew of the UC is also part of the mortar crew.

[Nemesis Lead]

Guys,

Won a minor victory over a very good player the other day with mortars carried by Universal Carriers. It was a 1000 point QB attack and I was the attacker.

3 British 76.2mm mortars did the following:

1) Knocked out 2 wooden bunkers (repeated partial penetrations caused evacuation). This was new to me since I didn't know mortars could do this.

2) Knocked out 4 75mm inf guns (in foxholes).

3) Immobilized a Hetzer (it was later killed by a flank shot from my Achilles).

4) Caused a Hetzer to move into range of a 105mm Sherman which killed it with an HE shell (this was very lucky).

5) Killed about 25 infantry.

6) Laid down a smokescreen which allowed one of my infantry coys to take a flag.

Fantastic weapons, these 76.2mm mortars.

[Nemesis Lead]

LOL-In another game I attacked with Germans and had a single enemy 3-inch (Brit) mortar kill 28 of my men. I was packed into a treeline (treebursts) and the mortar had a field day.

This was the most casualties I have ever seen a mortar score.

[l.cassidy]

This sounds good! In my ongoing QB I have two 3-inch mortars overwatching a wooded hilltop stuffed with Krauts. One has almost spent all of his ammo load on that hill, the other one is due to open up in this turn.

...and, yes, my arty should start landing there anytime soon!

Cheers

Cassidy