Mortar targetting

[Erik Springelkamp]

In a scenario I am playing at the moment I have an 80mm mortar that I want to fire at an enemy gun position.

The gun is in a small building and the gun moves into/outof LOS depending on beeing active (or hiding I presume).

When I order the mortar to put area-fire on the building, it fires one or two shots, then sees the gun, targets it, and when it disappears it looses the target and stops firing.

This way I only manage to get 1 or 2 shots per turn out of the mortar. (and it still has 38 bombs that I would gladly spend on the nasty gun that paralizes my attack).

Is there something I do wrong, or is this just a quirk of CMAK?

[BigDog944]

The best way to use mortars is with area fire, as you are attempting, as with area fire the mortar will continue to fire at the targetted spot the entire turn.

However, do you know about using an HQ (platoon, company, battalion) to spot for your mortars? A mortar that is under command (dark red line from the HQ to the mortar) of an HQ can area fire at anything the commanding HQ can see, even though the mortar targetting line shows the target as being out of line of sight (targetting line is black). You'll know the mortar is successfully targetting when the orange area fire target line doesn't disappear after setting it. If it disappears, neither the HQ nor the mortar has a LoS to the spot.

Using this method, you can keep your mortar hidden behind a hill and still hit the same targets. Only the HQ needs to be exposed. If the HQ doesn't fire, it'll be nearly impossible for the enemy to determine where the mortar fire is coming from.

Indirect mortar fire using an HQ will solve your problem. Good luck!

[ October 21, 2005, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: BigDog944 ]

[Erik Springelkamp]

Well, my mortar is the only one that stayed behind, far on a ridge, while his company is out on the attack.

No HQ left behind. But I know the trick, I am applying at at the frontline with my smaller mortars.

But it seemed to overrule my order to area fire when a direct target presented itself: the orange area line changed into a red direct line, which disappeared when the gun ducked, or whatever - I still not see how this works precisely: can a gun move back and forth in the building?

Anyway, this turn (EMAIL just arrived) it hit home: bomb fell right on the building, gun destroyed )))

Finally time for the carriers to join the fight...

[Alsatian]

Could you have area fired a couple meters away from the gun icon, and setup a covered arc where the area target was inside the arc and the target icon was outside the arc.

On-target shots might be a little further from the gun than you hoped, but maybe the cover arc would have maintained area fire for the whole turn like you want.

[Erik Springelkamp]

I have done several tests in a simple scenario, and I don't see a fixed rule for this behaviour.

A mortar ordered to area fire in the neighbourhood of an infantry gun will continue area fire when detecting the gun.

An antitank gun ordered to area fire in the neighbourhood of a PzII will directly target the tankette regardless of a very small covered arc.

Area fire outside a covered arc will work.

I think it all depens on the - perceived -seriousness of the threat of the enemy target whether the unit will override it's area target orders.

And I don't see an effect of a covered arc on this decision. But maybe there is in more special situations.

[Other Means]

You're right. If the unit feels threatened, it will fire on the threat. It works well most of the time, I think.

[Erik Springelkamp]

Often it is good, but when the thread just shows for a short time the price is that the original target is forgotten.

It would have been perfect if the unit would resume it's previous job.