Krinks Posted March 17, 2001 Share Posted March 17, 2001 I was keeping a squad or German troops pinned down in the woods until my backup can arrive. Doing the suppression was an M-7 Priest (with a thrown track from a sneaky Panzerschrek team) and an 81mm mortar team. During the action phase, I zoomed in on the area under suppressing fire and noticed what appeared to be airbursts from shells. I was kind of puzzled, and wondered what units could be using it, and how/if I could use it to my advantage. ------------------ Krinks "If news travels at anything less than the speed of light now, it just means we weren't paying attention." --Bruce Sterling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan Posted March 17, 2001 Share Posted March 17, 2001 Well, airbursts will randomnly happen with "normal" arty shells if they land in/near scattered trees, woods, or pines. Then again, there are the VT (Variable Timer) rounds that will airburst over open ground. Only the Allies have these, and they are *extremely* deadly to infantry and open-topped vehicles, just as airbursts in trees are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krinks Posted March 17, 2001 Author Share Posted March 17, 2001 Thanks, that's handy info to have. What do you think is a decent compromise between safe distance and accurate range for a mortar team? I've got mine just shy of 200m from the area target. Can't move it at the moment since they're providing cover fire. ------------------ Krinks "If news travels at anything less than the speed of light now, it just means we weren't paying attention." --Bruce Sterling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr. Johnson-<THC>- Posted March 17, 2001 Share Posted March 17, 2001 Depends on the motars you got. 50mm and 60mm can get very close and the closer you can get the better. 81mms can hold back, and remember on map mortars don't neeed LOS only the commander who is in radio contact needs LOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncawley@ameritech.net Posted March 17, 2001 Share Posted March 17, 2001 You don't want a mortar team closer than about 150 yards, or you will run into problems with the minimum range. If you are able to get it there safely, and fire it without being observed, that is a fine distance. But if you are firing direct, observed, and the enemy can fire back at the team, then stick to more like 275-300 meters. The reason is that infantry fire is pretty ineffective at those ranges. The accuracy of the mortar will go up somewhat as you get closer. But it is marginal. Most shots from on a medium or small map will have similar accuracy. And if you are going to take reply fire, it is more important to cut that down, than to make marginal improvements to your own shooting. The other main trick firing mortars is to use an HQ to observe for them, with the mortar itself out of LOS, behind a crest or woods or building. If the HQ can see the target, and you have a red command line from HQ to the mortar, then the mortar can "area fire" at the target without LOS, itself. Then there is no reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts