50 mm mortar - useless at night?

[jaeger8888]

Playing a night time scenario where visibility was limited to under 60 meters. The minimum range for the 50 mm German mortar is 60 meters. Appears it cannot fire with its mortar. Am I mistaken? I plopped it near a flag to claim control and can use it for other roles like sacrificing it to draw fire but that's hardly the role envisioned when the armies fitted them out with the light mortars.

[ActionMan]

If a mortar is in contact with a platoon or company HQ, then it can fire under instructions from the HQ without being in sight of the target. So if the HQ is within 50m of the target and the mortar in contact with the HQ, then the mortar can fire.

This also allows a mortar to be hidden in a wood or behind a rise if the HQ can see the target. The mortar is then safe from return fire.

[JasonC]

Yep. Light mortars are actually great in limited visibility conditions - they are more likely to be able to fire than the bigger 81mm and 82mm type. The HQ uses "move to contact" to stop as soon as he sees somebody, and the mortar trails at max LOS distance to keep a "red" command line. The mortar sets up as soon as the HQ stops. Fire at 100m distance tends to be quite accurate, and troops are touchy at night. Especially in woods with tree bursts...

[jaeger8888]

Aside from proximity is there a way to put the artillery/mortar unit under a specific commander. Notice I have to move the mortar or other leader units away if I want to another leader to spot for the mortar unit.

[Cuirassier]

Unfortunately there isn't. Weapons teams always come under command of the nearest HQ.

[Michael Emrys]

Truly a weakness of the game. Too bad there isn't a way to establish chain of command and attachment at the start of a game.

Michael

[Drager]

Wow, you learn something new every day....

I had no idea about the mortar team----plt commander mechanic. Been using it like a champ since I read this thread. Don't know how I missed it in the manual.

[Kanonier Reichmann]

Note- you can do the same with an HQ doing the spotting for a Mortar Halftrack as well, provided you're playing either CMBB or CMAK but it can't be done in CMBO.

Regards

KR

[Vark]

Drager, take three 50mm's from each platoon and group them under a company HQ, to create an unrealistically powerful support unit. Germans abandoned their 50mm mortars as wasteful and inefficient, but in CM they are life savers, especially when infantry are pinned down, enemy support weapons, during an advance.

[jtcm]

I take this means that in Real Life

-they were supposed to fight with plts, to give them a bit more oomph; in fact, just dragged them down

-they were not grouped in "50 mm batteries", like us CMBB players like to do !

[Cuirassier]

50mm mortars tend to work best in pairs, as part of a heavy weapons group. The group normally also contains a couple HMGs, maybe a sniper, FO etc. In a couple minutes they will pin the targeted unit in which you want to take advantage and close.

In tight terrain, it pays off to parcel them out to platoons, since they move quickly and have a small minimum range.