Mortars

[Guderian]

Any tips/ advice how to use mortars more effectively and the mechanics of it? Thanks.

[Redmarkus4]

Take note of which of your units are spotters. They have yellow binocular icons over them. If the enemy is observed by a spotter, then mortar fire on that hex will become more accurate each time the mortar fires.

Also, firing mortars at moving targets means that each turn will require you to adjust fire, setting the chance to hit back to 5%, so I try to avoid this unless:
1. The enemy is bunched together (3-4 units close to each other) which gives me a good chance of hitting something, or;
2. There are no other targets.

The optimum uses of mortars are against static AT guns and MGs, or to fire smoke and star shells (night battles). Dropping smoke in front or on top of enemy tanks and heavy weapons reduces the enemy's chance to hit, while star shells at night raise both sides chances, but allows you to spot enemy units more easily, I usually aim one hex in front of an enemy unit when I fire mortar smoke, to eliminate the chance of the round landing behind the target.

Finally, while the light mortars (e.g. Allied 2 inch mortars) have a very long range and can fire at unspotted hexes, the off-map mortars require their specialist observer to be able to see the target hex. I'm not sure why there's a difference. Anyway, moving your observers forward, preferably into a two storey building, is essential, but so is keeping them alive.

It's a challenge, and the AI mortars are quite deadly if you stand still and bunch up.

[Guderian]

Thanks for the advice.

[starbuck310]

If you get one or more spotters on same hex - lines on map - you also get a bonus to hit as well as firing on the same location on multiple turns

[Cona1l]

Originally posted by starbuck310:

If you get one or more spotters on same hex - lines on map - you also get a bonus to hit

Worth noting that according to Tom there is no incremental bonus if you have more than one observer with LOS to the target.

Multiple spotting units do not confer any advantage. As long as at least one is involved the shot is counted as "observed".

[PoorOldSpike]

Originally posted by Redmarkus4:

...while the light mortars (e.g. Allied 2 inch mortars) have a very long range and can fire at unspotted hexes, the off-map mortars require their specialist observer to be able to see the target hex....

Yes, in fact in Skirmishes I usually buy the on-map 2" and 8cm in preference to offmap Observers, because as you say, on-maps can be fired at ANY HEX ON THE MAP without needing LOS to the hex or a spotting HQ.
PS- however, 2" on-maps have a shorter range than 82's, so we have to make sure they're not deployed too far back..:)

[jptenn]

Group your 2" mortars on the offense. I buy units as per WW2 TO&E as much as possible. That gives one mortar per platoon. Two platoons with Three 2" mortars is a fair approximation of a Infantry company on the attack. (The third platoon would be in reserve but would supply their mortar to the attack.)
Three 2" mortars will give a more powerful barrage and wider smoke screens. I place them within one or two spots of each other so they usually share the same LOS. I just wish for deliberate attacks I could buy an ammo bearer section or a vehicle stocked with a bit more mortar smoke ammo.

[Guderian]

Thanks jp.

[starbuck310]

Originally posted by Cona1l:

Originally posted by starbuck310:

If you get one or more spotters on same hex - lines on map - you also get a bonus to hit

Worth noting that according to Tom there is no incremental bonus if you have more than one observer with LOS to the target.

Multiple spotting units do not confer any advantage. As long as at least one is involved the shot is counted as "observed".

Thank you I hadnt seen that.

[Tom]

yup, either a shot has observer lines or it does not. More than 1 is not better.

[Tom]

Also just to clarify, for mortar spotting "LOS" is more generous than for direct attacks.
You only actually need LOS to an adjacent tile to the target tile.

We call this "observable"