How to be Effective with the Mortar

[downtown]

I spawned in my accounts on the training server, an Opel at Fechain and Bedford at Cambrai and drove them to the Cross-Roads Northwest of Cambrai, 50.12.14 N – 3.12.44 E and set up Forward Mobile Spawns for Each Unit.

I spawned a German Mortar because I couldn’t spawn one from the Allied Kit because I spawned from a British Air Unit in Cambrai, the only units close enough for me to test with.  There is a mark, almost an arrow where the roads intersect, and I put the Mortar there.

You want to make sure you set your Mortar on a firm surface, as you fire the discharge will cause a depression in the ground and change the range/accuracy off the weapon.  To improve repeatability, I chose the paved road to counteract the soft ground. Certainly a 2” Mortar won’t cause a depression in a paved road and throw off its accuracy!

Then I spawned British Rifle and put it on the same spot, I then set waypoints for both unit at this location.   I ran the British Rifle 250 meters in a straight line up the paved road North away from the Mortar.  I took the time to ensure that the Mortar was aligned with the British rifle as he ran up the road.

250 Meters from the Rally Point I opened fire with the Mortar and every round fell about 10 meters short, I suffered maybe 2% damage on the British Rifle.

I adjusted the range on the Mortar to 260 Meter, went to my MSP and re-armed, went back to my rally point at the arrow where the roads intersect to ensure I was being repeatable and fired again.  Sure, enough my rounds were all about 10 yards too long!  The British Rifle took no damage.

I set the range back to 250 and repeated the process no damage, 260 repeat no damage, 250 repeat no damage.

The shells seem to fall in a pattern 5 to 10 meters deep 10 to 15 meters wide but all either long or short, but I did notice that about 1/3rd of the shells were hitting in a five-meter square area because of the carbon marks on the ground.   I moved my British rifle to the area where the cluster of carbon marks were…

I fired off three rounds…

The last one hit and killed my rifle.

To be effective with the Mortar, ask the enemy to move to where the shells are landing!

I have tried to do tests like this on the live server with allied mortars, but people keep interfering, someone even interfered on the training server, Geesh!  Feel free to recreate this test yourself.

My understanding is that in actuality; depending on the surface you set the plate on, these shells should all land within about a 1-meter square area, when I was in the service I was told when you set the range correctly you can drop them in a garbage can repeatedly. It should be up to us to move the Mortar to move our barrage.  The Accuracy is wholly unrealistic and terrible!

The force of the shell is also completely underwhelming, it is in my opinion about 1/3rd the explosive force it should be. The effectiveness is pathetic and unrealistic!

I realize these are “Light” Mortars but they way the are modeled they may as well not have been modeled at all.

I look at CSR and see that the Mortar enjoys a positive K:D over some weapons, but is that using the explosive shell at rang or the rifle? I know I have made an effort to practice with and get good at the Mortar and I know of all the shells I’ve fired I can only recall of the several thousand shells despawning after firing only the explosive shells and seeing only two kills in widely separate instances.

[delems]

*** The Accuracy is wholly unrealistic and terrible!

There is an error with range on motors, they know about it, no idea when it will be fixed.

 

*** The force of the shell is also completely underwhelming

The HE audit fixed all the HE rounds, the problem is not with the mortar, but rather with the infantry/crew DM.

We need the infantry/crew DM audit done asap as it impacts combat of basically every weapon we have.

 

As is, mortar mostly worthless - same as grenadier.

 

[pbveteran]

The mortar can be deadly I made good sorties with them but they are mostly limited to AB camping.

[downtown]

Yes there is an issue with the accuracy of the range...  I could see a +/- one or two yard variance of the range I set to, and a slight variance from side to side but the impact point was all over the board.   I should have a central point where I'm aiming, and if I pivot the mortar then I should have a pivot of impact points.  If I pivot side to side I'd have something like an arch or frown.  Changing the range will move that arch forward are backward depending on how I change the range and the direction I pivot the mortar.

I also wonder if there is a way to change the range setting for the mortar like we have incremental flaps in flying, the 10 yard range adjustment is too great, maybe five would be better.

I couldn't tell you if it's an ineffective "HE Audit" or an ineffective "Infantry Damage Model," I can just tell that as it is it is terrible.  When I'm in game nothing seems to have a problem killing me, Allied Grenades seem to be very effective against Allied Players who throw them.  17 Years of WWIIOL and trying to throw a Grenade through a CP window is a Joke, a chancy proposition and has a fairly slim chance of success.

But yes Grenades/Grenadiers are also ineffective.

Most weapons have sights they should have a degree of repeatability, if I put the sight the same place the projectile should arrive very near the same place, I have found in WWIIOL that very seldom does my projectile go where I put my weapon sight.  Some weapons like the AAA Guns the projectile never even crosses the focal point of the sight.

[delems]

*** trying to throw a Grenade through a CP window is a Joke

This just takes practice.  Been there when it was hard, but 30 min tossing grenades and you will see how to get them in windows.