[German] What do you do with your 50mms ?

[DRG]

Originally Posted by Cross

I wish these mortars got smoke rounds; which was one of the 2 inchers common functions. Does the US 60mm get smoke? But there may be a game/code reason why not.

Originally Posted by JohnHale

Monty himself deprecated the 2in mortar as the most useless piece of kit ever foisted on the British Army! (Wish I could find the quote again...) He said its only use was in firing smoke - which we don't have in the game, alas.

The squad integrated versions don't have smoke becasue there is no way to assign smoke rounds to a "mortar" in that case but the regular version of the 2in mortar certainly do have smoke rounds. 7 - 9 of them in most cases which averages to 66% of their total ammo load


Don

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by Cross

Hi John,

Yes I've heard some of the disdain for the 2 inch. I recall Andy saying that he had a trainer who suggested something like, 'its only use may be to club the enemy'.

However, when it was in trained or skillful hands, I've also heard it could very effective. I heard a claim that it could be accurate to 6 feet at 500 yards! This sounds exagerated, but perhaps its possible - with observed fire - to get pretty close after you've fired a couple of shots to adjust your aim.

The 2 inch could also be fired directly, supposedly, like a grenade launcher.

Here's an interesting excerpt:




cheers,
Cross

Originally Posted by DRG

The squad integrated versions don't have smoke becasue there is no way to assign smoke rounds to a "mortar" in that case but the regular version of the 2in mortar certainly do have smoke rounds. 7 - 9 of them in most cases which averages to 66% of their total ammo load


Don

smoke is not "ammo" in the game - there is no way to mobhack it. It is an attribute that is added to an element by the code, for weapon slot 1, and not the weapon.

The problem with the 2 inch was that it took up 2 men (if the platoon assigned the appropriate crew), for a marginally useful device. The main problem was humping the ammunition (and HE was only rarely issued, it was meant for smoke and illuminating). A dozen or so rounds between the 2 guys would be about all that could reasonably be carried. Sights were just a white line painted on the tube, so anyone skilful with the thing did it through a lot of firing practice!

Those 2 men could be used for more useful tasks in the rifle platoons, which were always short of manpower. Sometimes then the platoon sergeant humped it and a very few rounds in his backpack instead.

The PIAT or later the 84mm MAW however, were seen as useful and justifying the manpower assigned to the beasties and their weight, and that of their ammunition.

However, by 1975 our 2 inchers sat and festered in the armoury and were only brought out for the annual recruit training course where a few rounds of smoke and illum were fired to demonstrate it to the newbies. (We had the Shermuly single-shot flare that could be assigned to any grunt by then, and decent smoke grenades ditto.)

Apparently though the new 51mm has had a good response - as it had sights (a simple bubble level) and a useful range - 750 metres or so, plus HE was regularly issued (And that had a pre-fragmented case). And it seems the new 60mm commando mortar is popular as well.

The 2 inch in UK platoon HQs was really only added for those players that think it was some sort of "super duper giant grenade launcher". It was not - it was a smoke and flare thrower that many units simply left in the rear line transport and only brought forwards for the formal assaults. HE ammo for it was like hen's teeth.

Cheers
Andy

[Cross]

Originally Posted by DRG

The squad integrated versions don't have smoke becasue there is no way to assign smoke rounds to a "mortar" in that case but the regular version of the 2in mortar certainly do have smoke rounds. 7 - 9 of them in most cases which averages to 66% of their total ammo load

Don,

Thank you very much for this info. I was not aware I could buy the 2 inch mortar as a seperate unit. I vaguely recall seeing it in the past, but I think I dismissed it, assuming it would have no smoke ammo.

The details you guys have been able to work into this game continues to astound me...

I just searched and found it among the MISC units. I can see where perhaps it doesn't really fit the 'Artillery' category, but perhaps it could be in 'Infantry'. But this is a tough one...

Anyway, I can definately see where this light mortar team could be real useful in the right situation, and will be sure to use it in the near future.

cheers,
Cross