60mm Mortars

[scJazz]

Ya OK none of what you wrote appears wrong. You haven't provided any cites but OK. Now on the other hand... This conversation is taking place in the context of the game I'll continue in that light. 81mm mortars are significantly more effective than 60mm mortars and the whole point of the conversation was to check to see if there was some sort of bug preventing the AI from using them. There is not. It is just the rules that the AI uses for firing artillery/mortars tends to negate the use of a very short range mortar.

[Double_Deuce]

scJazz is correct. The issue brought up was that the AI was not employing some of the 60mm mortars during games. For some reason they seemed to just sit there and never be called on by the Ai to fire or something to that effect.

[desh44]

I just finished working on a scenario which will be out soon. The computer has 4 60mm mortars and they worked fine. All the game testers reported that the mortars were a real nuisance to them throughout the game. They caused few casualties (though the player has troops dug in) but they worked to supress the troops they were shooting at. As soon as we get done testing this scenario will be out..It is a Korean War scenario
Tom

[Alby]

which 60mm are we talking here?
The M2 or M19?
The ranges on these differ. there were actually even 2 types of the M2.
the earliest version M19 was the M2 60mm tube with an M1 lightweight baseplate attached and no bipod, designated as the T18E6 Mortar, and standardized as the M19 AFTER WW2,
and the post-war version M19, still in use today by various armies, which can be used both with the lightweight M1 baseplate and the M5 baseplate/bipod mounting.

By all accounts I've read, the WWII-era M19 experimental mortar was developed for use by airborne and other infantry types that needed to have the weight of the M2 mortar reduced, like the Rangers. This model had one major difference from the M2 60mm mortar: its effective range was reduced to 816 yards from the nearly 2,000 of the M2; this was due to the weapon being capable of only firing fixed charge bombs, as opposed to the variable charge bombs of the M2.
The first M19 was very much like the 2in British or Japanese Knee morters. It still firerd a much better bomb at longer ranges but was aimed by eye and hand.

The other M19 had a bit longer tube and could be used with both the simple base plate as on the 2in mortar, or with both the large base plate and bi-pod. A modern version of this weapon is still being used by the special forces of the United States.