Improvements for the mortar class

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1
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Important note before reading: These suggestions of changes are linked to other changes to other classes in this topic, go check it out: Ideas for improving already existing classes
Be sure to check my last post on the aforementioned topic too, not just the first post. I have decided to create a new topic for this suggestion because the suggestion rules have changed a while ago, and I am not really used to it yet, I have been absent for a while, so I will probably try to make new topics for suggestions of changes for each class.

Improvements for the mortar class and its weapons

At the moment, we can say that there are two different types of mortars in the game: the “light” mortars (50 mm, 60 mm) and the “medium” mortars (80 mm, 81 mm, 82 mm). Obviously, the medium mortars are placed after the light mortars in the trees, and you don’t have a lot of reasons to choose to equip the light mortars once you’ve unlocked the medium ones.

Furthermore, there can be several mortars of the same type in a tree: for example there are two 50 mm mortars in the USSR tree: the RM-38 and the RM-40. The problem is, there are barely any differences between these two.

So, here is what I suggest: give the mortars of each type more or less dispersion depending on their weights and barrel lengths: If a mortar is heavy (mass) and/or its barrel is long, it will obviously be more accurate than the mortars which are lighter (mass) and/or have a shorter barrel, because a heavier weight can mitigate the recoil more (so less dispersion) compared to a lighter weight, and a longer barrel will also have less dispersion compared to a shorter one.

But, if you are equipped with a mortar with a bigger weight, you will carry less ammo than if you’re equipped with a mortar with a lighter weight.

This way, you will have a choice between different playstyles: heavier mortars will have less ammo but will be very precise, kind of like a sniper, but lighter mortars will have more ammo but will be less precise, which would be better in a kind of “zone interdiction role”.

In practice, it would work like this for example: the granatwerfer 34 (only in the mission editor atm) and the kurzer granatwerfer 42 (in the tree), which are both 81 mm mortars should have a different dispersion and ammo count, because the granatwerfer 34 is heavier and has a longer barrel than the kurzer granatwerfer 42, so the heavier granatwerfer 34 should have less dispersion but also less ammo compared to the lighter and shorter kurzer granatwerfer 42 (like 1 or 2 more shells, nothing too crazy), because this mortar is lighter, and it would also have more dispersion as a result.

Please note that I still divide the mortars in two families: the “light” mortars (50 mm, 60 mm) and the “medium” mortars (80 mm, 81 mm, 82 mm), so I think that we should carry more ammunition if we are equipped with the “light” mortars compared to the “medium” mortars, because at the moment, we carry the same number of shells, no matter if we are equipped with a light 50 mm mortar or a heavier 80 mm mortar, which doesn’t make much sense, so these changes would make these two mortar types more different.

Additionally, the “light” mortars (50 mm, 60 mm) should have a shorter range than the “medium” mortars (80 mm, 81 mm, 82 mm), because the propellant charges are heavier on the “medium” mortars compared to the “light” mortars. Historically, the “light” mortars were used during assaults, so this would help to furter differentiate the two types: the “light” mortars would be more useful when attacking, while the “medium” mortars would be more useful when defending.

For the mortar soldiers, we should also be able to equip the pouches for additional ammo or grenades, but NOT a backpack, because obviously, the mortar is already on the soldiers’back, so you can’t equip a backpack, but we could equip pouches for additional ammo or grenades because they are equipped at the front or the sides of the soldier. This would make the mortar soldier class a bit more useful during firefights, because once you’ve emptied your mortar ammo, this class of soldier is very weak after that. But please note that, like the anti-tank weapons, the pouches for additional ammo or grenades would NOT increase the maximum amount of ammo for your mortar, this would apply only to your primary weapon or regular grenades.

That’s it for now ! Feel free to leave your thoughts below. And don’t forget to vote in the poll, and that your likes give more visibility to this topic, so more chances that the devs could see it. :slight_smile:

Edit: And also don’t forget to check my other topic that I mentioned at the beginning, it’s important !

2

From what I remember, the dispersion/spread based on each mortar type’s weight and barrel length has already been implemented. The BM-41 and Kz 8cm mortars have quite tight dispersion. On the other hand, American and Japanese light mortars tend to have wider dispersion, while Soviet mortars generally have narrower spread. There are noticeable differences between factions as well.

4

No thanks. Dispersion on the american mortar is just to aid noob mortar spam. Aim one place and your mortars go in a radius instead of having to move your adjustments.

Are you implying more or less ammo for the mortar? Makes sense… however need i remind you how weak the 8cm mortars actually are… quite literally their only use are hitting exact positions (good luck on ranging for height) and tanks that are 1 step away from being braindead… seems kind of redundant to nerf them

State the ranges you want them reduced to instead of leaving it up to the devs imagination please… and no because mortars aren’t meant to be used while pushing… you stay in cover and launch your shells on the desired points… making them have shorter range only makes it so you get killed when trying to set up because the game fundamentally changed mortars.

This is kind of biased but the last thing they need to do is touch these noob traps… if anything they should just remove sniper, mortar, guerrilla and saboteur from the game… it would improve tenfold if the players who used them quit.

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5

The mortar class isn’t the one I play the most, but everytime I play it, I don’t really notice much difference between all the different mortars at all honestly.

6

What I meant is that, for example: the granatwerfer 34 (only in the mission editor atm) and the kurzer granatwerfer 42 (in the tree), which are both 81 mm mortars should have a different dispersion and ammo count, because the granatwerfer 34 is heavier and has a longer barrel than the kurzer granatwerfer 42, so the heavier granatwerfer 34 should have less dispersion but also less ammo compared to the lighter and shorter kurzer granatwerfer 42 (like 1 or 2 more shells, nothing too crazy), because this mortar is lighter, and it would also have more dispersion as a result.

For the exact range of each mortar, I don’t know yet, but obviously not a range so short that you would have to be completely exposed to the enemy team as a result.

The 50 mm mortars didn’t have a long range and were often used to support assaults because of their light weight, they could be deployed quickly and didn’t need a lot of soldiers to operate. The downside was that their range wasn’t very long, and their shells explosive power was often insufficient.

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7

I might also add: this is why I said that this topic is linked with the other one I mentioned at the top of my first post.

A recon plane mechanic would be a double-edged sword for the mortar squads: while it will help the mortar squads if your team calls a recon plane to spot enemy squads, if the enemy squads call a recon plane too, the mortar squads would be some of the most vulnerable when using the mortar, because if your squad is spotted using a mortar, obviously you will be in a static postition, and as a result, an enemy mortar squad might return fire at you or an enemy attack plane might destroy your squad in one go.

I have also said on the other topic that this would make the different squad position more useful (tight, standard, scattered), because a scattered position would be way more useful to evade enemy mortar fire.

I will also try to edit my first post this evening/night to include the example I mentioned above about the dispersion and ammo count of different mortars, to make it more clear to the reader, and add one or two more little things.

1 Like
8

No, there are huge difference
There’s only two rate of fire for mortar in this game, I tested them before but i don’t remember the correct number
Most of the BR1 50mm mortar use “fast” rate except RM38, it use “slow” rate
RM-40 50mm mortar use “fast” rate
US M1 60mm mortar use “fast” rate
German and soviet 80mm use “slow” rate

So soviet 50mm mortar got pure nerf, maybe due to symmetric balance (weird tho, soviet army possessed the most mortars among ww2 main forces)

9

It makes zero sense that a 50 mm mortar has the same rate of fire as the 80 mm mortars, while all the other 50 mm have a fast rate of fire. I think that each “type” of mortar should have their own same rate of fire, but they should have a different dispersion depending on their historical weight and barrel length, and different amounts of ammo depending on their weight too.
For example: the RM-41 mortar (50 mm) was smaller than all the other soviet mortars of the same caliber (RM-38, RM-39, RM-40), so if it is added to the game one day, it should have more ammo but also the worst dispersion compared to all the other mortars of the “RM family”.

10

I have edited my first post with a suggestion about the pouches for additional ammo and grenades. I have also added a practical example on how my weight and dispersion suggestion would work, to make things clearer to the reader.