A really dirty trick I do sometimes is to fire 3 volleys that I know are on target but then I hold fire for about 1 min to let the enemy think it is safe to go revive their casualties. Then I begin firing again in order to inflict even more casualties.
Had a game with a dedicated motar team for the first time yesterday. It was hella interesting because it was very organized team for some reason? The FOB was a Super fob with repair stations for the armor squad, plenty landing space for the helicopters and set with weapons on a cliff so we could tow any vehicle getting close. I think it worked because we got the fob somewhere the enemy couldn't get anything up the hill and get pinned around 400-500 meters away. Helicopters brought ammo and people needing medical
I wish my games went like this... even on experienced servers both of our armor's get one manned, constant tk'ing, clueless SL's and no commander and getting absolutely steamrolled by ghosting admins
When I'm running a dedicated mortar squad I always seperate my two mortars by ~75 meters so that when i get counter-barraged only one mortar will be out of action at a time
IRL you usually will separate them by how much the kill radius is. It creates an easy way to cover more area without the need to calculate it. You just call out elevation and deflection to all guns and they should fire parallel creating a good spread of fire. So like a set of 4 120mm spaced at 75m, you can get a line of overlapping fire for 300m with one callout.
@@adamrickman2461 this is actually really good advice, in game wouldn't you want the left gun (relative to target direction) to orient x number of degrees to the left of attack mark and the right gun x degrees to the right?
@@cavemanbonk8320 In real life you would set up a gun line get one gun on target (usually gun 2) then adjust the others off of that one. It can get a little complicated to explain over youtube comments but in short yes you are correct. In real life the other guns can either converge on the same target or fire in a line. (source- was 11C mortars for about 7 years)
I'm kinda of a military nerd and indirect fire always interested me, so I get what you're saying. In game I usually tell the guys on the mortar to spread say 6⁰ (as in 3⁰ left of mark and 3⁰ right) if it's 800m (less spread at longer range to account for greater deviation at range, more closer) and go back and forth in between, but I think I'll do this from now on honestly
@@cavemanbonk8320 in a way, but no not really. Keith is right about trying to describe it over comments. It makes more sense because you usually have more than two guns so your #2 gun is your base gun and is closer to the center of what everything is based on. IRL you mostly do what is called a parallel sheaf. Everyone has the same exact data on their sight so it is much easier and faster to get rounds out. The other guns are doing the corrections with the base gun even though they aren’t firing until they get a FFE, and when they do, they are ready to go. In SQUAD I would bet that the heavy majority is doing a converged sheaf. The reason most do it this way is because a SL places a marker and everyone aims to it, so one person might have a different deflection from where they are, but converge on one point rather than spreading evenly. The most accurate and easiest way you could plan it to be the most even spread is have the mortar calculator and place a point in between where your two guns are. Then have them aim the same direction and elevation as each other. But this is hardly as efficient as what you said and just spread it out from the point lol. If you are more curious about real world mortars google 3-22.90 for gun operations & 3-22.91 for FDC operations.
I was a 11C, Infantry mortar, in the late 1980's and I found it interesting. Some things carry over and it is informative to understand the games interpretation of these systems in operations. I hope to get a PC and be able to play this at some point. My experience wayback then was training on the 60 mm, 81 mm, & 4.2 inch mortar. I spent my time with light Infantry units with 81 mm mortar companys. We used Humvees or had to hump it. We were supporting the 11 B light infantry with indirect fire support. We used similar ammunition but we also had illumination rounds and white phosphorus rounds. Usually we had three to four tubes in my section. Each squad was One mortar system, Squad leader, Gunner, assistant Gunner, and everyone else ammo bearers. We could rarely see our targets directly so we had to use aiming steaks in order to get the gun section registered and make adjustments to fire. Good forward observers was an essential asset in order to best serve the Infantry we supported. FDC the fire direction control was the squad controlling a gun section. Initially this was before fire direction control computers and it was all plotted on maps with grids using fire direction control charts. Hopefully one day I'll be able to check this out and try my hand at this game with a mortar. ☮️
I had a range marker from SL on a compound i had been shelling while friendlies approached from the right flank. They got stopped by enemy i saw the red helmet marks start going up. I realised these were at same distance from me. As FTL, i placed a mark on new enemy position, simply adjusted bearing and put mortars right on the enemy position. SL said "are those YOUR mortars?! Damn good mortars!!! " Point is sometimes don't need SL to range for you. Can use existing range and adjust left or right if enemy is at same distance.
@@riah6918 what I find kinda decieving is the fact that Commander role shouldn’t have special abbilities. In fact, he should be the one to coordinate the team and the fire support like the artillery barrage should be something that all players could build n use
@@MarcosVinicius-bw7wj I agree, however let's just paint a scene. 12 squads, 3 of which are 1 man locked named artillery support... I think we could imagine the hell storm in command chat over who needs what more.
I once did a 6 mortar build on Fallujah. SL put three FOBs in a triangle formation and we basically had two mortars where the three circles got closest. We were attacked by the enemy but since we had three habs and an entire squad, we were able to successfully fend off an attack. I think we ended up losing the match tho, because the rest of the team sucked at capping.
MoiDawg, you actually forgot about rounding error. Beyond 300m SL mark shows distance rounded to the lowest(!) 50m quant. So for example when it shows you a range of 500m that means anything between 500-549m (and NOT 475-525m as it should be if SQUAD developers weren't americans+). That's why one is mostly always short with mortar range without correction.
0341 USMC Mortarman here. Some insider tips that can be helpful in game are: - 3 round volleys are known as a "Fire For Effect". The standard is 3 but can be more. However, it is SOP to rebubble the sights (they have leveling bubbles) every 3 rounds, even if the FFE is more than 3 rounds, so the 3 round thing is pleasantly accurate. - Spread your tubes apart to avoid multiple guns getting hit from counter-IDF or grenades - Mortars are SUPPESSION weapons, not long-distance HE sniper rifles - if you keep that in mind and utilize them that way, things get a lot less frustrating for you. - Smoke+HE is lovingly called "Shake-&-Bake", because real life smoke rounds use white phosphorous, which burns. The game "Spec-Ops: The Line" shows this pretty well in the White Phosphorous scene, although the laptop thing is bullshit. Mortars do not have a non-burning smoke round, but artillery does. - Fun fact, eastern mortars intentionally used 82mm because 82mm rounds wont fit in western 81mm tubes, but an 81mm round will work in an 82mm tube. - Yes like MOIDAWG said, the range in game is different than IRL, and the TOF (time of flight) varies. Also yes, blast radius is different, but the 20 rule works just fine. - The pattern of impacts of multiple mortars is called a sheaf (sh-ee-f). The 4 basic sheafs are parallel, converged, open, and closed. A parallel sheaf means the flight of the rounds are parallel, creating impacts that mirror the set up of the mortars. Closed sheaf means aimed slightly inward, open sheaf means slightly wider impacts, and converged sheaf means a single point of impact. - There's something called a Final Protective Fire (FPF). Like it sounds, its a defensive measure. Essentially, its a predialed line that can be called up in a moment's notice in case you are about to be overrun. Having this data in-hand can be extremely useful in a close fight, so squad leaders and commanders don't have to be in the map, but on their rifles, in a SHTF situation. Just call in "fire FPF [name/number]" and the mortars should already know their direction/distance and fire until told to stop. - Like an FPF, pre-recorded targets also save time. Knowing likely avenues of approach or key terrain and marking and naming them keeps the commander out of the map. "Mortars, fire target 0-0-1", "Mortars, walk north-south on target 0-2-0", "Mortars, fire converge sheaf on target 0-0-6", etc. - When firing smoke to obscure movement, it is always better to get as close to the enemy as possible WITHOUT OVER SHOOTING. Its better to be 75m short than 10 meters over. Take into account the 20m impact variance when calling in targets, too, so essentially aim 25m in front of the enemy in whatever direction you want to obscure. - "Danger Close" is 600m or closer from friendly units. However the game is a little more accurate, so a good rule of thumb is be 200m away from an undialed target, 50m from a zero'd target. If you all have any more questions hit me up in the comments
@@antejorge1695 It's an Area Fire Weapon system. I could call a grid up steel on steel and might not get 1 round that actually hits steel on steel, but depending on what i'm shooting at its going to do its job effectively as long as I pass good targeting info. (13F, FO) here
What veichles do you reccomend mortar squads target? Also i think the insurgents get a mortar truck so how would you use it against conventional forces like the us or aussies?
@@danelassiter6809 mortars are harassing and suppression weapons. Obviously HE is lethal, but the intended effect is to just make the area so inhospitable with shrapnel that the enemy doesn't move through that area - kinda like a minefield, but you can throw at the enemy from a mile away. So for conventional OR non-conventional forces, keeping an enemy pinned down so you can maneuver on them is an effective use, as well as shielding friendly units from being flanked/overrun. Non-armored vehicles are pretty much what's on the menu, but keeping a damaged or tracked armor vehicle "buttoned-up" is a good idea, since it prevents the crew from repairing and can also delay their withdraw until AT or your own armor can come in and mop it up.
@@Samuel-hp3iw bro 81mm min distance is like 80m, and that's with the tube basically pointed straight up. Most times the bipods can extend far enough to stabilize the tube at those crazy angles. The few times we've had to preplan an FPF (final protective fires) we had to move the whole system and dig down the baseplate a couple feet and then re-lay the guns on target.
@@A_Qwynide Alright. I've only got knowledge about the Finnish 81mm KRH 71 so our experiences could be different without us having to disagree. The 81 krh 71 is *at least theoretically* capable of firing to 90 degrees without any special preparations. Therefore in war a situation could arise in which a powerful enemy is approaching, and it would be warranted to fire to 50 meters as a last ditch effort before retreating.
I'm new to squad, played several games where none of our team wanted to do mortars because everyone wants to be on the frontline. Got frustrated of being constantly bombarded by enemy mortar. Quit and watch this vid and SL tutorial and decided to be SL on my second day playing squad, set up mortars. Boy I kid you not, our mortars were very effective that our enemy cant move an inch from their 1st capture pt. Tq.
Since the observe/attack mark is accurate to the closest 50m, its only ever 25m off at most, your real variations come from that in combination with elevation difference, otherwise the mark is almost always within the margin of error the mortars have
It starts to add up. 25m with the mark, 20m with the impacts, 20m with the damage - you start creating a possible damage radius of 130m if you haphazardly mark and don't adjust properly. And that's not 130m of effective suppression, just 130m of "I might kill friendlies but the enemy can still get out of their HAB/through this objective with maybe some casualties"
CALCULATOR CALCULATOR CALCULATOR!!! Single best way to have the most accurate mortars on intended targets with the least collateral damage. Your squad can still be used to call out targets, but lets be honest and realistic about how almost all but the most disciplined squads communicate. How often are observe marks very off the "mark". Using the calculator gives the mortar operator a little more fine tuning and control. How often has a well intended friendly squad taken enemy fire from a general direction and called in a hasty fire mission in the same direction with the observe mark landing in the middle of a field but not to far off from a Woodline. The mortar operator has the ability to rationalize if someone where to initiate fire upon an enemy team he would probably do it with some cover (the woods) instead of in the middle of a wide open field and adjust his fire accordingly with hopefully with positive feedback.. And you can apply that to so many different situations in any map in any environment. In the middle of that firefight the best Squad Leaders will take the time to make marking the most accurate enemy location possible for mortars, all while under fire. I feel most get to caught up in the fight itself to make it a priority, not all players but imo, most.
Thanks bro bro! I've been playing for about a year now (not super continuously) and have been thibning of what squad type I wanted to try and lead. Mortars it is!
Unrelated game but in Men of Arms: Assault Squad 2 I always try to get a mortar team up and running asap. They are so useful in taking out enemy fortifications and oppressive fire.
17:05 it is more fun to do yourself but command chat isn't always the most hospitable or usefull area to be in so not having to rely on them is sometimes useful.
I still want to try out vehicles one day, and even with your tank guide I still can’t even bring myself to try it for more of an anxiety thing, it’s an important role and I don’t want to mess it up
I see it's been a year sense you made this comment. I have no idea if you tried vehicle's or not by this point in time, I scencerly hope you have. If not, give them a try. Let them know you're new, I've never had someone be made at me. They've all tried to help me. No one will be mad at you for making a mistake. They're far more likely to use anything that happens as a way to offer constructive criticism and help you improve. Just tell them you're knew and they'll help you out no problem. If you want I can give you my steam name and you can be friend me and I can help you out.
No matter how many guides come out for mortars, no matter the strategies of 2+ mortar tubes, and no matter the coordination amongst players. I will always find myself getting shelled by friendlies
@@steelths1781 Calculators can give accurate mils but just because they're using a calculator it doesn't mean they'll check to see if there's blueberries or not
Hey there guys, former mortar guy here. So only real tip i have to get more effective mortars in squad is place your mortars 20 meters appart and share the same fire mission data (direction in degrees, distance in mils) Most people set their mortars super close to each other and have both mortars fire at the same mark. What this does is it limits the covered area to the 20 meter random hit box. If instead you have gun 1 aim at the mark and get his range and pass his direction in degrees and his range in mils you cause both mortars to fire parallel to each other. Increasing the covered area to 40 meters. Without having to traverse left or right once youre on target. If squad let us put down 4 mortars like we did irl you could cover an entire 100 meters with parallel mortar fire.
@@Kook501 hey i’ve also got nearly 1000 hours put into squad. You can definitely use the mortar calculator. But its time consuming. If you’re experienced enough with mortars a simple mark from the squad lead will out you will within 50-100 meters of the target with rounds out far faster. But keep in mind that this is a game. Funs the goal, not realism. So go on and use the calc if you want. Most people use it because 90% of squads are competent enough to adjust fires without it. Having a competent Squad and SL is key for truely effective mortars in squad
@@Kook501 Read carefully. I said I don’t care enough to argue with you about an online war game. Not that I don’t care about the game itself. At the end of the day, it’s a game. If you think its better for you to use the calculator then do that. I was just giving my input on what has worked for me in both squad and in real life. I don’t care what you do in game. Now go be pretentious somewhere else.
one time our squad leader marked an American LAV so i an my mortar mate coordinated volleys and we managed to kill it in 2 volleys each. quite viable if you can smack them real hard at the same time.
Every time I'm on a 9 man motor team, its 2 people staying behind waiting to get counter attacked while the rest of the team runs off to do its own thing. Mortar fobs are for SLs that don't want to actually squad lead. But if I can get an SL to make a 4 man pit... that could be fun.
Every time I’m on a mortar squad we dual purpose as mortar/logi squad. 1 guy dedicated to the truck, 2-3 for the tubes, SL is the spotter and the rest are security or extra spotters. Maybe send them out to be FO’s for the various points. It’s works quite well.
our fob was getting overrun by about 3 squads. soon I was the last dude left so I ran out and hopped on the hell cannon and just shot it straight up in the air and then got lit up soon after. then I hear a ton of footsteps and digging away out our fob the explosion then nothing. Don’t know how many I got in the shot but at the end of the round I had around 25 kills
What about those mortar calcs? Are they accurate? Do they see elevation/depression? Cuz when i used one such thing, the building and a ground around it showed at the same high level
So about the rule of 20, it really doesn't make sense, the lethal range of a mortar is 6 meters from where it lands and the dispersion for 80% of your shots is 6 meters so if you're shooting 20 meters away from a target you're extremely unlikely to hit them. Next use a calculator squadmc.ende.pro/#/Narva or squadmortar.xyz/ work well they will allow you to hit any target in your range every time, a HAB on average takes 9 shells to disable if completely in the open and 15 will almost always take it down. If you want to actually do effective support with mortars then you will need to hit targets without being told if you're hitting so you have autonomy, very rarely a SL is ever going to baby sit you and tbh if you actually want a good amount of kills then you will need to be hitting targets accurately and quickly so use the calculator. No idea why you say mortars aren't that good against vics, if it has no track and can't move just shoot it till it goes pop, I've killed many tracked vics like that. Because mortars have such low spread and such a high rate of fire but also a small damage radius it is best to change the mills by about 7 to 10 each shot so that you can more effectively cover area, another tip is that to cover horizontal effectively at 1000 meters change degrees by 1 left and right and 500 meters 2 degrees, 200 meters 5 degrees. Another thing I should say is that people say to mix smoke with HE, I have no idea why people say this tbh, if you are firing on enemys HE kills them not smoke just use HE. Only use smoke to stall fights your team is losing or to help them cross roads if under fire it doesn't do anything except allow teams to reposition and stop fighting for 30 seconds. All the screen shots from below are from games in the last 2 months puu.sh/HeUbk/a3e7eb1b5b.png puu.sh/Heobx/78143dcf6f.png puu.sh/HejL8/45595cdef6.png puu.sh/Heish/ce7a8c2e4c.jpg puu.sh/Hd0RI/01d5809966.png puu.sh/Ha4ZG/68afc49e54.png puu.sh/H7ftZ/51e1917a42.png
@@eskepan Yes the whole guide and gives advice for tactics without mentioning how to spread effectively and when it comes to big elevation differences he basically just shrugs his shoulders and says well you're gonna miss by more now and doesn't mention the game gives you 0 tools on how to adjust for the height difference or even see that there is one
I started playing squad recently, clocked about 30 hours. I had a game today where the enemy had a good mortar team and my god it was horrible to play against.
I'm not sure about the exact numbers, but given how mortars work going up then back down, rather than straight toward the target, you won't get too much extra distance. Maybe only 50-75m is my guess, at extreme heights.
Why is it (That is, if anyone is reading this), when I line up my mortar crosshairs on the target and have the correct range, I get a mortar round that lands WAY off to the right, nowhere near what I have targeted? Also, why are there no spotting rounds so one does not need to waste a salvo of three rounds?
I use the mortar calculator. Feels like future warfare in 2021 would have something similar to this. So wouldn’t that be a part of the mil-sim experience?
You'll have to get the distance from either your Squad Leader's observation mark or be told what the distance is. There's no automatic ranging by yourself.
@@GoonMartian ... you really need to go check out DCS and the amount of detail people learn to play that game, then come back and tell me if you still think there's no market of people that want to learn how to run a plotting board and firing table in-game
6 seconds was all I needed to see to realize I knew nothing about a mortar optic and that I was actually slamming my team with rounds aaalllll game 🤦♂️
