- The close range that people see as a hinderance is actually one of their greatest attributes. This allows them a quick delivery of steel and fire to the party why people are still there to enjoy. Artillery is just not timely enough to deliver it's payload while anyone is still there.

- They are cheap! 20-25 pts buys you some of the most productive units on the battlefield. Compare that to artillery which runs about 45 pts min.

- Delivering 7-10 HE shell with an ACC of 8+ compare that to most Artillery which bring less on all fronts not to mention half the ROF.

- Ammo capacity most Mortar vehicles come with 60+ rnds. None of the artillery brings that much to the game so resupply is rarely needed in most battles.

Now that you agree that Mortars are one of the most valuable units on the battlefield we can now turn to which ones to use. For my money its the MT-LB 82mm (20pts) for the PACT and the PzMrs HHS.30 (25pts) for NATO. The MT-LB brings 120 rnds and thou its range is a bit tight it can still stay far enough away and has a great ROF of 15 and the 10 ACC and 7 HE shells still bring the pain. The PzMrs is a hard choice for me but I just find its middle range very valuable(7700). The PzMrs does have a drawback of less ammo but its the trade off I wanted to make. Do Not buy expensive Mortars with the extra stuff on top, it is just a waste of money if anything has got close enough that you need to use them retreat.

I usually wait till the initial rush is done and the lines have stabilized (approx 2-5 minutes), I then bring out about 4 units, then later the rest if their are more. Do Not deploy in groups. I can not stress this enough do not deploy mortars in groups, the entire mortar team can be wiped out with one airstrike/Counter Artillery strike if you are not careful. You can hold shift down and just deploy singles around the map or split the groups on arrival. Do Not leave clustered together.

FRONT LINE

This is where the close proximity pays off, this makes it way easier to time attacks. When assaulting building or forests with inf; first smoke them to block the LOS then rain death in right before you close to stun them and soften them up a bit. The smoke is great to disable hard to kill units like tanks sniping from the forests while your troops are in the open. When doing inner city campaigns just mortar and push with ground troops. I also find a steel rain quite helpful when attacking armored targets like tanks even thou it doesn't kill them it still stuns them which gives you great free shots on target. Basically mortar before you attack it always pays off.

SNIPING

The best target for mortars are soft targets like infantry in the open, supply trucks, or light armor like AAA and AA. Small recon groups are the order of the day backed up by recon helicopters these can allow you to have tiny tiny corrected target circles which makes raining death a lot more effective and usually just one barage. Small cheap recon troops like the BGS are great for sneaking in some hedges without being noticed then you can rain death on those really delicate and expensive AAA like hawks.

- Always expect a response from your enemy so prepare!! Most of the time that means layered air defence AA and AAA because that is generally the response you will get. This is why early mid game deployment is better.

- The shift button. Don't be where the enemy saw you last so move and a easy way to do this is stack cmds. So fire on position hold shift and then give your mortar team a move cmd then spread order(hotkey X). This deals with most counter barrages and air strikes.

- Don't group your units. single units only!!!!. Single counter attacks won't wipe you out This is also useful with AA and AAA.

- Remember to give your mortar teams a control group ctrl + number. Now it is quick and easy to bring your tubes to bear.

- Don't buy vet units. More mortars the better, I've said I wish I had less mortars. These units tend to gain Experience status quickly. Recon makes up for the decrease in ACC. So don't forget recon.

- Don't forget about the smoke!!!. General rule Smoke hard targets, steel rain for soft targets.

- Watch out that your mortar team doesn't drain your AAA resupply trucks.

- Don't just sit back and mortar your enemy keep advancing and use it as part of any balanced force. :)

Gopblin quote

" I find the 40-point 7700m mortar for NATO that carries 90 shells to be much more cost efficient. The extra shells you get for 15 points would cost you something like 60 points of supply trucks otherwise (not sure of the exact number but I tested the supply consumption one time and found the more expensive mortars to be a very good idea). And in a decently long game, anything less than 90 shells will generally run out. "

I still like the cheaper PzMrs HS.30 better for several reasons:
- You get more per slot, 2 more in a pre-75 deck. (I rarely ♥♥♥♥♥ about ammo but I do complain when I lose all my mortar to some good counter strike.
- Their initial cost is almost half of the PzMrs M113 so I can get more mortars earlier.
- By the time ammo refill time comes 60 pts on supply trucks isn't an issue, because it is usually late game by the time the tubes run dry.

The the extra shells are great from the PzMrs M113 but you dbl the cost for dbl the ammo but you are also leaving more points on the field that the enemy can take from you.

Gopblin quote

" However, if someone is playing a PACT mixed or Czech deck, I believe there is a 40-point 7700m mortar that carries 80 shells and shoots 11(!) RPM."

I'm still going with my MT-LB 82mm but is a much tighter choice over the ShM-120 PRAM-S.
- The range is really what makes it tight the 4200 vs the 7700, I love the range but I jjust dont think it is worth the price in this case. The PzMrs gets you dbl the range for 5 pts and a couple nerfs, here it is dbl the cost.
- Again more per slot and again you can put two MT's out for every PRAM pt spent.
- The MT-LB has higher ROF and ammo vs the PRAM
- its a late model unit coming into use in 1982 which makes it not an option for any era decks.

A Guide to Support decks:
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=156821895

Battle plans: Attacking a city:
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=238442745