Obviously not meant for Official play but a WIP at a Rebel Mortar team. Comments welcome (esp for the stats)

The game sorely needs indirect fire options. This looks good, though I'd think the blaster pistol dice look to be a bit much, but that's just me.

I would love me some mortars as a whole. I'd give it fixed front, pivot, and surge to defend. The pistol dice have already had their precedent set from the dish turret so those look good to me.

I'd add the following rule

(Mortar)Indirect Fire: This weapon may attack targets that are out of its line of sight. If the target is out of your line of sight, you may not spend aim tokens for that attack.

7 minutes ago, BadMotivator said:

I'd add the following rule

(Mortar)Indirect Fire: This weapon may attack targets that are out of its line of sight. If the target is out of your line of sight, you may not spend aim tokens for that attack.

How about it can't attack a unit out of los unless another friendly unit has los on it?

You could do that.

if FFG were to ever release something like this, it would be interesting to see them include equipment or comm upgrade cards that allow for their LoS to be used for indirect attacks, or include a Forward observer mini that can call strikes.

1 hour ago, Alpha17 said:

if FFG were to ever release something like this, it would be interesting to see them include equipment or comm upgrade cards that allow for their LoS to be used for indirect attacks, or include a Forward observer mini that can call strikes.

Maybe have a comms upgrade that lets you sync to the mortar team “the mortar team may use your LoS instead of their own when attacking with the mortar weapon”

SF natively can take it, and gives a better reason to use the specialist character since there aren’t many great comms that you have to have on a corps unit.

Indirect fire could be bery nice mechanic to include and that will be a nice opportunity to use comm upgrade.

Even WW2 mortars should be off table at that scale. In a science fiction setting...

While I agree with the sentiment, Imperial Guard get mortars in 40k so...

I don't think there are any canon sources for mortars so that'll probably not happen.

2 hours ago, GreatMazinkaiser said:

While I agree with the sentiment, Imperial Guard get mortars in 40k so...

I don't think there are any canon sources for mortars so that'll probably not happen.

1

Wookieepedia lists a few sources, and includes a picture of a Clone mortar from the Umbara arc.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mortar

As for WWII games not having mortars, Bolt Action has them, both as Infantry weapons and as their own support weapon teams. I'd say their absence is a bigger hang up than their range be limited, unless we're going to go back and revise the E-Web's range.

7 hours ago, GreatMazinkaiser said:

While I agree with the sentiment, Imperial Guard get mortars in 40k so...

I don't think there are any canon sources for mortars so that'll probably not happen.

The Umbara Arc says different

While Mortars would have a range greater than the typical table, they are still capable of hitting closer targets. In-fact that is one of their main uses. A portable light artillery for use on close targets. We could use some actual artillery.

Personally, I would give them a range of 3 to Infinite.

On 1/1/2019 at 9:42 AM, Sparty1701 said:

Obviously not meant for Official play but a WIP at a Rebel Mortar team. Comments welcome (esp for the stats)

Suppressive should be under the Mortar attack dice since it is an attack keyword.

1 hour ago, BadMotivator said:

While Mortars would have a range greater than the typical table, they are still capable of hitting closer targets. In-fact that is one of their main uses. A portable light artillery for use on close targets. We could use some actual artillery.

Personally, I would give them a range of 3 to Infinite.

It would be interesting if they added a mortar trooper at some point, likely as part of a Clone squad but it would be interesting too if they made it as a generic one in a Heavy expansion pack like they are doing with the personnel one but would likely be harder to balance there.

7 hours ago, Alpha17 said:

As for WWII games not having mortars, Bolt Action has them, both as Infantry weapons and as their own support weapon teams. I'd say their absence is a bigger hang up than their range be limited, unless we're going to go back and revise the E-Web's range.

Bolt Action has divisional artillery with a range you can't measure in tables. Completely ridiculous, except as an objective.

Mortar type weapons are a staple of "grunt level" sci fi combat (on screen and in print), there is precedent in both Clone wars and various Lucas arts approved battlefield games (as well as being an actual component of the Legion AT-ST). Their dynamic - having some advantages - indirect fire balanced against disadvantages of a blindspot range would make them an interesting weapon to play. Given that we do have the sci fi equiv of Barrett .50 sniper rifiles and .50 Heavy machine guns mortars would seem to fit in that sense.

the dice pool should be 3 white dice with Suppressive, just like the ATST version. If you have line of sight, maybe exchange one black for white.

1 hour ago, buckero0 said:

the dice pool should be 3 white dice with Suppressive, just like the ATST version. If you have line of sight, maybe exchange one black for white.

Chatted to a real life army guy who suggested a dedicted mortar team would be more accurate than a secondary weapon mounted on an armoured vehicle (so slightly better than the AT ST Mortar) .

But agree 3xWD with an improvement when they (or as others have suggested another unit with say long range comms) has LoS.

2 hours ago, Sparty1701 said:

Chatted to a real life army guy who suggested a dedicted mortar team would be more accurate than a secondary weapon mounted on an armoured vehicle (so slightly better than the AT ST Mortar) .

But agree 3xWD with an improvement when they (or as others have suggested another unit with say long range comms) has LoS.

the other thing you could do that would be cool in gameplay (there is very little realism in this game as far as I'm concerned) is have a better dice pool beyound 4+ range and then it gets worse as you get closer, and you can't even target units at range 1-2 or something like that.

...can you foto closer image of the mortar team?....they look amazing!...

4 hours ago, wintermoonwolf said:

...can you foto closer image of the mortar team?....they look amazing!...

the Mortar and arms on the kneeling scout trooper are from a Warhammer Astra Miliarum Heavy weapons squad.

15 hours ago, buckero0 said:

the other thing you could do that would be cool in gameplay (there is very little realism in this game as far as I'm concerned) is have a better dice pool beyound 4+ range and then it gets worse as you get closer, and you can't even target units at range 1-2 or something like that.

Interesting, but overly complicated IMHO (you are adding jus one range band at range 3). Just making it range 3+ would be enough in my opinion.

I like the idea about a comms upgrade that modifies mortar dice pool if it has LoS to the target.

Artillery Observation Suite: When a friendly unit attacks an enemy unit within your line of sight with a weapon with the Indirect Fire keyword, add 1 black die to the attack pool. 10 points

On 1/1/2019 at 12:33 PM, BadMotivator said:

I'd add the following rule

(Mortar)Indirect Fire: This weapon may attack targets that are out of its line of sight. If the target is out of your line of sight, you may not spend aim tokens for that attack.

Maybe this is too simulationist, but how about: must expend an aim token to target.

(that would be in place of plodding)