Mortar targeting with Field Ops suggestion

(Kuroshi) #1

I really like the idea of giving the direction to fire via crosshair for the mortarheads. Though you only seem to be able to do it when you call for artillery. I think it would make the game more interesting if (perhaps for a quarter or half the cost of calling an artillery strike) you could use alternate fire to only target for mortars. A different crosshair color for targets called for by fireteam members would be great as well. Like a red one.

Of course my love of mortars is probably clouding my judgement on any balance issues that may exist here but my unconscious mind is ignoring them. I don’t think mortars get enough love. =)

(Iamthefallen) #2

Agree. As it is the area the fieldop has targeted has already been bombed to bits from artillery so mortars wont do much.

I’d also like to be able to see where my teammates (fireteam-mates?) mortar shells landed. That would make setting up a mortar battery easier with 2-3 soldiers and a fieldop feeding them more worth while. Targeting and syncing the mortars would be easier if it was possible to see where others shells hit on the command map.

(Cyber-Knight) #3

I disagree. this will give any noobie to ahve the ability to use the mortar effectively. Mortars are more difficult to use for a reason. Cuz they are freaking deadly. it’s like having a sniper rifle with a panzer at the end of it, and there is no way you can kill the mortarman cuz he is no where close to the battlefield.

If you don’t believe mortars are powerful, I got 42 kills on Radar map as an Axis (led in frags that round too). I had 25 kills on Battery as an Ally. Was able to get another 20+ kills on Goldrush as an Ally.

The mortar is like the Venom of RtCW. Hard to use, most ppl suck with it and will die easily, but when you run into a good player, you’re toast.

besides, covert ops transmit the location of enemies that are near them. so if you have good covert ops on yoru team, then it helps out mortarmen a lot. Plus a good mortarman knows the map. he should already know where ppl like to camp and take those “ammo/medic pack exchanges”.

(HellToupee) #4

the mortar is an excellent weapon, battery as allies you can rack up huge kill counts, i have scored 2 4 kills with the mortar on this map alone, on oasis i can sit in the axis battlements and almost get anywhere in the map, if wall isnt blown i can shell the whole area and get alot of allies as they wait around for the pump or wall to go, if you know how to use it you will work wounders, it helps your team alot as it makes the other team stay out of certian areas.

(VampMaster) #5

I suck with mortar :), Ill need to train or drop it all together :).

(Swad) #6

Speaking of mortars, any ‘mortar snipers’ want to share some wisdom for those not quite so attuned with how to effectively use it? :slight_smile:

(wudan) #7

Yes, some mortar experts should post some tips. It’s the weapon I’m most curious about, because as a PanzerFaust Soldier, I blast the enemies out but my allies won’t go in, I get killed, and we do the same thing again at respawn.

Hey guys, it’s just a game! You will die! Take more of them with you and charge ahead, and you can’t lose!

(Draskuul) #8

Okay, I’m not much of an expert with it, but I’m practicing a lot. I started doing so two nights ago after reading post after post of people moaning needlessly about how difficult Battery is, and people responding for them to use the mortar.

Your biggest problem: Getting ammo. There are too many newbie field ops around, and all they want to do (especially on battery) is call strikes. If you can pair up a couple mortars working together, you can probably convince a decent fldops to hang around you as a personal ammo supplier.

Personally, I’ve started staking out specific locations on maps to always head to to mortar from. Once you have your angle worked out, just memorize or record it. I don’t bother with writing down stuff, making a home-made angle calculator, or anything else elaborate. You simply get a ‘feel’ for it. Once you find a good spot to shoot from, you’ll start getting used to your angles.

For direction, you could use field ops to paint a target for you, but it’s really not that useful. Just pull up your command map and look at the direction arrow on your icon…Just point and shoot.

Speaking of the command map, you’ll keep it up almost the entire time while firing. Someone out there posted a toggle script so you don’t have to hold down your bind the entire time, but I haven’t tried it yet–I really need to.

Once you get a feel for aiming, it will be much easier to swing over and take out individual targets rather than training in on a single target the entire map. Last night I was nailing the first beach MG on battery, and was able to swing over and take out a fieldops in the water, then get a cvops at the far beach spawn within 2 tries on each. Eventually I can probably get this down to killing them on the first try.

And yes, I do target spawns a lot. If you keep dying to it on maps like Battery that have multiple spawns available from the very start of the game, you deserve it. Don’t go crying, voting to kick, etc, just because your team has the collective intelligence of a gumdrop. Learn how to change spawns.

The morals of this story:

A) Field ops are your friends…do whatever it takes to keep one nearby.
B) Practice, practice, practice. If you have to make yourself carefully think out every target, or walk your aim to every target after a few days practice, you’ll likely never make a good mortar. Switch to something else, please…for your good and the good of your team.
C) It’s easiest to find your ‘favorite’ spots and stick to those to learn and practice for (B).

(FstFngrz) #9

Practice makes perfect. Alot has been written on it.

look on map, a covert will show u postion of enemies if around them, if not LOOK on map and aim for a door entrance, the tank, the train ect… i.e. if they got ta fix the tank its a good bet they runnin from spawn to it. I was able to keep the allied from building the waterpump most of game just by targeting the pump. Had no idea if an enemy was there, but one had to be there soon blah blah blah. Hehe had 59 hits my last game w mortar in oasis as axis. Im a mortin hoe :slight_smile:

(Swad) #10

Thanks for a bit of info. I did some researching on the forums here as well. I’ll definitely give things a run tonight when I get off work. I never realized how you could use the map in conjunction with the mortar. That would make a world of difference. I’ll give things a try on a local server when I get home from work.

Thanks!

(Iamthefallen) #11

Yeah, what they said. The biggest problem by far is getting ammo, a mortar eats it like there’s no tomorrow. When you have a mortar battery with 2-3 units and a fieldop giving ammo however…you’re a force to be reckoned with.
An easy map to practice on is fuel dump, the shots are fairly easy and the enemies locations are predictable. As an ally you can sit near the supply post and shell the axis ridge, as axis you can sit behind the ridge and still hammer the tank.

Another tip for the aspiring mortar soldier: Remember you can shoot over mostly everything. On Fuel dump you can sit next to the axis MG tower above the bridge and fire all the way across the map, over the mountains and to the fuel depot/allied command post. That means that as an ally you can clear the way as the tank is moving through the tunnels after blowing the doors.

On Oasis you can sit near the first water pump and shell the axis spawn point, or vice versa. Obviously on Battery a mortar is very useful, on radar you can shell over the main gate etc etc, there are a ton of places where a decent mortar soldier can be useful. Just watch your fire!

I suggest that you start each round by setting up in a place where fieldops are likely to pass by. Make a shot at 55 degrees (for maximum range) to see what your max range is and how far from teammates you are. Then pull back 5-10 degrees or so and see where you hit, repeat until you get to the area you want to hit. But first and foremost, watch your fire! Teamkills are extremely easy and even patient teammates will file complaints when you’re not taking the time to aim.

fallen

(FstFngrz) #12

This is old, but maybe… anyone found this yet?, Can the fireteam leader drop waypoint markers?

Players can choose to start their own fire-team, join an existing team, or fight on their own. The player starting the team is the leader and has the ability to give specific orders to his fire team by [u]dropping waypoint markers in the map[/u] or by giving vocal commands that only his fire team can see and hear. http://www.gamespy.com/interviews/november02/rtcwetpc/

(Cyber-Knight) #13

another solution to the mortar ammo problem is the /kill command.
yes I do it all the time when I play on mortar. it kinda sucks on my battle sense, but oh well.

personally, i don’t like being a pain in the ass and asking field ops to feed me ammo 24/7 when they could be airstriking the enemy spawn point or giving ammo to the medics instead. and the mortar does eat A LOT of ammo, so they can be using a lot of time feeding you ammo.

besides, as mentioned, you can launch a mortar from practically across the map. so that means you should quite easily be able to find a decent mortar spot that is relatively close to your spawn anyways. thus, being less pain in the ass for your teammates overall.

as my general rule in RtCW and in ET, never fully rely on your teammates for services or backup. while help is nice, and I usually hope for it, you hafta still know how to be self sufficient when the time calls for it. As a mortarman, i don’t like chasing down Field ops, shooting them with my pistol, so i can get some ammo (while i screwed up their rhythm). I feel bad taking all the ammo at the ammo cabinets when I know my medics are probably using the cabinet as well. and I don’t wanna spam V22 all day. so which is why i go to /kill

(SubstandardJones) #14

/kill is rarely a good option if you’re playing on a maxlives (aka: GOOD) server.

(Gabe(FIN)) #15

Sorry little offtopic, but I have to express my feelings

Honestly when I play as FieldOps and some comes to stab me with a knife or shoots me for ammo there is only one solution, I shoot the poor bastard to death w/o any hesitations. Why…? Well if that player doesn’t have the half-a-brain to press “v,2,2” then the player doesn’t deserve to live.

Then again I don’t much play as FieldOps anymore… I’m usually a CovOps. Before I read this post I didn’t realize how much help we CovOps are to mortar players. Thanx :slight_smile:

(Iamthefallen) #16

Actually it’s not too bad since you’re usually behind the lines and away from the action. When I play mortar/mg42/panzer I tend to lose very few lives on the whole. Find a nice cozy spot somewhere in relative safety and do your thing.

(Draskuul) #17

This is another very good point. Any enemies that my TEAM can see, I can see on my command map. This is infinitely useful in picking off groups that are in the action, rather than just nailing the spawn over and over.

As for pulling my pistol on our own field ops, I shamefully admit I’ve done that more than a few times. Then again, those were maps like battery where we had about 6 field ops, and even with me setting up 10 feet from our spawn, they’d always walk right past me and ignore v22s, even from medics.

If it’s an unlimited lives server, I’ll just /kill. If it’s a limited lives server, those fieldops better do their jobs. In the last 3 days that I’ve really been playing mortar a lot, I’ve killed three times as many as our fieldops have, and that’s with me having to /kill rather than grovel for ammo.