Bombardment Mortars

Bombardment Mortars
Belongs to	Ottoman Empire
Type	Howitzers
Guns	4
Firepower	280
Range	750
Accuracy	10
Reload	5
Morale	3
Tech requirement	Explosive Shells
Produced from	Ordnance Board or higher
Shot Types	Round Shot, Carcass Shot, Explosive Shells, Quicklime Shells, Percussion Shells
Cost	650 SP/840 MP
Upkeep	160
Turns to Train	1
Unit Cap	None

Bombardment Mortars are a type of artillery in Empire: Total War.

Description

To the uneducated eye, a mortar looks like a large, stumpy cooking pot, set at an angle in a heavy wooden frame. Indeed, the weapon’s name may even have come from its similarity to the mortars used to grind spices. Mortars use indirect fire, firing their shells high into the air to plunge down on enemy positions. This makes them ideal for use in siege warfare.

Unlike a howitzer, a mortar uses a fixed, and relatively small, charge of gunpowder to propel its shell. Range is adjusted by changing the angle of fire; accuracy is subject to winds and weather, thanks to the flight path. There is also a practical minimum range to mortar fire: no artilleryman is going to drop a shell so close that he will be caught in the blast. Their size, expressed in terms of the diameter of shell they fire, indicates their destructiveness.

Mortars have returned to favour with armies since the First World War. Modern designs, based on the British Stokes trench mortar, come in many sizes. Most can fire shells with proximity fuses as anti-personnel rounds. The larger examples can fire sophisticated “smart” munitions that guide themselves onto targets.

General Information

Bombardment Mortars are the Ottoman answer to the Western 4-inch Mortar Battery. It packs much heavier firepower than 4-inch Mortar Batteries, and with no major drawbacks to speak of. Just a few salvos from this artillery type are enough to level any building, and the special ammunition is very destructive to target formations.