Flames of War - Mortar Platoon (Airmobile)

Vietnam War – Mortar Platoon (Airmobile) The battalion mortar platoon fields the new M29 81mm mortar. This is an improved version of the old WWII-era M1 81mm mortar with longer range. Perhaps as important to the crew, it was also 15 lb (7 kg) lighter than the older model. The platoon landed as part of D Company at Ia Drang and provided essential quick-reaction fire support throughout the battle. Their timely fire helped break up Vietnamese attacks on the rifle companies defending the perimeter. In Flames of War: Smoke: Sometimes your weapons won’t destroy the enemy quickly enough to prevent them from wreaking havoc on your own troops first. One way to protect your troops in the meanwhile is to fire smoke at the enemy to temporarily impair their vision. Smoke Bombardment: A smoke screen is created by firing shells filled with chemicals that burn quickly, giving off clouds of dense white smoke. Enormous amounts of these shells must be fired onto a small area to create a smoke screen large and dense enough to provide complete concealment for your troops. Impromptu smoke screens of the type called down by a commander during a battle, while still impressive and quite effective, are nowhere near as dense and complete and cannot be maintained indefinitely. Contents: 1× Command M16 Rifle team 2× Mortar sections each with two M29 81mm mortars with crew 1× Small three-hole base 4× Medium four-hole bases