Flames of War - 4.2" Mortar Platoon
Vietnam War – 4.2" Mortar Platoon The M30 4.2in (107mm) mortar first entered service with the United States Army in 1951 as a direct replacement for the M2 107mm mortar. Despite being twice the weight of the M2 (305kg vs. 151kg), the M30 enjoyed greater range and an increase in killing power when compared to its predecessor. Due to its weight, the M30 was often mounted in vehicles such as the M113 where it could offer mobile fire support to hotspots on the battlefield. When mounted on the ground, the base plate had to be dug-in and covered in sandbags in order to stabilise it. But even with these measures, the recoil caused when the weapon was fired would cause the base plate to shift therefore drastically reducing accuracy. What’s more, rate of fire was also reduced while the crew were forced to recalibrate the sights with the aiming stakes. In many cases these were discarded for the lighter and more mobile M29 81mm mortar to allow the platoon to accompany the battalion on combat operations. 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. Fire Support Base: The big 4.2-inch mortars are usually kept in fire bases rather than being lugged around in the field. Contents: 1× Command M16 Rifle team 2× Mortar sections each with two M30 4.2in mortars and crew 1× Small three-hole base 4× Large six-hole bases