M1 81mm Mortar Team

"insert funni quote"

The M1 81mm Mortar is the basic light-indirect fire unit of the American Expeditionary Force. This weapon is cheap, reliable, and performs adequately at the tasks one would expect it to do.

Overview
As for as indirect-fire weapons go, the M1 81mm Mortar isn't terribly stand-out in any particular way. It is average in pretty much every way, with not a single feature standing out in any particular way. The only noteworthy thing about this unit is its rather cheap price, making it feasible to field numerous unit without putting too much of a hole in your roster.

Overall, this unit is a good weapon to use when faced with an opponent relying heavily on HMG teams or static positions due to its cheap cost that allows it to be fielded en masse. It is also a very good tool to have against Flakturms, since a single smoke-barrage is enough to completely disable one until the smoke fades. Outside of those niche situations however, it is most likely better to wait a bit long to get a more powerful unit such as the M1 75mm Pack Howitzer.

USMC Variant
The version of this weapon available to the USMC comes with a crew equipped with light body-armor, increasing their resistance to small-arms. Additionally, the crew has marginally more health (85 vs 80) and has two additional veterancy levels.

Pros

 * Very cheap to produce and available in the HQ building
 * Not bad in any category
 * Smoke Barrage is a useful tool against Flakturms.

Cons

 * Entirely outclassed by Axis light artillery
 * Not good in any particular way
 * Poor utility past the early-game.

High-Explosive Barrage
The mortar team fires an accurate barrage of five 81mm high-explosive rounds at the targeted location.



Smoke Barrage
The mortar team fires a barrage of three 81mm smoke rounds at the targeted location, laying down a concealing smoke-screen for a short duration.

Veterancy
 Veterancy One 

480 XP: -25% smoke barrage ability cooldown.

 Veterancy Two 

960 XP: -40% barrage recharge

 Veterancy Three 

1920 XP: +20% barrage accuracy. Note: Does not affect smoke.

USMC Variant
***Exact values are unknown due to limited access to mod files***

 Veterancy Four 

Decreases received accuracy

 Veterancy Five 

Increases weapon damage and penetration (?)