Heavy Mortar Cannon

The Heavy Mortar Cannon, or simply the Heavy Mortar, is a piece of field artillery that is used by the Imperial Guard siege companies. The weapon is a larger version of the standard mortar weapon used by most Imperial Guard forces, it is also the same weapon used on the Griffon self-propelled mortar tank. The weapon is classified as field artillery, which, unlike heavy artillery, is used close to the front lines in direct support of the infantry and vehicles that are out in the field fighting. The weapon is light enough to be easily towed behind a Centaur utility vehicle, and can be set-up or torn down quickly and moved either to safety or to get closer to the enemy.

Uses
The Heavy Mortar is used to directly support the front-line forces by dropping powerful and accurate shells onto the enemy forces. The weapon has several different types of shells it can use, each one with a specific purpose. The weapon is loaded one shell at a time, and can only fire one shell at a time, unlike the Imperial Quad Cannon, which fires four shells at a time, but the Heavy Mortar is preferred due to its ammunition's diversity. The Heavy Mortar can be towed quickly across the battlefield by a Centaur or a Trojan, during combat the Centaur can provide cover to the gunner crew, and the Trojan can be seen traveling back and forth from the ammo stockpile to keep the crew from running out of shells to fire.

Ammunition

 * High Explosive - High Explosive Rounds are the standard shells used by the Heavy Mortar Cannon, these shells are more than capable of destroying infantry and even vehicles.
 * Fragmentation - Fragmentation Rounds a timed charge shell that explodes before hitting the ground and showers the area with shrapnel, these are used against large numbers of infantry.
 * Siege Shells - Siege Shells are used against enemy structures and fortifications, they are fused to explode after hitting the ground, causing damage to the building's foundation.
 * Melta Shells - These shells undergo a sub-atomic reaction upon impact and releasing a blast of intense heat, they are capable of doing tremendous damage to armoured units and infantry alike.
 * Inferno Rounds - These shells are packed wit ha highly flammable substance such as a oxy-phospur gel or a thermite compound, instantly catching everything where it lands on fire. The fire will stick to most surfaces, this causes infantry and vehicles to retreat.
 * Illumination Shells - These shells are fired high into the sky where they deploy a parachute and slowly drift downwards, the shell burns very brightly on its way down to illuminate the battlefield during night operations.
 * Smoke Shells - Smoke Shells cover the impact area wit ha dense layer of smoke, used to conceal the location of friendly forces.