A Mortar is a muzzle-loaded, indirect-fire ballistic weapon whose origins go back to well before any other weapons currently in use by the Imperium of Man.
It is deployed by the forces of the Astra Militarum, and it is popular for its simplicity of construction and maintenance compared to more sophisticated weapons. The Mortar has the ability to bombard enemy positions from behind cover. As such, the vulnerability of the Imperial Guardsmen firing the weapon is reduced and they often survive longer, another reason for the weapon's popularity.
Although it possesses indirect fire capabilities, the Mortar is not exceptionally potent against better-armoured heavy infantry troops like Chaos Space Marines -- and has even less effectiveness against armoured vehicles. The Mortar is primarily used as an anti-infantry weapon, and to provide counterbattery fire against enemy mortar teams.
To deal with more powerful or heavily armoured targets, artillery such as the Quad Launcher and the Heavy Mortar are preferred.
Notable Mortars[]
- Mark IX Accatran Pattern Mortar - Often deployed by the regiments of the Elysian Drop Troops to provide anti-infantry fire support, this automatic mortar is fed by a revolving five-round drum magazine capable of sustaining a high rate of fire. It is outfitted with carrying handles that allow it to be moved by two Guardsmen, but once it is set up it can be activated remotely through the use of a short-range, remote control unit. The remote has a range of approximately 100 metres, and can be set to order the mortar to fire its shells singly or in bursts of five in rapid succession. This allows the user to act as their own spotter and concentrate tremendous amounts of firepower on a single spot.
- Marbo's Mortar - Marbo's Mortar is a powerful mortar employed by the regiments of the Catachan Jungle Fighters. Because of the weapon's ability to utterly obliterate the enemy, it was named after Catachan's most famous Astra Militarum soldier, Sly Marbo, the "One Man Army."
Sources[]
- Codex: Imperial Guard (2nd Edition), pg. 22
- The Imperial Munitorum Manual, pg. 70
- Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition), pg. 69
- Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Project, pg. 137
- Imperial Armour Volume Five - The Siege of Vraks - Part One, pg. 97
- Imperial Armour Volume Eight - Raid on Kastorel-Novem, pg. 93
- Only War: Hammer of the Emperor (RPG), pg. 114
- Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium (Defunct MMO)