M106 Heavy Mortar Carrier

Droppin' bombs man!

"Hang ... FIRE!"

– Mortar training 101

Yet another variation on the venerable M113, the M106 Heavy Mortar Carrier was designed to provide fire support to mechanized infantry companies while keeping up with the rest of the formation. The US M106 carries the M168 107mm Mortar which is capable of dropping rounds on target at ranges in excess of 5000m away. In addition, it also is equipped with a close defense .50cal machine gun. Other countries have nearly identical variants, only switching out the mortar caliber and machine guns.

In Team Yankee

USA

The Stat Card

This is a nice little SPG. The M30 mortar can reach out and touch enemy infantry up to 4 feet away, and it stands a fair chance of killing it even if in cover with its decent 4+ Firepower rating. The AT value is only 2 though, so you are not going to be knocking out tanks with this thing unless it is open topped and your opponent rolls really poorly. They also have the ability to do a smoke bombardment, which combined with excellent allied optics, can give your forces a big advantage. Use smoke to force the Soviet Tanks to engage on your terms, not theirs.

The M106 has the same front and side armor as every other M113 based vehicle, but it has a top armor of 0 because of the massive hole cut in the top for the M30 Mortar to fire out of.

A section of 3 will cost you 3 points, and 6 for 6.

An excellent utility (smoke and pinning) artillery. Consider the M109 for killing artillery instead.

West Germany

Das Stats

The Panzermörser takes the affordability and utility of the M106 and bumps up the firepower a little.

With AT 3 and FP 3+, you won't be knocking out hordes of BMPs and tanks. However, 3+ firepower makes a huge difference when you are using these to kill soft skins instead of popping smoke. Used against infantry, expect to pin them down and cause a respectable amount of casualties in the process. It may not match the M109 in the anti-armour role, but is more than capable of hurting units with top armour 0 like the BTR-60 and enemy artillery or anti-air missiles.

A section of 3 will cost you 3 points, and 6 for 6.

An excellent utility (smoke and pinning) artillery. Unlike the US version, bringing a 120mm mortar is perfectly functional as killing artillery.

3+ skill is less important for support units, but you may expect to use shoot-and-scoot orders to keep firing while moving.

Netherlands

Metal Hotboxing

The Dutch have two variants of the M113 mortar carrier, one with a 107mm mortar and another with 120mm mortars.

Serving as utility artillery in a Dutch army, the main purpose of the mortar is to suppress infantry and pop smoke. They might be able to splash infantry in the open very well, but they excel when used to fill whatever the situation needs at the moment. Enemy infantry rushing your objective? Pin them down. Friendly infantry advancing in the open? Cover their advance with smoke bombardments. Enemy BM-21s in sight? Your mortars can tear them a new one.

Like the German counterpart, the 120mm is fully capable of acting as killing artillery if needed: AT3 may be poor, but it is enough when fired at BTRs. On the other hand, 3+ Firepower means that when fired against entrenched infantry, they can actually do pretty well.

The 107mm suffers in this regard, and is very incapable of punching through vehicles. Use it strictly as utility artillery.

The 120mm may only be purchased in a Pantserinfanterie Compagnie in a platoon of 2 or 3 for 1 point per vehicle. However, as nearly every Dutch player takes this infantry formation due to its excellent transports, 120mm mortar carriers are plentiful on the table.

107mms can only be purchased in the Verkennings (recon) squadron at 2 points for 3. This alone makes them rare, as the recon squadron is much less popular than the Pantserinfanterie Compagnie.

If you think that artillery's job is to kill things instead of shit like smoke and tactics, consider the M109 instead.

Israel

smol boi

big boi

The IDF have two variants of mortar carrier: the M125 and the M106.

The M125 is an 81mm mortar carrier with AT 1 and FP4+, making it an obvious choice for the utility artillery role. Vulnerable from anything bigger than an assault rifle, this unit should be planted in the back while pinning enemy infantry or smoking lines of sight to cover your attacks.

The M106 is the fatter, deadlier son of the M125 that bumps up the caliber to a 120mm shell (the IDF upgraded the standard 107mm US mortar to a more destructive, and more readily available, 120mm version). While AT3 and FP3+ might not be strong enough to really threaten BMPs and tanks, it has a good chance of punching through soft-skinned vehicles like BTR-60s, Danas and BM-21s. Whether you take this unit depends on your list: the M106 might just be a more expensive utility mortar or a weaker M109 that can't kill things.

IRL

Gas masks make everything more sinister

The M106 was first fielded by the US Army in Vietnam, where it supported US efforts to dislodge the VC and ARV forces. In US Service it has since been supplanted by the M1064A3 which is almost identical to the M106 except it mounts a 120mm Mortar instead of the 107mm.

The purpose of the mortar is to provide fire support at the smallest tactical level possible, which in most cases was the company (coincidentally the level that Team Yankee operates at for NATO forces), to minimize the amount of time between the call for fire and shells on the way. This rapid reaction capability gives company commanders the ability to suppress enemy forces with highly accurate indirect fire, both of the high explosive and smoke shell variety as quickly as possible, as when Ivan comes thundering towards you, you definitely don't want your desperate call for indirect support to end up stuck in the information-log jam that is brigade comms.

A Battalion was often equipped with single mortar platoon. This mortar platoon was often broken down into its component sections (roughly a squad of mortars) to then be distributed equally to the companies of the battalion (but not in a communist way). Since mechanized units were going to be expected to deal with the brunt of the PACT offensive, they were issued the largest mortars in the inventory (or more accurately they already had the logistical support and vehicles to haul such unwieldy weapons around) while the light rifle battalions and special units like the airborne were issued the more man-portable 60mm mortars.

ANZAC Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	Leopard AS1
Transports:	M113 (T50)
Infantry:	ANZAC Mechanized Platoon - Milan AT Section
Artillery:	M125 Mortar Platoon
Anti-Aircraft:	M113 Redeye SAM section
Tank Hunters:	AT Land Rover
Recon:	Scorpion - M113 MRV - M113 LRV
British Support:	Abbot Field Battery - M109 Field Battery - FV432 FOO - Harrier Jump Jet - Lynx HELARM

Israeli Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	Merkava - M60 Patton
Transports:	M113 Armored Personnel Carrier
Troops:	IDF Infantry Platoon
Artillery:	M109 Howitzer -M106 Heavy Mortar Carrier -M125 Mortar Carrier
Anti-Aircraft:	M163 VADS - ZSU 23-4 Shilka - M48 Chaparral - Redeye SAM Platoon
Tank Hunters:	Pereh - M150 TOW - Jeep TOW
Recon:	M113 Recce - Jeep Recce
Aircraft:	AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter - A4 Skyhawk

Iranian Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	T-55 - T-62 - M60 Patton - Chieftain
Transports:	M113 Armored Personnel Carrier - BTR-60 - BMP-1
Troops:	Iranian Mechanized Platoon - Basij Infantry Company
Artillery:	M109 Howitzer - BM-21 Hail - M125 81mm
Anti-Aircraft:	ZSU 23-4 Shilka - ZSU-57-2 - SA-8 Gecko
Tank Hunters:	Jeep TOW - Jeep 106mm Recoilless - M113 106mm Recoilless
Recon:	Scorpion
Aircraft:	AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter
Soviet Support:	SU-25 Frogfoot