Mortar Truck
Base Tech Level: Standard (IS)
Level Era
Experimental -
Advanced 2470-2504
Standard 2505+
Weight: 5 tons
Cost: 38932.5 C-bills
Movement: 9/14 (Wheeled)
Engine: 25 ICE
Internal: 4
Armor: 8
Internal Armor
Front 1 2
Right 1 2
Left 1 2
Rear 1 2
Equipment Loc
Stokes RR
Stokes Ammo (1/2) 33rds BD
Variants:
Primitive Armor-1 ton of primitive armor instead of standard armor, removes a point of armor from front and sides.
Stokes Specs:
Stokes
2 Heat
2 Tons
1 Crit
20,000 C-Bills
A/B-B-B-B
2 Mapsheet Range
66 rounds/ton (900 C-Bills/ton)
Description:The Stokes is one of the smallest, most primitive artillery systems available, and is ubiquitously associated
with the Periphery which uses them frequently on technicals and armored cars. A miniaturized version with a more
powerful warhead was developed for Battle Armor in the mid 3070s that's known simply as the BA Tube Artillery.
Ammo:
Stokes HE Ammo: 3 R0 damage
B/B-B-B-B
Stokes Flare Ammo: Resolved as 2 Flare 'Mech Mortar hits of radius R1
C/C-C-C-C
Stokes Smoke Ammo: Creates a R0 smoke cloud for 3 turns
B/B-B-B-B
Stokes Copperhead Ammo: 2 R0 damage, follows standard rules of Copperhead ammo, 3x C-Bill cost
E/D-F-E-D
Stokes Flechette Ammo: 1D6/2 damage against infantry R1, no damage to vehicles/BA
B/C-C-C-C
Stokes Incendiary Ammo: R0 effect, treat as a hit by 1 Inferno SRM, 2x C-Bill cost
D/D-E-D-C
The nondescript, generic mortar truck can be found just about everywhere, but is most common in the Periphery. The weapon is a very simple and reliable system, being little more than an iron tube to contain explosive spheres, and improvised versions can be made cheaply by just about anyone with a basic understanding, competency, and tools for forging and metal-working. As a consequence, variations of the Mortar Truck can be found just about everywhere that has a discontent population, especially in the Periphery
The most common version of the mortar truck is a 5-ton wheeled vehicle with a 25 ICE, a half-ton of armor barely sufficient to protect against the elements (let alone a gun), and a light Stokes mortar with a half-ton of ammunition. Many built by periphery powers built the mortar truck using primitive armor, lowering the protection even further but allowing even the smallest and least sophisticated manufacturers to produce them en masse.
'Mechwarriors of all types often derisively dismiss the mortar truck as a pathetic toy, and while it's true they're completely outmatched on a conventional battlefield their real danger lies in asymmetric warfare. While how the mortar trucks are used varies widely between operators, one of the more common and effective methods involves waiting until nightfall, sneaking in close (the typical 25 ICE is suprisingly quiet when equipped with a muffler) to an unprepared group in the middle of a campaign setting while they're outside of their battlemechs and vehicles, and bombard the camp with mortar shells, hoping to kill personnel and damage vehicles, and speeding away before the force can retaliate.
Mortar trucks and their many variations continue to prove to be a thorn in the side of occupying forces. During the Periphery uprising against the SLDF, improvised mortar trucks were one of the most common vehicles the Periphery has available to fight off the SLDF forces stationed on Periphery worlds. One elite Battlemech ace pilot, Fedya Yuri, was killed by suprise mortar fire outside of his Atlas, along with several others. This and several other incidents forced the Star League to develop better counter-insurgency methods and tactics, such as bringing light Conventional Fighters and VTOLs as COIN craft with the express purpose of hunting down and destroying the swift mortar trucks and similar vehicles, and expanded infantry MP patrols to detect and ward off these improvised artillery pieces. However, the Star League fell shortly thereafter without ever having the chance to actually use those lessons.
The Mortar Truck technical continues to be used to good effect around inhabited space, especially against cocky, unprepared occupational forces.
