Harkanian Siege Mortar

Game Stats

• Range: 200-2000 yds.
• Explosive bomb damage: 30 (burn) + 4d20 (impaling)
• Incendiary bomb damage: 30 + 3d20 (burn)
• Primary blast radius: 15 yds.
• Secondary blast radius (explosive only, impaling damage only): 45 yds.
• Rate of fire: 1/8 rounds (full crew), 1/6 rounds (full crew + ClockTech screws)
• Skill: artillery
• Secondary skills: [none]

Quick Facts

Affiliation: Harkanian League

Type: Artillery

Primary Armament: Explosive Shot

Secondary Armament: Incendiary Shot

Support Armament Options: ClockTech Screws

Description

The Harkanian siege mortar is one of the two staples of the Harkanian siege train.  As its name implies, the massive siege mortar is intended to assault heavily defended and fortified positions such as castles and fortresses.  While great cannon batter down the gates and walls, siege mortars lob explosive bombs over the fortifications to attack the defenders and their buildings directly.

Like Harkanian cannon, siege mortars are produced to a standardized pattern for army use.  A Harkanian siege mortar fires a bomb eight inches in diameter weighing about 44 pounds.  These bombs are heavy enough that they are typically lifted with tongs to give the gunners more leverage, and produce a terrific blast when they detonate.  The siege mortar fires the heaviest explosives in the Harkanian arsenal, with a blast radius of about 45 yards and a "kill radius" (the distance where nearby targets are sure to be affected) of about 15 yards.

Each mortar weighs about half a ton, and is normally carried to the battlefield in pieces on carts drawn by horses or mules.  Because the weapon fires at such an extreme upwards angle (and thus directs its recoil at an extreme downwards angle), it is impractical to mount siege mortars on gun carriages like those used on cannon.  Instead the mortar must be assembled in place.  An assembled mortar can be moved only with the greatest difficulty, so it is of paramount improtance that the gunners site the weapon correctly the first time.

Siege mortars are elevated like Harkanian cannon, with simple but sturdy and precise clockwork screw mechanisms.  This allows the crew to make minute adjustments to the mortar's angle without the need for excessive muscle power.

Army Role

Harkanian siege mortars are used to attack the support buildings and defending personnel of castles and other fortifications.  They have a stupendous maximum range - almost twice that of Harkanian field cannon, and far beyond the range of torsion catapults or longbows.  A mortar's accuracy at maximum range is abysmal, but even at much shorter ranges - 800 yards is common - a siege mortar can still lob bombs inside a fortification with near impunity.  These bombs demoralize the enemy by making no place within the fortification safe, and weaken his fighting power by setting fires, destroying stockpiles, and causing casualties even among those not protecting the battlements.

Because siege mortars have such long range, they are tempting targets for enemy sorties - the only practical way to destroy the weapons is usually to leave the fortification they are bombarding.  For this reason Harkanian doctrine dictates that they always be protected by friendly troops and, if possible, friendly artillery such as field cannon or volley guns.

Mortars are capable of firing on large bodies of troops in open battle, but they rarely do so.  Siege mortars and their ammunition are heavy enough that even a small battery of two or three can significantly slow down a field army, which puts the army at risk of being outmaneuvered.  They are also slow to maneuver into position on the battlefield, which makes them difficult to bring to bear.  Moreover, the arc of the weapon means that it has a fairly long minimum range.  Siege mortars are also difficult to aim at moving targets, even relatively slow-moving targets such as enemy troops in formation.  The effect of a siege mortar bomb on infantry in close order is phenomenally devastating, but for the most part siege mortars only fire on enemy troops directly when used to defend Harkanian fortifications.

Mortars are loaded essentially like very short-barreled cannon, and aimed with a battery of compass-style instruments that enable the bombadier to check precisely the mortar tube's angle of elevation.  The weapon's range and precise arc is best varied by elevating or lowering the tube, although within limits the powder charge may be adjusted as well.  Loading a mortar quickly requires five men of a six-man heavy weapon crew: one to wield the sponge and ramrod staff, one to load the powder charge, two to load the heavy bomb, and the bombadier to aim the weapon.  The bombadier gives commands to the rest of his crew, who raise or lower the weapon by means of clockwork cranks.  The sixth man in the crew is available to provide covering fire, as extra muscle when assembling and disassembling the mortar, or simply as a replacement should one crew member become a casualty to enemy missile fire.

Equipment

Harkanian siege mortars fire two different types of bombs.  An explosive bomb is an eight-inch cast iron sphere filled with black powder and arquebus balls, designed to spray fragments of the bomb casing and lead shot over the blast area.  Incendiary bombs are essentially the same as explosive, but instead of being filled with black powder and shot the bomb is filled with black powder and inflammable compounds as in an incendiary grenade.  Explosive bombs are the more common of the two, as they have a larger blast radius.  Incendiary bombs are generally used only as terror weapons or when bombarding flammable buildings within a fortification.  Siege mortars are normally equipped with both types of ammunition.

Though Harkanian mortars are exactingly crafted, they are essentially very simple mechanisms.  Because mortars lob their bombs with a high arc, often over obstacles that block line of sight, they do not benefit from either Artillerist's Scales or ClockTech blowers.  The one ClockTech refinement that is occasionally issued to siege mortars are ClockTech screw kits.  These replace the ordinary clockwork elevation screws with ClockTech-assisted versions.  ClockTech screws make the mortar easier to raise or lower with a given amount of muscle power, thus allowing the mortar to be fired somewhat more quickly.  In offensive operations, rate of fire is rarely an issue - the siege mortar has such a long range that it can dictate the pace of bombardment.  When used to defend friendly fortifications, however, rate of fire can be crucial.  ClockTech screw kits are thus most often issued to siege mortars at major Harkanian fortifications.

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