Basic Unit Statistics (can be modified by difficulty level, arts, skills, traits and retainers)
| Recruitment Cost | 1900 | |
| Upkeep Cost | 125 | |
| Melee Attack | 2 | 5% |
| Charge Bonus | 5 | 10% |
| Bonus vs Cavalry | 0 | 0% |
| Range | 300 | 46% |
| Accuracy | 25 | 25% |
| Reloading Skill | 15 | 15% |
| Ammunition | 8 | 10% |
| Melee Defence | 1 | 2% |
| Armour | 1 | 6% |
| Morale | 3 | 6% |
Strengths & Weaknesses
- High arc of fire is good for attacking units behind walls.
- Slow reload time and low accuracy.
- Very weak if engaged in melee.
- Vulnerable to cavalry.
Description
Hand mortars can lob shots over the heads of intervening troops, even over high walls.
As gunpowder weapons hand mortars are, of course, noisy and smelly, but they have the advantage of using indirect fire thanks to the high trajectory of the missiles. The men have to be well trained to use them. Despite the danger they can pose to an enemy, they are vulnerable in close combat, and the small numerical strength of the unit means that they can be quickly overwhelmed. They may very well see discretion as a good course of action and break when charged. Hand mortars might be considered dangerous for the user, but lack of concern for danger seems to have been something the Hojo regularly flirted with. Rather than take his duties as shikken of the Kamakura Shogunate seriously, Hojo Takatoki did anything and everything else. He was certainly considered "barely sane" by his contemporaries. He enjoyed the finer things of life, regardless of the dishonour that his rather louche and un-samurai ways brought to his name and family. The "Taiheiki" chronicle of medieval Japan says "By day and by night, with wanton acts he dishonoured his glorious ancestors under the ground; in the morning and in the evening, with vain merriment he invited ruin in his lifetime."