WARDOGS Mortar and Artillery Calculator
Place the gun, place the target, get range, azimuth and elevation. Works on both in-game maps, with the same imagery as the map: a meter per pixel, half a meter inside the playable area.
A coordinate from the game can be pasted as one whole string into either field — with or without labels, in units or meters. One unit is 100 m (0.01 is a meter); Y counts north, as in game.
Elevation
The firing tables are flat-ground: they assume gun and target are at the same height. Bakurani is a river valley with ridges along its edges, so a shot from the bottom onto high ground lands short of what this page says, and one from the ridge downwards lands long. That is exactly why Ranging exists: one shell, a correction, the second one on target.
Vehicle tilt
The SPH-2 is a vehicle, and how it is parked changes where the barrel actually points. In the gun sight, two markers beside the silhouette show lateral tilt: level them. A flat patch of ground beats a pretty firing position.
Spread is not a miss
Spread is built into the platform: the SPH-2 holds 10 MOA, the mortar 50. That is an angle, so the further you shoot the wider it lands. A mortar at the edge of its range puts shells across a ten-meter patch, and no amount of elevation fixes that.
Where the numbers come from
The firing tables are taken from the open wardogs-calculator project by apollyon-sys (MIT license) — community measurements, not a BULKHEAD publication. Mortar range is still disputed: this table gives 132–684 m, another calculator publishes 3.1 km. Neither side has official figures.
How to read the three numbers
Azimuth is the compass bearing from gun to target: 0° is north, 90° is east. It is the number you traverse the barrel to.
Elevation in mils is the vertical, and it decides where the shell lands along that bearing.
Range is there so you can sanity-check the first two by eye, and so you know whether you reach at all.
Low arc or high arc?
Low when the target can drive away: the shell hangs in the air for less time and catches the vehicle rather than the crater behind it. High when there is a ridge or a building between you.
On the SPH-2 the low arc does not reach closer than about 1,181 m, so under that range high is not an advantage — it is the only option.
Why the mortar is marked “unconfirmed”
Because its range is the most disputed number in WARDOGS artillery. The table behind this calculator covers 132–684 m, while another published calculator gives the same mortar 3.1 km — a factor of four and a half. BULKHEAD has published nothing, and the wikis refuse to print a figure. Range in, do not trust the number — ours included.
Frequently asked
How do I calculate artillery in WARDOGS?
Place the gun and the target on the map — the calculator returns range, azimuth and elevation in mils. Azimuth is the compass bearing from the gun to the target (0° north, 90° east), the horizontal. Elevation in mils is the vertical, and it decides where the shell lands along that bearing.
Low arc or high arc — which one to use?
Low when the target can drive away: the shell spends less time in the air and hits the vehicle rather than the crater behind it. High when a ridge or a building sits between you. The SPH-2 low arc does not reach closer than about 1,181 m, so below that distance the high arc is not a choice but the only option.
Why does the shell land somewhere other than where the calculator said?
The firing tables are flat: they assume the gun and the target sit at the same height. A shot from low ground onto a hill lands short, a shot from a ridge downhill lands long. Two more reasons: the SPH-2 tilt (level the markers on the sides of the silhouette in the sight) and the platform's own spread. That is why there is a ranging shot: one shell, a correction, the second on target.
What is the spread of the mortar and the SPH-2?
The SPH-2 holds 10 MOA, the mortar 50 MOA. It is an angle, so the farther you shoot the wider it lands: at maximum range the mortar drops shells across a ten-meter patch, and no sight setting fixes that.
What is the range of the L81 mortar in WARDOGS?
Nobody has an exact answer. Our table gives 132–684 m, another published calculator says 3.1 km — a factor of four and a half. BULKHEAD has published nothing and the wikis refuse to print a number. Range in with a shot, do not trust the figure — ours included.
Where do the firing tables come from?
From the open-source wardogs-calculator project by apollyon-sys under the MIT license — community measurements, not a BULKHEAD publication.