Light Artillery/Pre 1.3

Overview
Light Artillery units are similar to Mortar units, but available for production without Nanopods. Compared to the Mortar, Light Artillery:
 * Has further range (2-5 rows instead of 2-4);
 * Deals the same amount of damage (25 DMG) in a similar 5-tile splash attack, though their splash damage is 50% (instead of 25% for the mortar) of the base DMG value;
 * Has nearly half the HP (50 instead of 90).

Nevertheless, a few of these to be used as counter-artillery is not a bad investment.

It is noted that the Light Artillery has the least HP in Battle Nations (2nd place being a regular trooper with 55 HP). This makes it an underpowered unit not recommended to buy

1.2 Comparison between Mortar and Light Artillery
Now let's check the differences between these two Artillery Units.

The Light Artillery is weak against /Shell Units while the Mortar is not. Neither unit has a dodge bonus and both use indirect fire. You'll have to reach Level 20 and to build a Gun Foundry, to be able to produce Light Artillery units. To get the Mortar, you must spend 6 Nanopods. The only one advantage of the Light Artillery is to have a larger Range, so it can shoot at units from the third row.

Note: While the comparison takes into account the raw data, there is a very specific note which has not been mentioned. Mortar squads cost Nanopods to train, while Light Artillery do not. Late into the game, the Mortar Truck, a more robust form of the Mortar with infinite ammunition, becomes available and can be purchased without Nanopods. Furthermore, you will have to train at least a few of the Light Artillery units for quests; you need not ever use them.