Because going mortar reduces the number of rifles you can attack with (from 3 to 2), so if you do get a breakthrough you have less capping power. You also must have the mortar with your rifles at all times to get smoke, bringing smoke with you guarantees that you can always have it.
US was underperforming on city heavy maps where a single unit in a building meant that you had to immediately pick a doc with flames or get nades and burn away your munitions. This helps to alleviate this difference in strength by providing a natural, albeit light, counter to players sitting in buildings and stifling USF attacks early with little thought.
The extremely static build order from USF was also bad, because an opponent could know prior to the first mouse click the USF build order into the 4th minute. This should not be part of the game, you should have to make choices at all points in the game.
USF still lacks indirect fire, the mortar, as you should have noted from player feedback, is unlikely to be satisfactory in the role of bombarding an MG to death and getting more than one is probably near impossible in any game mode.
I understand that you are upset with the way the game is progressing, but I am afraid you need to accept that and decide if changes within that framework are worth your input. If not, I suggest at this point that COH2 is no longer the game for you.
You can easily do 3 rifles + mortar. In terms of manpower, it's not much different than many builds from other factions. USF is just very used to fast teching compared to everyone else, but it's not the only playstyle at all. Personally I prefer a very long T1 with USF getting an ambulance + weapon upgrades.
Everyone has a hard time on city maps. Atleast I always seem to regardless of what faction I'm playing.
You don't need to actually bombard machine guns in houses. You just smoke them off and they do nothing. Was always my tactic when using Sov or Ost mortars. Bombarding it is more for if you're not attacking in that area and you just want to annoy him if he's one of those players who afk's his machine guns in a house thinking it's being useful.
Yeah I'm leaning that way. I'm giving the beta a chance to win me over, as I do like some of the most conservatively minded changes like Soviet T4 changes and Ostheer T4 changes) Playing more SC2 these days though.
It's the radical experimental stuff that I think is way too heavy handed and OKW is just a mess but that's not anything new since October.