I think it's b.s. this unit gets to retreat with 1 guy after having a crew of 5. That needs to go the way of the dodo bird.
The fact you have opinions on Soviet units is beyond me.
120mm seems useful more for the extra range against buildings than anything else. Being able to shell the building from that much more safety is always nice, gives you more flexibility in where you chose to set up to defend them too.
I'd say it's more useful vs Schwerer, Pak43, LeFH, AA emplacement and maybe bunke.
Best use of the HM38 in my experience is vs massive blobs where its bad scatter doesn't matter and one shell will significantly hurt almost every squad.
Most of the gripes I have with this unit its the setup. Unlike other heavier indirect fire units, the 120 doesn't set up in an arc, meaning its free to adjust to any target it sees fit. The mortar operator has to pack up, turn, and set it up again and you can lost a lot of time doing so. It would be a nice QoL change for the unit to work as a Pack Howitzer.
Yup and tbh I really liked the old LeiG cone of firing arc that let you know which targets you could engage without repositioning it which was really cool and useful. Wish all indirect fire units still had that.