V.2.2 Going Prone

[Michael Lewis]

What are the advantages of going prone? Besides 1/2 damage from concussion. I'm assuming it would be harder to hit someone prone during fire combat but I can't seem to find the rule.

Michael

[B.T.]

In many situations, a prone character is harder to hit, if he is, as an example, behind some low cover. If you roll for hit-location, a body part behind cover, cannot be wounded or is protected in those "hidden" areas.
Example: The character goes prone behind a low wall. Depending on GM judgement (heights of the wall, etc.), the legs, the abdomen and maybe even the chest or the arm(s) would be behind cover. If the attacking character rolls for hit location and comes up with a hit on those locations behind cover, the bullet may be too weak, to pierce the cover: The chances for a person, to be hit, is lower. (You have to compare the armor value of the cover with the damage of the weapon/ammunition.)
Another situation, where going prone may be a good idea is, when a character want's to fire a weapon with an attached bipod. If the firer is standing, he cannot rest the bipod on anything, if he goes prone, he may find a rest for the bipod.
And you can hurl grenades over a cover and avoid being "hit" by the concussion and the fragments.
Still another thing to mention: Going prone can be an effective way to hide. If a person is going prone behind a bunch of bushes, small walls, or the like, the attacker(s) or observer(s) may not see their target anymore.

[Michael Lewis]

Originally Posted by B.T.

Another situation, where going prone may be a good idea is, when a character want's to fire a weapon with an attached bipod. If the firer is standing, he cannot rest the bipod on anything, if he goes prone, he may find a rest for the bipod.
And you can hurl grenades over a cover and avoid being "hit" by the concussion and the fragments.
Still another thing to mention: Going prone can be an effective way to hide. If a person is going prone behind a bunch of bushes, small walls, or the like, the attacker(s) or observer(s) may not see their target anymore.

So say 2 guys are in an open field(flat plane) and are shooting at each other. One is prone. What would be the areas open to being hit? The head obviously and the arms. What else?

Can't you just aim at someones head? I can't find that rule anywhere.

How would you avoid being hit by the fragments?

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Michael Lewis

So say 2 guys are in an open field(flat plane) and are shooting at each other. One is prone. What would be the areas open to being hit? The head obviously and the arms. What else?

Can't you just aim at someones head? I can't find that rule anywhere.

How would you avoid being hit by the fragments?

Best I can remember, from v2.0, was that shots that hit the legs or abdomen were treated as a miss. The would include hits from fragments. You will want to reverse it for explosions that occur behind the prone character.

Aiming at a specific hit location was treated as one level more difficult. Shooting at the head at short range would be resolved as a medium range shot.

[Michael Lewis]

A grenade lands next to you while you were prone. What areas are open to hits from fragments?

[B.T.]

Originally Posted by Michael Lewis

A grenade lands next to you while you were prone. What areas are open to hits from fragments?

It depends on your GMing style and on the specific situation. Here's the way, I do it:
If a character kneels, and the grenade explodes in front of him, I would treat a hit to the abdomen as miss. If the grenade explodes behind the character, I would treat hits to the legs as miss. If the grenade explodes on the side of the character, all body parts could be hit (Handled like a "side shot".).
It really depends a lot on the surroundings. If the character sits/kneels behind a small wall or in a ditch, you can just as well say: The lower parts of the body are not going to be hit by fragments.
The rules leave a lot of freedom to the GM. My way may not even be "correct", but I think, it works on most occasions.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Another thing to consider with grenades (and other explosive items such as mortar rounds) is that when they hit the ground they channel most of their explosive force upwards and out.

When I was in the Aussie Army the basic drill for a grenade landing near you was to immediately go prone because there is a good chance that the fragments will miss you. This is because the ground itself will force the explosion to form into something like a V-shape, pushing up and out rather than around.

You're still going to be hit with the concussive effects and there is still the chance you'll be hit by fragments but being prone increases your odds of missing serious injury and for not being killed outright.

<evil Referee trick> Of course, a skilled thrower (and more so if he isn't being shot at, at the time) might be able to time his throw so that the grenade explodes while it's still in the air - then all bets are off!

[leonpoi]

Mechanically, hit locations abdomen and legs result in misses (I.e. 6-10). It's written somewhere in the rules.