So I was reading over the fighter rules, and I realized that there is a specific situation that is a little unclear to me on how cover and going down work.
“Infantry and artillery can go Down to half the hits taken and increase their save… Cover saves are only provided by terrain the unit is inside, or by obstacles the unit is in base contact with (as long as the obstacle lies between the warplane and the unit). Nothing else provides cover saves against the strafing fighter.” p.117
For the most part, I think that everything is pretty clear. The unit only gets cover if they are in area terrain or have something between them and the plane. If they go down, they improve their save. All good.
What is a little unclear to me is what happens when the unit goes down in the open without any cover? The rule says the unit improves its save, but it also says nothing provides cover against the attack besides being inside of terrain or intervening obstacles. So does it only halve the number of hits, or does the unit still get a 5+ save for going down?
In the rules section for going down it reads “If a unit is not in cover, but it is or goes Down as a result of being shot, it receives a 5+ cover save, as we assume the men take advantage of slight indentations in the ground…”
It also states “Note that this 5+ save for being Down, or the +2 modifer to an existing save, are completely negated if the firer is in point point-blank range – lying prone is not very useful when the enemy is close enough to shoot right over any covering terrain or indeed lob a well-placed hand grenade right next to you!” p.85
Now I get that a strafing fighter is not at point blank range, but the description of the going down not helping if the enemy is able to shoot over you sure seems like it would apply to a plane. The most concrete wording to me is the fact that it says that besides the two sources of cover listed, nothing else provides cover against a strafing fighter, so I would think an improved save would only matter if you have cover to begin with.
I’m probably overthinking things here, but any thoughts? To be clear, I believe the unit wouldn’t get cover in the open, just half the hits.
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