Grenades: Theory and Practice

by Scott D. Haring

-- Excerpt from The 2034 Ordnance Lover's Annual, Explosives Week magazine.

A grenade is, in its simplest definition, a small bomb. It has a 2" burst effect radius, but unlike other burst effect weapons, it does not do any impact damage at all. Used in bunches, they can be devastating. In 2032, a well-meaning member of the Midville Organization for Neighborhood Defense Ordnance (the famed MONDOs), unaware of the potential for disaster, dumped 24 pre-set grenades from a rooftop onto the street below as a trap for approaching duellists. The resulting explosion caused the building the MONDO was on to collapse -- much to the movement's embarrassment. The offending MONDO was kicked out of the organization... posthumously.

The simplest and most common method to introduce a grenade into a combat situation is to throw it. The "to hit" roll for a grenade is 9 or better on 2d6. But that's misleading, because even a successful roll will not put the grenade in the exact square you were aiming for, unless you roll a natural 12. On a 12, the grenade lands in the exact 1/4" square you were aiming for. Everything else falls, to one degree or another, under the heading of...

Missing

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

-- Anonymous

For any grenade toss (or shot with a grenade launcher, for that matter) that is less than the best possible (i.e., a 12), there will be some deviation from your intended target. This deviation has two components -- Direction and Distance. Or, to put it another way, which way did it go, and how badly did you miss?

Direction -- Roll 1d6, and consult the following:

• 1 -- Off to the right.
• 2 -- Off to the left.
• 3 -- On line, but long.
• 4 -- On line, but short.
• 5 -- Off to the right, and either long or short (roll randomly).
• 6 -- Off to the left, and either long or short (roll randomly).

Distance -- How far the grenade lands from the intended spot depends on how badly you missed your "to hit" roll:

• Made your roll or better, but rolled less than 12 -- 1d3 1/4" squares in each direction called for by the direction roll.
• Missed by 1 -- 1d6 -- 1 (treat a 0 result as 1) in each direction called for.
• Missed by 2 -- 1d6+1 squares in each direction called for.
• Missed by 3 -- 2d6 -- 2 (treat a 0 result as 1) squares in direction called for.
• Missed by 4 or 5 -- 2d6+3 squares in each direction called for.
• Missed by 6 or more -- 3d6 squares (8 squares minimum) in each direction called for.

If the line of flight for the grenade is diagonal in relation to the grid lines, just remember that each square is 1/4", and use a ruler to determine the final location of the grenade.

Example: George thinks an enemy vehicle is about to slip out a side alley, so he wants to toss a grenade into the open area where the alley intersects the street. George needs a 9 or better on two dice to hit, and rolls an 8. Not bad, but a miss. Next George rolls on the Direction table, and rolls a 5 -- off to the right, and either long or short. George assigns "evens" to long, and rolls another 5 -- indicating the grenade came up short, too.

Next, George consults the Distance table -- "missed by 1" means the grenade is off by 1d6 -- 1 squares in each direction called for by the first set of rolls, rolled separately. George's grenade is both to the right and short of the intended spot. George first rolls a 2, and then a 3 -- so the grenade ends up one square to the right and two squares short of the intended target. Not bad at all!

The maximum range for a thrown grenade is 5", and standard range penalties apply -- that is, if your intended spot is 4" to 5" away, there is a -- 1 penalty to hit, and if your intended spot is less than 1" away, there is a +4 bonus. If your intended spot is less than 1" away, you cannot miss by more than two squares in any direction. In no case can a grenade end up behind the thrower -- if the distance "short" is greater than the distance attempted in the first place, place the grenade at the thrower's feet. Also, a grenade thrower may place a grenade in his own or any adjacent 1/4" square without having to roll to hit at all.

A grenade may be thrown from a moving vehicle at -- 2. There is no "automatic hit" for adjacent squares, but the +4 point-blank bonus would apply. A grenade dropped from a vehicle could go anywhere. A roll of 2 or 3 indicates disaster -- the grenade is dropped inside the vehicle and rolls under the seat -- or something equally nasty.

Equipment

Hardware Editor

Most grenades, no matter the type, look alike. They have a simple time-delay switch (0 to 5 seconds), and an activation switch. Setting the time-delay takes one second, but they can be set ahead of time. Changing the time delay also takes one second.

To throw a grenade, simply start the timer by pressing the activation switch, and throw it. The grenade will go off at the end of the turn in which the timer stops. If you set the timer at 0, it will go off at the end of the turn in which you press the switch. Grenades fired from vehicular or hand-held launchers are automatically activated upon firing.

The types of grenades available:

• Explosive -- The standard. One grenade equivalent, $25, does one die damage in a 2" burst radius to tires and all non-vehicular items, 1/2-die damage to vehicles.
• Tear Gas -- One grenade equivalent, $30. Creates a 1" x 1" cloud of gas that has the same duration and effect on weapons fire as smoke. Unprotected pedestrians and cyclists must roll once per turn any turn they are in a cloud. Multiple rolls don't produce cumulative results -- just apply the worst result rolled so far:
  • 1 -- Character unconscious for 5 minutes.
  • 2-4 -- For one minute, character is -6 to hit with any weapon, and can only crawl at 3 squares/turn.
  • 5-6 -- Character is -2 to hit with any weapon for this turn and 3 more turns. Smoke -- One grenade equivalent, $20. Creates a 1" x 1" standard smoke cloud. Available in a variety of colors.
• Concussion -- One grenade equivalent, $40. Does 1 point of damage to pedestrians only in a 1" burst radius, but has an additional effect on all people within a 2" radius. Roll 1d6:
  • 1-2 -- Character unconscious for 10 minutes.
  • 3 -- Character unconscious for 1 minute, stunned for 2 more minutes.
  • 4 -- Character unconscious for 10 seconds, stunned for 2 more minutes.
  • 5 -- Character stunned ( -- 3 to hit with all weapons, movement reduced to 4 squares/turn, reflexes dropped to 0 if a driver) for 30 seconds.
  • 6 -- Character stunned for 10 seconds.
  • 7 or more -- No effect.
  Characters inside a vehicle with intact armor between them and the blast add 3 to their rolls. Characters with a building wall or other major cover between them and the blast add 5.
• Paint -- One grenade equivalent, $20. Creates a 1" x 1" standard paint cloud. Available in a variety of colors.

In addition, there are two types of grenade launchers.

• Vehicular launcher -- To hit 7, damage by grenade type, 2 DP, $1,000, 200 lbs., 2 spaces, WPS 4, CPS by grenade type. Any type of grenade at any timer setting (0-5 sec.) may be loaded -- you can even mix and match. But once the order has been determined when the weapon is loaded, you're stuck with it (write down any exotic combinations, and keep track).
• Hand-heldlauncher -- To hit 7, damage by grenade type, $300, counts as two grenade equivalents when carried. Fires a five-shot clip -- replacement clips cost $50 in addition to the cost of the grenades. Maximum range is 15". Types of grenades and timer setting must be determined when clip is loaded, and cannot be changed. Mix and match grenade loads are legal.

For further reader on grenades and their practical applications, please see Streetfighting for Fun and Profit, by Sam Bronfman and Arthur Salter; The 2034 Ordnance Lover's Annual, by the editors of Explosives Week; and Basic Hand Weapon Techniques, by the Greater Hartford Survival Research Center.