"RPG from a building" Topic

Rhodesia: contested farmhouse.
Firing a RPG from a window?
Do you need to open the window?
Opinions please.

No
You need to remove the wall behind you!! Backblast is 20m and overpressure is significant!!
Recoiless weapons inside rooms is a very bad idea!

Presumably, unless you want to immolate yourself, you wouldn't fire from inside a small room, let alone with a closed window. The back blast on those things is pretty severe.

I'd say Red box Dungeons and Dragons is a yes, not sure if it would be heavy enough to break the window. A solid hardback GURPs book on the other hand should go straight through. Other role playing games will vary…

It sounds like your question is more, "Can you shoot an RPG through a window?" As in, will the glass set off the RPG?

Is that what you are asking?

I tend to let the host run a game, being a dungeon master is hard work.
TG, yep it is a two part question. 😀

Most were impact fused which would go off when contacting glass. With the back blast and the exploding head the room would be rather uncomfortable.

x42

I think the round has an arming range of about 5m? SO I think you could fire it through a glass window immediately in front of you (THOUGH…. I'd be hesitant to put that to the test).

I'm in agreement that the backblast is significant, however, its been done before (fired from inside of a building). Just not sure of the conditions (large drafty open building would be a bit different than a small closed room with heavy walls).

"shrugs"

Chalfant

Typical arming range of the round is around 10m. So theoretically the rocket should go through a glass window if your less than 30 feet away. Theoretically…

I personally find Wargaming modern period problematic.
But a good dungeon master would have been able to handle this well.
One problem was the game was not set up as a Role Play Game, so getting a ruling was important.

"According to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Bulletin 3u (1977) Soviet RPG-7 Antitank Grenade Launcher—Capabilities and Countermeasures, the RPG-7 munition has two sections: a "booster" section and a "warhead and sustainer motor" section. These must be assembled into the ready-to-use grenade. The booster consists of a "small strip powder charge" that serves to propel the grenade out of the launcher; the sustainer motor then ignites and propels the grenade for the next few seconds, giving it a top speed of 294 metres per second (660 mph). The TRADOC bulletin provides anecdotal commentary that the RPG-7 has been fired from within buildings, which agrees with the two-stage design. It is stated that only a 2-meter standoff to a rear obstruction is needed for use inside rooms or fortifications."

The M72 LAW family can also be fired from confined spaces. An adequate area to vent the backblast is needed.

I don't think firing either through a closed window is a particularly bright idea. I suppose you could try it once..

Cyclone wire sometimes called chain link fencing will defeat RPG rounds, tends to shred the warhead most of the time unless you get 'lucky' and have the fuze hit a wire.

The point is that the aim is controlled by the velocity of the round. An intact glass window would drastically change the velocity profile and hence the accuracy. If it was a double glazed window it may not make it though or do so at very low speed. It would be impossible to get any form of accuracy and if it ricocheted off the glass, the lack of back blast may not be an issue as when the primary motor lit and the device armed and then bounced off one of the walls it would be a short lived experience.

The German Armburst can also be fired from inside a room. A Garl Gustav less so but, it is a recoiless rifle rather than an RPG.

There are a few videos of RPG fired from inside a building on "you of the tube":

YouTube link

YouTube link

YouTube link

However, they appear to be fired thru an already opened aperture, not a closed window.

My ruling as a veteran DM & prior service infantryman would be:

Player fires – booster charge kicks the round out the tube at low velocity – it bounces off the window – falls to the floor – sustainer motor kicks in wedging it solidly in the wall at the floor – or – if at an angle it scoots around the room on the floor for awhile- sustainer motor spews exhaust into the room – once the sustainer motor runs out of fuel – the warhead self detonates in the confined space

- at which point the backblast becomes the least of your players' worries

of course the flight time of an RPG is several seconds – so the players could attempt to grasp the hot rocket exhaust spewing tube – in an attempt to throw it out the now cracked window – most likely to explode in their hands

As DM, I warn them with a snide 'Good luck with that." comment prior to the player firing the RPG

- but stupid is its own reward

start rolling up new characters

Why not just shoot a bullet through the window first, to open it?

In a battle nobody's going to be too alarmed at breaking glass.

Battler: game allows each figure to have 3 actions, approach window, open window, spot…anyway, there maybe a better combination of actions.
Spot, shoot through window, change weapon…
Does an RPG count as a heavy weapon? If so, it takes 3 actions to fire…
As I have mentioned, I find war gaming Modern period a bit difficult, I prefer dsfrank's approach: a bit more role playing, and I tend to have all the players on one side and the opponents are npc's.
From my D&D days there was a gamer's guide to weapons (medieval type), is there a modern version?

ZoC: one constant in those, the amount of dust and debris churned up. Basically you just smoked the room.

As noted by others here … firing an RPG or M72 type weapon in a room would probably not be advisable … Now in a big, e.g. warehouse with a clear, long, wide back blast area it could work. Just don't be anywhere behind it when fired.

And I'd as far as firing those type weapons thru a closed window would not be a good idea either …

Legion-
"Just don't be anywhere behind it when fired."

As with my other links above, there are a few examples of that one-time mistake on you tube as well. Some are funny and some are terminal. Just search "RPG fail".

I'm sure at times some of the local insurgent/terrorist forces, etc., have made that error … And probably in many cases that is the last mistake or anything else … they did. Like them blowing themselves up with their own bombs/IEDs/booby-traps. LOL !

Some might call that "divine intervention" or just "Murphy" … Regardless … it's a good thing, IMO …