Cover rolls

[Stuart]

I would be grateful if you could clarify the rules about cover rolls. A "discussion" took place between my friend and I recently when an MG42 team in a wooded hex was being shot at by three M1 Garand riflemen:
The first rifleman scored one hit and the MG42 team failed their cover roll, gaining a face down disrupted counter.
The second rifleman scored two hits and the MG42 made their cover roll, limiting the combat result to a face down disrupted counter.
The third rifleman scored one hit and the MG42 team failed their cover roll.
Our disagreement was about the cumulative effects of hits versus the effects of cover rolls and whether the MG42 team survived the third attack or not.
Is the hit from the first attack negated by the successful cover roll of the second?

[Y2UAsk]

The first rifleman scored one hit and the MG42 team failed their cover roll, gaining a face down disrupted counter.
Correct. It didn't matter, however, whether the MG42 team made or failed the cover roll. It was going to get a face-down disrupted marker in either case.

The second rifleman scored two hits and the MG42 made their cover roll, limiting the combat result to a face down disrupted counter.
Correct. And because the target unit already had a face-down disrupted marker, there was no additional effect. In this case, the successful cover roll completely negated the attack.

The third rifleman scored one hit and the MG42 team failed their cover roll.
Our disagreement was about the cumulative effects of hits versus the effects of cover rolls and whether the MG42 team survived the third attack or not. Is the hit from the first attack negated by the successful cover roll of the second?
A cover roll only affects the attack that triggered that cover roll. In this case, the MG42 already had one hit (face-down disrupted marker) on it. The additional hit suffered from the third attack was not cancelled by a cover roll, so it places a second marker on the unit, which in this case is a face-down destroyed marker. The only thing that's negated by the successful cover roll after the second attack is the effect of the second attack.

Steve