Arena Rules: The Jungle (Liao)

The Jungle
This parcel of land was originally planned as a Buddhist monastery, but the Liao government decided to designate it as their official "arena." The battle area in this open tract is demarcated by a series of beacons. Extra beacons located inside the battlefield can be activated to shrink the area of the field down to a quarter of its full size.  

Specific Rules for The Jungle are as follows.

The Waterfall:
The River flowing through the Jungle map takes a drop over a cliff and makes an interesting fire position for a mech.  A large metal platform capable of holding the weight of a couple mechs has been placed at the base of the falls (Making the white area under the falls level 0). 
Any mech using Jump movement to land on or leave the falls platform must make a piloting check at a +2.
Any mech under the falls must make a Piloting check at the end of the movement phase to remain standing...even if they didn't move (Yes this will be two checks for someone who just jumped into the falls). 
The Standing on this platform provides a +2 to hit cover bonus (as if standing in heavy woods).  Any mech standing under the falls (Completely in the White area) is considered submerged for the purposes of heat dissipation (All heat sinks work at double their rating).  The mech under the falls may only fire Energy weapons. Prone mechs may not fire energy weapons under the falls. 

River:
The river is 1 level deep along it's length except the spot (White area) just under the waterfall where it is 0 levels deep.  The larger lake is also only 1 level deep.


Woods:
Much of the wooded area has been removed for the Solaris Olympiad (ok I don't have a lot of tree terrain)
But the woods that is on the table is considered Heavy Woods. 3MP(6") for every 2" and a +2 cover bonus.

Starting Positions:
The starting positions place equally apart along the table edge. Measure 1 foot out from each corner and place a marker along each table edge.  Place another marker every foot along the edge leaving out the corners.  This will put 5 markers on each long edge and 3 on each short edge, for a total of 16 possible starting spots.

Shrinking Battlefield:
When initially opened the heavy woods made for many long range sniper fests, which isn't exactly thrilling for the Solaris viewers.  A system of beacons were added to reduce the size of the battlefield, forcing mechwarriors to leave their cover or be disqualified.  Here is how the shrinking battlefield works...

1. At the end of turn two roll a die, on a 4-6 an alarm sounds warning mechwarriors that three turns later the arena will shrink.  At the end of the Movement phase, 3 turns after the alarm sounds, Any mech in the area now considered out of bounds is disqualified from the match.  
2. Divide the board in to 4 quadrants by dividing the battlefield equally down the middle of each table edge (make a cross on the table).  I'll put a line of masking tape on the table before the match so you can see the quadrants clearly.  When the alarm sounds roll a D4 with a 1 being the section with the Waterfall then go clockwise around the table for the other three quadrants.  The number rolled is the section that will be out of bounds in 3 turns.
3. Every turn after the alarm sounds roll another d6.  On a 4+ the 2nd alarm will sound and another section will be eliminated in 3 turns (After Movement Phase).  One of the sections adjacent to the 1st closing section will be eliminated, the diagonal one is safe (for now).  Roll the d6 1-3 is one of the adjacent sections, 4-6 is the other that will close in 3 turns.
4. The turn after the the second alarm sounds, keep rolling that d6 at the end of the turn.  On a 4+ the final section will be closed 3 turns later (At the end of movement).  Roll a d6 1-3 one side, 4-6 the other.

If your mech is in the out of bounds area at the end of the movement phase 3 turns after the alarm has sounded, then you are eliminated.  You do not get to fire in the Weapons Phase.  Complete any any Charges or DFA's on mechs also within the Eliminated area.  You will be considered an assisted kill for all remaining players on the active board (unless there is only one, then it is a solo kill).  You will be considered as having surrendered (even mechwarriors that are not allowed to surrender).   

That is as small as the table will get.  Something to think about when choosing starting positions.  Will I be able to get safely off this quadrant of the board in 5 turns.  Or even worse if the board collapses as fast as possible...Will I be able to get to any Quadrant of the board by Turn 7?  Remember the board is hilly with woods and a large river, so it is not as easy to move about as you might think.  Yes, having a fast mech helps a bunch in this arena.


Terrain Coins:
The 2" terrain pieces to represent where random items are located on the map. We will call these "Terrain Coins" for lack of a better term.

The exact number of Terrain Coins is randomly determined prior to each match.
If there are 6 or fewer competitors then roll a d6, if there are more then 6 players then roll 2d6.
These will be placed at least 8" from any starting position.  The terrain coins should be placed before players pick their starting positions.  Terrain Coins may not be placed in the water or the woods.  Each coin should clearly be placed in a single quadrant, don't place them along a quadrant line.  Every other terrain coin starting with the first should be placed in the center of the map, so it will be entirely in a quadrant as close to the center point as possible.  So when placing the 7th coin (if there is one) there should be four coins in the center of the board, one in each quadrant.  The center of the board is a popular place to be when the board is closing up, having the terrain coins there will things even more interesting.

Exactly what the "Terrain Coin" has will be randomly determined at the time it is stepped on by a mech, not all the results are bad.  When a mech moves onto a Terrain coin, interrupt the mechs movement, roll a D6 and consult the chart below.

1. Minefield - 10 Point Minefield, remains in play,  May be removed using Minefield removal rules.  Activating mech may continue it's movement.
2. Medium Laser pop up turret. A turret pops up touching an edge of the terrain coin, and remove the coin. If possible it will be placed in the front arc of the activating mech. If the front is not possible then either of the side, then finally the rear arc. Once placed the activating mech may continue their movement phase. The Turret has Gunnery skill of 5 and is considered an immobile target. The Turret can take 8 points of damage before deactivating.  There is no CP, C-Bill or Fame awarded for taking out a turret.  As the turret is considered an enemy unit you may not move through the turret and must move around it.  The Turret will shoot in the firing phase at the closest target.
3. One Shot SRM4 pop up turret.  A turret pops up touching an edge of the terrain coin and remove the coin. If possible it will be placed in the front arc of the activating mech. If the front is not possible then either of the side, then finally the rear arc. Once placed the activating mech may continue their movement phase.  The Turret has Gunnery skill of 5 and is considered an immobile target. The Turret can take 8 points of damage before deactivating.  There is no CP, C-Bill or Fame awarded for taking out a turret.  As the turret is considered an enemy unit you may not move through the turret and must move around it.  The Turret will shoot in the firing phase at the closest target.  Once the turret has fired you may remove it from play.
4. Nothing. Open space.  Remove the coin. The activating mech may continue it's movement.
5. Lesser Treasure Flare.  Remove the coin. The activating mech is awarded 50,000 C-Bills.  The activating mech may continue it's movement.
6. Greater Treasure Flare.   Remove the coin. The activating mech is awarded 100,000 C-Bills and may roll the Die again.  If the result of the new roll is a 6 the Mech gets another 100,000 C-Bills.  The player keeps rolling getting another 100,000 C-Bills for every 6 that is rolled, but stopping when the first non-6 result is rolled.  The activating mech may continue it's movement.