Arena Terrain Update

Quick Arena update to share what I've been working on.

Factory is done, ready for the Campaign kick off.

Ishiyama, Stone Mountian is also ready to go, with some terrain coins placed about at random.

Finally a sneak peak at the Coliseum. (work in progress).

Sorry, started to lose my voice at the end.

Arena Rules: The Coliseum (Steiner)

Steiner Coliseum
The arena in Silesia was designed with a Roman-esque facade. The battlefield of the arena is largely featureless, utilizing walls that can be raised or lowered to provide variety.  Nearly destroyed in riots when in 3062 a championship match spilled into the streets, the Coliseum has been rebuilt, better than ever.


Specific Rules for The Coliseum are as follows.

Starting Positions:
The 16 Starting positions are already marked along the coliseum's exterior walls.  The arena itself is roughly a 4' Octagon so the starting positions are closer together than all the other arenas on Solaris. (7" apart)

Walls:
There are 6 sections of walls in The Coliseum that raise and lower during the match.  These walls are now indestructible and capable of lifting 100 ton mechs along their length.  The walls may be flush with the coliseum floor, or raised to levels 1, 2 or 3.  To determine the starting positions of the walls, after players have selected their starting positions, but before the game actually starts, roll a d6 for each of the wall sections and consult the chart below.  (Walls all start at lvl 0 before these rolls at the start of the game.)

1. Wall drops 1 level (if possible)
2. Wall moves to level 0
3. Wall moves to level 1
4. Wall moves to level 2
5. Wall moves to level 3
6. Wall raises 1 level (if possible)

In the End Phase (After heat) of every turn, Roll on the above chart and move the walls to their new level.

Straddling the wall  that is about to change levels:
Any standing mech whose base is partially on  a wall when it raises from the arena floor, must make a piloting check or be knocked down by the raising wall, taking regular falling damage +1 from the extra force of being pushed down. (Prone mechs automatically fail this check and take the falling damage +1). 

Successful checks lets the mechwarrior choose if they want to go up with the wall or Step off the wall and remain on the arena floor.  The Mech mini must be moved to be completely on the wall, or out of the way so it is on the arena floor by the minimum amount (up to 1").  You may not move another mech to do this extra move, and if you you are blocked by a mech, you must choose the other option (stay on the wall or get off).

On the Wall when moving:
Any mech standing on a wall that is changing levels must make a piloting check to remain standing when the wall stops moving.  (Yes this is a second check for those that started straddling the wall line.)

Falling when on top of a raised wall:
Any mech that falls when on a wall level 1 or higher must make a piloting check or they may fall off the wall.  If the roll is failed, There is a chance the mech will fall of the wall.  Determine which directions the mech can fall or stay on the wall, then roll on the Direction of fall table. 
Mechs will only take falling damage once.  Regular falling damage if they stay on the wall, or multiple level falling damage if they fall off the wall. 
Determine the level of the fall from the position of the wall after the wall changes levels, not where it started the turn at.

Example: Say a mech was running along the wall and then fails the check when the wall stops moving, and fails the 2nd check where he might fall off the wall.  Where it was running along the wall, a front or rear direction of fall (1 or 4) result will keep the mech on the wall, any of the other "side" fall results (2,3,5,6) means the mech has slid off the wall during the fall.

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.

Arena Rules: Boreal Reach (Davion) "The Devil's Bath"

Boreal Reach
The Davion Arena uses holographic technology, coupled with advanced environmental controls, to produce virtually any setting a person can conceive of. It takes its name from one of the more popular such settings, a polar glacier. However a new battlefield has been programmed to be used exclusively for the Solaris Olympiad Series.  A re-creation of "The Devil's Bath" on Tukayyid will be the setting.  Rocky Pillars, Quicksand, Minefields, and brutal temperatures will be awaiting our Series contestants when they enter the Boreal Reaches for the Olympiad.   

Specific Rules for Boreal Reaches "Devil's Bath" are as follows.

Rocky Pillars:
Each Pillar is of a varying height, but could hold the weight of any mech capable of jumping to reach the top.  Remember each level is 1.5" high, so a mech with a jump of 4 could jump to the top of a 6" pillar. The Pillars are indestructible.  A pilot that falls when on top of the pillar must make a second piloting check or fall off the pillar.  If the 2nd roll is failed, determine which direction the mech falls using the standard direction falling chart.  If the roll is made the mech has simply fallen on top of the pillar.



Lake "Watering Hole":
The lake in the center of the Devil's Bath arena is 1 level deep.  It is fed by an underground spring so even with the scorching temps it remains full.  The bottom of the lake is solid.  Remember any Heat sink under water sheds double the heat it normally would.  

Lake Edge:
There is a ring of mud around the Watering Hole.  The mud is 1 Level Deep. Cost 4MP to move through.  Requires a +3 piloting check to move through (granting 2" of movement through the mud), failure indicates the mech is stuck and ends it's move.  Stuck mechs may attempt to get out the next movement phase at a +4 Piloting check (as they have settled deeper in the mud).  Jump Jets in the legs will not work to get unstuck, must be torso mounted.  Must have at least 4 Torso mounted Jump jets to attempt jumping escape which takes up 6" of Jump movement.


Brutal Heat:  The Arena temps have been set a to one of their highest settings.  A mech generates 3 extra heat during the heat phase...making that lake look all the better.  

Starting Positions:
The starting positions place equally apart along the table edge.  Place one in each corner then one every 12" along all edges, skipping the center position of the long table edge on each side.  This will give 16 starting positions.

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, and no closer than 4" from another terrain coin.  The terrain coins should be placed before players pick their starting positions.  Terrain Coins may be placed in the lake, but not in the mud ring along the lake edge and not on top of rocky pillars.

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. Mud Pit! - 1 Level Deep. Cost 4MP (8") to move through.  Requires a +3 piloting check to move through, failure indicates the mech is stuck and ends it's move.  Stuck mechs may attempt to get out the next movement phase at a +4 Piloting check (as they have settled deeper in the mud).   Jump Jets in the legs will not work to get unstuck, must be torso mounted.  Must have at least 4 Torso mounted Jump jets to attempt jumping escape which takes up 6" of Jump movement.
   
3. Hidden Rubble.  Treat this area as if Rubble.  Cost 2MP to move through.  The heat has dried over the top layer of a shallow mud pit with hidden rocks.  The unsure footing force the pilot to make a unmodified piloting check when in moving in this area.  Activating mech may continue it's movement.
4. Cool spot.  Might be the shade, might be the way the winds blow through, but this spot in the arena is cooler for some reason.  Any mech touching the coin during the heat phase, may ignore the additional 3 heat generated by the arena.
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.

Arena Rules: Hartford Gardens (ComStar)

Hartford Gardens
ComStar has taken over maintenance of the Hartford Gardens Arena for the Solaris Olympiad Series and is putting up the prizes for the top finishers.  Hartford Gardens used to be a sprawling estate, now the Gardens area has been made into one of the most popular Arenas not supported by a major house.  The Arena features a small lake, many sturdy walls and sections of woods.  The Arena is also know for the traps the owners place throughout the arena.  Be assured that ComStar will continue with that trend for the Solaris Olympiad.


Specific Rules for Hartford Gardens are as follows.

Walls:
Each wall sections ate two levels high with the support columns being 3 levels high.  The walls have been reinforced by ComStar engineers and are essentially indestructible.  A pilot that falls when on top of the wall must make a second piloting check or potentially fall off the wall.  If the 2nd roll is failed, There is a 4 in 6 chance the mech will fall of the wall.  Determine which two directions the mech can fall and stay on the wall, then Roll Direction of fall.  Example:    Say a mech was running along the wall and then fails the 2 checks and might fall of the wall.  Where it was running along the wall a front or rear direction of fall result will keep the mech on the wall, any of the side fall results means the mech has slid off the wall during the fall 

Lake:
The lake in the center of the Gardens is 1 level deep through out.


Woods:
All the Woods on in the gardens are light woods.


Starting Positions:
The starting positions place equally apart along the table edge.  Place one in each corner then one every 12" along all edges, skipping the center position of the long table edge on each side.  This will give 16 starting positions.

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, and no closer than 4" from another terrain coin.  The terrain coins should be placed before players pick their starting positions.

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 - 7 Point Minefield, remains in play,  May be removed using Minefield removal rules.  Activating mech may continue it's movement. 
2. Quicksand! - 1 Level Deep. Cost 4MP to move through.  Requires a +3 piloting check to move through, failure indicates the mech is stuck and ends it's move.  Stuck mechs may attempt to get out the next movement phase at a +4 Piloting check (as they have settled deeper in the quicksand).  Jump Jets in the legs will not work to get unstuck, must be torso mounted.  Must have at least 4 Torso mounted Jump jets to attempt jumping escape which takes up 6" of Jump movement.
3. 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.
4. 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.
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.

Arena Rules: Ishiyama - The Stone Mountain (Kurita)

Ishiyama - The Stone Mountain
The Kurita area is actually a series of tunnels dug into a man-made mountain. Stone Mountain provides a hide-and-seek style engagement. There is also electromagnetic interference from the materials that the mountain is made of, making any fight here unpredictable. The "mountain" was built in 3007 in Kobe District.




Specific Rules for Ishyama are as follows.

No Jumping:
You are in an undergound tunnel...there is no room to jump.

No Ejecting:  Should you eject from your mech in this arena, the mechwarrior will make a nice smear on the tunnel ceiling.

Falls:  Should you fall and are within 1" of a wall you may take extra falling damage.  Yes you still fall where you were standing, but you might scrape along the wall on your way down doing extra damage.  Roll for direction of the fall as normal and if you have a wall iwthin 1" of that directon you will have hit the wall on your way down.  You will take an extra 1 point for every 20 tons of your mech.

Random map every time:
Where we are using Slate rocks to create the Tunnel walls, the map can be set up differently for every time we battle in Ishiyama.  It is a big place after all.

Starting Postions:
All the starting positions will be along the table edge.  All staring position will not start within line of sight of another starting position.  The number of starting positions will be different each time we set up this map.  Any place along the table edge that is not blocked by a rock is a valid starting position (or withdrawl point.)

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, and no closer than 4" from another terrain coin.  These should be placed out of line of sight from the starting positions as well.  The terrain coins should be placed before players pick their starting positions.

The first time a mech moves into Line of Sight to a Terrain coin roll a D6.  On a 1 or a 6 replace the coin with a Earthen Berm.  These Berms have a CF of 15, and cost 1MP to move over and are capable of providing partial cover to a mechs legs.  The player that spotted the berm is the one that places it on the table.  It may be in any direction, but must be centered on where the terrain coin was located.  On a roll of 2-5 leave the terrain coin in place. 

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. Hidden Pit! - The mech falls into a 2 level deep hidden pit, taking falling damage from a 2 level fall.  The activating mech may use any remaining movement to attempt to stand and climb out of the pit and continue their movement. 
3. Nothing.  Remove the terrain coin.  The Mech may continue their move. 
4. Nothing.  Remove the terrain coin.  The Mech may continue their move.
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.

Arena Rules: The Factory (Marik)

The Factory
The Marik battlefield began its life as a shuttle manufacturing plant large enough to accommodate IndustrialMechs. The decrepit facility features multiple levels with elevators and ramps to move between them.



Specific Rules for The Factory are as follows.

Building Walls:
For the Solaris Olympiad Series, the building walls will be indestructible. You may not pass through building walls. Buildings are not destructible except for the two pressure tanks in the NW corner of the map.

Roof Holes:
These may be used to change jump through to go up or down levels.  You need Jump Jets to drop yourself through a hole.  No intentional falls.


Pressure Tanks:
There are two pressure tanks in the NW part of the map. They have a CF of 15. They are partially filled with a highly explosive gas. Should the CF of one of the tanks reach 0 it will explode. Any mech within 2" of an exploding tank will take 20 points of damage from the explosion (Don't forget the piloting check). Any mech more than 2" but less than 4" will take 10 points of damage. Damage is assigned in 5 point groups. An exploding tank will do 10 points of damage to the other tank (if it has yet to explode), potentially set of that tank as well if it has been already damaged.

Broken Silo:
Near the two pressure tanks in the NW part of the map is a Broke silo.  The Silo is 4 levels high.  The Roof may support 100 tons.  Anything over 100 tons will cause the roof to collapse dropping all mechs into the silo.  The walls of the silo will remain standing should the roof collapse.  The silo wall has been re-enforced and mechs may not pass through it.

Ramps:
There are two ramps on the board, one in the bigger building, one as part of the loading platform. These cost no extra movement to go up and down. Physical attacks by mechs standing on a ramp are considered at the same level. Should a mech fall on a ramp it will remain where it fell and not slide down the ramp.

Elevators:
There are 3 Elevators on the Factory Map. Two are located side by side in the large building, one in the smaller building. It is better to think of them as lifts as there are no doors or ceiling to them, just a floor. You may jump down an elevator shaft to the level the elevator is currently on. You may not move to the elevator pad if the elevator is currently a floor or more above you. You may not jump up through an elevator shaft if the elevator is currently above you.
Controlling an elevator may be done from the cockpit of a mech. You may only control 1 elevator per turn. The elevators move last after everyone else has moved.
The mech closest to an elevator after everyone has moved has control over that elevator.  They may command the elevator to go up or down 4 levels (1 floor of the buildings).  A mech standing on an elevator always has control of the pad he is standing on and may not control another. If two or more mechs are the same distance from an elevator, roll off to see who gets control that turn.  Measure to the where the elevator would be on the current level the mech is on to determine who is closer to the elevator.  Meaning if the mech is on the Roof, measure to where the elevator would be on the roof, even if the elevator is currently on the ground floor.

The Elevators all start on the ground floor at the beginning of any battle. 

The Bridge:
There is a bridge between the two main buildings.  For the purposes of this campaign the Bridge is indestructible and could hold 100 ton mechs along it's length without collapsing. The Bridge is 4 levels high above the arena floor.

Building Height:
Each "floor" of the main buildings are 4 Levels high.  The smaller of the two buildings is 8 levels high at the roof.  The walls around the roof of the larger building are one or two levels high, so to clear them and land on the roof from the arena floor you would need a jump of 5 or 6.  A jump of 4 can reach the roof if there is no intervening wall. 

Warehouses:
There are four warehouse buildings that I have added to the map.  Mainly to break up the line of sight in some areas to increase the number of potential starting positions.  These buildings are indestructible and may not be entered by mechs.  The Rounded warehouses may not be landed on by jumping mechs as they will just slide off the roof.  The Block warehouses are 3 levels high and may hold any number of mechs. 
 
Crates:
Some arenas will have some Crates that are movable and destructible.  These can be used as partial cover.  Crates have a CF of 5 and will take 5 points of damage before it is destroyed.

Crates are placed on the board before players choose their starting positions.  Crates are placed only on the storage platform for the Factory arena.  There is no set starting positions.  They may be stacked neatly, or they may be randomly spread about.

These crates may be moved from their original starting position.  Though bulky they only weigh 1 ton so they are easily moved. 

• Walking mechs may kick a crate or stack of crates out of the way.  The Crate remains intact and and just gets pushed out of the mechs path.  This does not require a piloting check or hinder movement in any way.  Just push the crate to one side or the other, moving units choice which side the crate is moved to.  You may not push the crate along in front of you.
• Running mechs attempts to run through crates or a stack of crates is a little more difficlut and might trip up a mech.  The running mech must make a piltoing check of fall over for each crate he runs through...the crate is destroyed if the pilot makes or fails the piloting check.  The debris left behind is scattered and not substantial enough to be considered rough or rubble.
• Jumping on Crates will destroy them, remove the crates and place the mech where the crates were.  The Mechwarrior will have to make a piloting check to land safely otherwise the mech falls just after he touched down for standard falling damage.
• Picking up crates is possible.  (Though I can't see why you would want to.)  You must be walking and have 2 working hand actuators.  It takes 1 MP to pick up a crate, it takes 1 MP to set down a crate intact.  You may Drop the crate for 0 MP, destroying it.  Just a standard piloting check will let you pick up the crate.  While carrying the crate...You may only use Walking movement, you man not fire any arm or front facing torso located weapons.  You do not have "Partial cover" carrying a crate, but any shot that hits one of your front torsos will hit the crate first.  Once the crate has taken 5 points of damage it is destroyed. 

I-Beam Scrap Pile:
An I-Beam scrap pile is just that, a pile of I-Beams were a battlemech can automatically find a re-usable Club.

The Club rules are in the Total Warfare Rulebook.  Normally you have to search a building, then roll to see if you find one.  But with these piles it is automatic.  All the other rules for picking up clubs and the use of Clubs we will follow right from the rulebook.  You may not keep you club for future events and must turn it in after the battle.

Rules: Booby Traps / C-Bill Awards / Crates / I-Beams

Some Arenas like to spice things up a little bit with some interactive obstacles and terrain. These may be Pop up turrets, hidden pits, moveable crates, Or something we will call a Treasure flare.
Here is where you will find the basic rules for these terrain pieces.

Terrain Coins:
First up we will be using the 2" terrain pieces to represent where these items (other than the crates) are located on the map. You can see a couple rows of these in the image below (Being used as straffing makers for an aerospace attack). 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 and depends upon the arena and number of constants. 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 12" from any starting position, and no closer than 4" from another terrain coin. The terrain coins should be placed before players pick their starting positions.

Terrain Coins are used in the following Arenas:

• Ishiyama: The Iron Mountian (Kurita) - Additional Rules on for see Ishiyama Arena rules page
• The Jungle (Liao)
• Boreal Reach "Devils Bath" (Davion)
• Hartford Gardens (Unaffiliated)
• King of the Mountian (Unafilliated)

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. Jumping over a terrain coin will not activate it, you have to touch it for it to activate.  Each Arena will have a different d6 chart to use.  The chart for each arena is made up from the items on the list below with the treasure flares taking the 5 and 6 slots on each chart.  The exact chart for each arena can be found on that specific Arena Rules page (Still need to write those)

• Minefield - 7 Point Minefield, remains in play,  May be removed using Minefield removal rules.  Activating mech may continue it's movement.
• Minefield - 10 Point Minefield, remains in play,  May be removed using Minefield removal rules.  Activating mech may continue it's movement.
• Quicksand! - 1 Level Deep. Cost 4MP to move through.  Requires a +3 piloting check to move through, failure indicates the mech is stuck and ends it's move.  Stuck mechs may attempt to get out the next movement phase at a +4 Piloting check (as they have settled deeper in the quicksand).
• Hidden Pit! - The mech falls into a 2 level deep hidden pit, taking falling damage from a 2 level fall.  The activating mech may use any remaining movement to attempt to stand and climb out of the pit and continue their movement. 
• 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.
• 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.
• Nothing. Open space.  Remove the coin. The activating mech may continue it's movement.
• Lesser Treasure Flare.  Remove the coin. The activating mech is awarded 50,000 C-Bills.  The activating mech may continue it's movement.
• 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.

Crates:
Some arenas will have some Crates that are moveable and destructible.  These can be used as partial cover.  Crates have a CF of 5 and will take 5 points of damage before it is destroyed.

Crates are used in the following arenas.

• The Factory (Marik)
• The Scrapyard (Unaffiliated)

Crates are placed on the board before players choose their starting positions.  Details on where the crates should be place are located on the Specific Arena rules page.

These crates may be moved from their original starting position.  Though bulky they only weigh 1 ton so they are easily moved. 

• Walking mechs may kick a crate or stack of crates out of the way of a walking mech.  This does not require a piloting check or hinder movement in any way.  Just push the crate to one side or the other, moving units choice which side the crate is moved to.  You may not push the crate along in front of you.
• Running mechs will blow right through the crate destroying it.  You must make a piloting check for each crate you wish to run through in this manner.  It does not cost you any movement to blow through the crate, you just have a chance to fall over.  Remove any crate from play that when the mech attempts to run through...the crate is destroyed if the pilot makes or fails the piloting check.  The debris left behind is scattered and not substantial enough to be considered rough or rubble.
• Picking up crates is possible.  (Though I can't see why you would want to.)  You must be walking and have 2 working hand actuators.  It takes 1 MP to pick up a crate, it takes 1 MP to set down a crate intact.  You may Drop the crate for 0 MP, destroying it.  Just a standard piloting check will let you pick up the crate.  While carrying the crate...You may only use Walking movement, you man not fire any arm or front facing torso located weapons.  You do not have "Partial cover" carrying a crate, but any shot that hits one of your front torsos will hit the crate first.  Once the crate has taken 5 points of damage it is destroyed. 

I-Beam Scrap Pile:
An I-Beam scrap pile is just that, a pile of I-Beams were a battlemech can automatically find a re-usable Club.

I-Beam are used in the following arenas.

• The Factory (Marik)
• The Scrapyard (Unaffiliated)

The Club rules are in the Total Warfare Rulebook.  Normally you have to search a building, then roll to see if you find one.  But with these piles it is automatic.  All the other rules for picking up clubs and the use of Clubs we will follow right from the rulebook.  You may not keep you club for future events and must turn it in after the battle.

The Factory: Terrain Project, Part 2

Small update. 

Built the storage platform that is in the lower right hand part of the map.

Also re-built the Bridge that connects the two buildings. 

Ishiyama Arena...potential.

Ishiyama

The Kurita area is actually a series of tunnels dug into a man-made mountain. Stone Mountain provides a hide-and-seek style engagement. There is also electromagnetic interference from the materials that the mountain is made of, making any fight here unpredictable. The "mountain" was built in 3007 in Kobe District.

I've been wondering how I was going to make this great arena in 3D in a relatively cheap manner.   Initially my idea was to go crazy with some 2 1/2 " thick pin foam insulation and a wire cutter.  Carving out tunnels then some how gluing it to a board with some painted plexiglass for the water areas. 

So I was doing a little yard work this weekend while raking I uncovered a piece of slate.  It is about 15" long by 6" wide and 3" thick.  I picked it up and set it aside Initially thinking, that will make a heck of an impassible hill for 40K.  Then I did a little more raking and uncovered a larger one...still about 3" thick and the uber-cheap version of Ishiyama came into my head.  If I could find enough of this slate that was at least 3" thick, I could place it on a table with the space between the rocks being the "Tunnel floors".

So while contining the yard work, I kept finding these pieces of slate that were added to the pile.  At the end of thee day I have enough to cover a 6' x 4' table.  Smallest being a 6" triange still 3" thick.  Largest being about 30" long, 10" wide and 8" thick!  Still got to clean some of them off, figure I can get the kids to help with that.  It is not that brittle slate either, this stuff is pretty solid.  I have enough to make quite the maze of tunnels on that table.  I can still place the blue painted plexiglass down for the water areas.  Best part is the rocks are all flat on the top as well, so If we wanted to use the rocks for a Rocky terrain board where mechs could climb or jump atop the rocks, we could do that as well.

I'll post some pics one the rocks are cleaned and set up on a table.