Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Right okay, a few issues to settle. While I've been away from fanfic I mistakenly deleted a lot of old files, meaning I lost all the rest of my Mechanical Malestrom files. While unhelpful, this doesn't in any way affect me writing Annihilation, so no problems there. However, Devastation is not so simple as there the main story details were all saved and I can't remember them. I'm posting this here because this tournament is still very much in action, but Devastation is unlikely to be restarted anytime soon so there's no point in bumping the thread. I'm not saying for 100% sure that it's cancelled, as I may find the time/motivation to write a new story to match what is already posted, but it's looking unlikely at the moment, my apologies for this.

However, this does give me more time to focus on Annihilation, which has been completely neglected for 7 months :shock: Will try to get a move on with this... :proud:

Well it€™s been a very long break, but we€™re finally back on Mechanical Maelstrom!

Annihilator 2
Gabriel V [#5] vs. Liar 2 vs. Minesweep3r vs. O.I.D vs. Gehenna vs. Bloody Frigid

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus and currently ranked #5, Gabriel V!
This upgraded version of Gabriel IV is the one to watch in this annihilator, with large ears set at the top end of the machine to prevent robots driving up and over the powerful flipper, which is front hinged and contstructed from 5mm stainless steel, capable of 30 full pressure flips, which should be more than enough to get it through each round. Don€™t forget the thwackbot style spikes either, as they helped Gabriel III reach the final of Mechanical Maelstrom Season 1.0 where it lost to Sheer Heart Attack 2. In Season 2.0 Gabriel IV was ranked #2 and proved it€™s worth again, reaching the quarter-finals before it was outclassed by the eventual champion Dantu.

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, Liar 2!
This WBC-style flipper robot is a newcomer to Mechanical Maelstrom, although it€™s team has experienced success with Season 1.0 champion Sheer Heart Attack 2. Like Gabriel V, this machine has side-mounted spikes allowing it to act as a thwackbot and a hugely powerful flipper, but this one is rear hinged, so we€™re more likely to see robots flying out of the arena due to this machine. However, it has a very narrow area of attack so it may not be the most aggressive robot in this match.

From Richmond Upon Thames in Scotland, representing Team Orr, O.I.D!
This equilateral triangle-shaped machine has a nasty horizontal spinning disc built in which is constructed from 8mm hardox with 6mm teeth. Spinning at speeds of 2000rpm and weighing in at 20kg this is one deadly weapon, plus the robot can run inverted! What more could you want? Well this robot has hardox armour all around, LEM-130 lynch motors in the drive and a 5mm hardox hinged wedge to boot! However, the high ground clearance could see it suffering in this annihilator with 3 flippers and it€™s untested in battle.

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, Gehenna!
This robot is the latest in a long line of SOR robots, but a newcomer to Mechanical Maelstrom. It€™s certainly a force to be reckoned, with titanium armour all around and a hardox flipper at 145psi. It also features a horizontal spinning blade at the rear, capable of dishing out a mean 22Kj per hit when spinning at 2450rpm. The bot is driven by S28-400 mags for good power and control and with the grippy tyres I doubt we€™ll be seeing this guy slipping all over the place, but with two working weapons are they as powerful as they could be?

From Patricia in Canada, representing Team Alt, Bloody Frigid!
This Razer-esque crushing robot is armoured in an 8mm titanium monocoque, meaning it€™ll take minimum punishment from spinners. The aforementioned crushing beak itself has a meaty 7.5 tonnes of force at the tip to really crunch into opponents, and the self-righting wings mean flippers won€™t worry this guy, but it might actually struggle against a particularly tall opponent as with it€™s crusher raised the machine is just 40cm high, not very tall by crusher-standards.

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Picus, Team Varying Everyday, Team ???
Booth Blue: Team Orr, Team Alt

3...
2...
1...
ACTIVATE!

All five machines get off to a swift start as this match begins, all looking around for Minesweep3r, but it would seem Mark was kicked off the boards and isn€™t here to drive the bot, so instead they advance on each other. Unsure who to attack they all circle the perimeter of the arena until Liar 2 sees an opening and charges at Bloody Frigid, breaching the 8mm side ground clearance and firing it€™s hugely powerful flipper, sending Tracy€™s machine high into the air before it comes crashing down squarely on it€™s back.

It struggles to self-right from this position for a moment, but then OID comes rushing in on the vulnerable bot and smashes into it€™s side with the powerful spinning disc, not really causing any damage to the thick titanium armour of Bloody Frigid, but sending the overturned robot spinning away onto it€™s side, from where it swiftly self-rights.

Meanwhile, Gabriel V has noticed an opening to attack on Gehenna and is managed to sneak it€™s nose cone under the corner of Gehenna€™s wedge as the two collided, and now Joey pushes in underneath his opponent and fires Gabriel€™s powerful flipper, toppling the conventional wedge shaped adversary onto it€™s back, from where it self-rights and reverses into Gabriel V in retaliation, and the spinning blade immediately mangles the stainless steel flipping arm of the ranked machine!

Joey panics and reverses away from Gehenna, retracting his twisted flipper arm as he backs into the pit release button. Gehenna follows, wanting to make Gabriel pay even more for that initial onslaught, but Bloody Frigid comes crashing out of nowhere having just self-righted and catches Gehenna unawares from behind before the spinning blade could get back up to speed, bringing it€™s crushing arm into play on the rear of Gehenna and pinning it in place just as the pit descends!

For Tracy it would seem the timing couldn€™t be more perfect, but OID was already on a beeline for the side of Bloody Frigid with that 20kg disc spinning at top speed and with huge crash the weapon collides with the side of the crusher robot, knocking it for six and loosening it€™s grip on Gehenna, who promptly escapes and turns on it€™s captor, driving underneath the momentarily dazed robot and flipping it over with a quick thrust from the forward hinged flipper.

Bloody Frigid is now on it€™s back against the arena side wall and as it struggles to self-right Liar 2 approaches, acting as the finisher and drives it€™s flipper underneatht the side of Bloody Frigid. Martijn activates the ram and Team Alt€™s second entry into Annihilation sails over the barrier and lands on the camera tracks, where it will rest until the crew removes it€™s carcass.

CEASE!

Bloody Frigid flipped out of the arena and is first out of the second annihilator!

Battle Board
Gabriel V [#5] vs. Liar 2 vs. Minesweep3r vs. O.I.D vs. Gehenna vs. Bloody Frigid

Good battle Lewis, nice to see you back! :)

I'll...er...try and stick to the same tactics as much as I can since they've got me through thus far.

Welcome back robot fans to Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation! Before the break we saw Bloody Frigid bite the dust, and now we€™re onto the third round of this second annihilator.

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus and currently ranked #5, Gabriel V!

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, Liar 2!

From Richmond Upon Thames in Scotland, representing Team Orr, O.I.D!

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, Gehenna!

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Picus, Team ???
Booth Blue: Team Varying Everyday, Team Orr

3...
2...
1...
ACTIVATE!

The four machines that remain in this annihilator are all incredibly bloodthirsty and this is apparent as they don€™t waste time like in the previous round and all head in for the attack.

Gehenna is the obvious aggressor and gets underneath the side of Liar 2€™s wedge shaped body, ramming it across the arena and firing the flipper to little effect, as Liar 2 doesn€™t slide up the wedge far enough to be flipped right over, but all the same Martijn€™s hopes are bounced along into the arena wall and onto the killsaws, which toss it away with a loud BZZT sound and a smattering of sparks.

Meanwhile Gabriel V has gone away on the attack of OID and has managed to breach the hinged wedge, which Jack was using for defence while he spins up the powerful horizontal disc. But now Joey is underneath and pushes OID back across the arena floor, firing the flipper and sending the triangular machine head over heels backwards across the arena to slam into the arena wall, where it appears to be stacked on it€™s point for a moment before the disc makes contact with the floor and OID bounces back down, landing a good distance away from Gabriel V, making the power of that robot€™s repaired flipper apparent.

A few feet away at the top end of the arena Gehenna is still on the attack of Liar 2, having gotten underneath it€™s adversary and pushed it against the barrier, firing the flipper and trying to get it out, but only succeeding in repeatedly pushing Martijn€™s machine against the spike strip to no effect whatsoever, but it can€™t be hurting Gehenna€™s aggression points should this match go to a judge€™s decision. On the third flip against the spikes Liar 2 is finally toppled over side ways, landing upside down next to Gehenna. However we must remember it is invertible, and promptly escapes.

OID has now managed to spin up it€™s disc while backing away from Gabriel V, who is particularly wary of this spinning weapon now due to the damage sustained to it€™s weaponry in the previous round, so now it€™s Gabriel V retreating from OID, who advances in on the attack, allowing Liar 2 to run in behind Gabriel V, who spins to meet the oncoming attack, but is slightly too late and Liar 2 gets it€™s wedge underneath Gabriel V and fires it€™s flipper, tossing the pyramid-shaped machine a good few feet into the air before it comes crashing down onto it€™s back.

Gabriel is very quick to self-right with it€™s flipper, so OID was not able to hit the baseplate and instead the disc collides with the side of Gabriel, not making any headway into the 4mm hardox but spinning Gabriel away into the path of Gehenna, who gets underneath and swiftly overturns Gabriel with a pop from it€™s own front-hinged flipper, toppling Gabriel before it€™s flipper has retracted. This gives Gehenna the opportunity to quickly spin on the spot and bring it€™s own spinning blade to bear on the base armour of Gabriel, ripping a nasty gash in the aluminium and knocking Gabriel away.

While Gehenna was attacking Gabriel the robots didn€™t just pause, as Liar 2 drives underneath the exposed ground clearance of OID and launches Team Orr€™s entry high into the air before it comes crashing down disc-first and in a slam of sparks bounces off the arena floor due to the kinetic energy weapon hitting it. OID then lands on it€™s wheels, but the disc is hanging loose and it looks like it was damaged by the slam into the floor from a good few feet up. Jack tries to spin it, but it seems the chain has slipped and now OID is left without an active weapon!

Meanwhile Gabriel has self-righted and is back on the attack of Liar 2, pushing it€™s nose cone under the wheel of the WBC-style machine and pushing it around in a wide circle, colliding with OID€™s hinged wedge, which gets under the other side of Liar 2 and takes it off Gabriel, ploughing Martijn€™s robot across the arena floor and onto the killsaws for the second time in this match, and this time Liar 2 is flipped up and over by the saws! OID backs away, but is attacked by Gehenna, who runs under the now undefended end of Jack€™s machine and rams it into the spike strip, now firing it€™s flipper to stack OID against the wall! OID balances for a moment, but luckily for Jack it was flipped onto a spike and OID falls back onto it€™s wheels before reversing away as fast as it can, hoping to avoid another stacking. It€™s really feeling the pressure now, being weaponless in a field of powerful flippers.

Liar 2 on the other hand is not feeling under pressure at all as it has managed to go on the attack of Gabriel V, pushing under the pyramid shaped machine and ramming it a few metres across the arena as Joey frantically hammers the controls to try and steer Gabriel off the huge flipper of Liar 2 before Martijn can hit the flipper button, but it€™s too late and the flipper of Liar 2 is sent upwards. Luckily for Joey the flipper is too wide to dig into the gash in the centre of Liar 2€™s base armour, where it could potentially destroy all the internal workings in one fell swoop, but instead Gabriel is thrown high into the air before it comes crashing down directly onto it€™s nose cone and teeters for a split second before it begins to fall, but then Gehenna comes racing in with the blade spinning and slams into Gabriel, causing it to fly across the arena and collide with the spike strip!

CEASE!

Time has run out, and all four robots are still mobile so we€™ll go to the judges!

Damage:
Gabriel V ~ 1.5 x 1 = 1.5pts
Liar 2 ~ 1.7 x 1 = 1.7pts
OID ~ 3.2 x 1 = 3.2pts
Gehenna ~ 4 x 1 = 4pts

Aggression:
Gabriel V ~ 3.4 x 0.75 = 2.55pts
Liar 2 ~ 4 x 0.75 = 3pts
OID ~ 3.5 x 0.75 = 2.625pts
Gehenna ~ 4.3 x 0.75pts = 3.225pts

Control:
Gabriel V ~ 4 x 0.5 = 2pts
Liar 2 ~ 3 x 0.5 = 1.5pts
OID ~ 2.6 x 0.5 = 1.3pts
Gehenna ~ 2.8 x 0.5 = 1.4pts

Dominance:
Gabriel V ~ 2 x 0.25 = 0.5pts
Liar 2 ~ 3.7 x 0.25 = 0.925pts
OID ~ 3 x 0.25 = 0.75pts
Gehenna ~ 4.5 x 0.25 = 1.125pts

Overall:
Gabriel V ~ 1.5 + 2.55 + 2 + 0.5 = 6.55pts
Liar 2 ~ 1.7 + 3 + 1.5 + 0.925 = 7.125pts
OID ~ 3.2 + 2.625 + 1.3 + 0.75 = 7.875pts
Gehenna ~ 4 + 3.225 + 1.4 + 1.125 = 9.75pts

Gabriel V and Liar 2 suffer from lack of truly damaging weapons, but Liar 2 squeaks through on aggression and dominance leaving Gabriel V to fall at this stage in yet another shock defeat of a ranked robot.

Battle Board
Gabriel V [#5] vs. Liar 2 vs. Minesweep3r vs. O.I.D vs. Gehenna vs. Bloody Frigid

Oh bollocks :P

Good fight though, not disappointed to go out in battles of that quality. Having said that I've been to Richmond-upon-Thames and was totally unaware it was in Scotland :)

It's news to me. Jack, why didn't you tell me you lived nearby? :lol:

come to think of it, the Thames in the name should've been a slight clue :P

major Geography fail :o :lol:

Any tactics/predictions/comments would be much appreciated ! :D

lol, :lol: im scottish by blood but live in england :)
nice fights tho, doing ok :D smash and bash everything that moves...but if somebody wants to team up i wont refuse :P
jack
(p.s, oid isnt that untested in battle, its been in quite a few fights tbh :P)

Mleh, I added it in there because it was listed as a weakness :crazy:

Round 4 of the second annihilator is about to get underway!

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, Liar 2!

From Richmond Upon Thames in Scotland, representing Team Orr, O.I.D!

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, Gehenna!

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Varying Everyday, Team ???
Booth Blue: Team Orr

3...
2...
1...
ACTIVATE!

All three robots move out of their starting squares as this fight begins, with OID spinning up the dangerous disc before it goes in on the attack while Gehenna and Liar 2 clash head on, the smaller surface area of Liar 2 allowing it to drive in underneath Gehenna this time and push it back across the arena before firing the huge flipper, tossing Andy€™s machine high into the air! It somersaults and lands flat on its back, hurriedly firing its own flipper to push itself back onto its wheels before Liar 2€™s flipper can reset, but Gehenna is slightly too slow as Martijn€™s weapon is ready to go again just before Gehenna gets under the Dutch machine. However, Gehenna gets underneath regardless and rams Liar 2 across the arena, using the front-hinged flipper to push Liar 2 over onto its back and the two cascade into the spike strip, Gehenna pinning Liar in against it.

Meanwhile OID has spun up the ferocious disc and now moves in on the attack, driving full force into the rear of Gehenna, going weapon to weapon with Andy€™s own spinning blade! With a huge crashing noise and an explosion of sparks from their weapons collision the robots are buffeted away, OID spinning back into the centre of the arena while Gehenna is knocked from underneath Liar 2 and onto the killsaws, which rise throw the robot away with yet more sparks. However the attack by the saws does not faze Gehenna and it drives back on the attack of Liar, now with a mangled spinning blade that does not appear to be working. The weight advantage of weaponry was certainly in OID€™s favour, as Jack€™s 20kg disc begins to spin up the speed again now, damaged but not beyond use like the 10kg blade of Gehenna.

Andy drives at Liar 2, who turns to meet the oncoming assault and the pair meet head on for the third time in this match, and the audience waits with bated breath to see who will get under the other this time! However, their zero ground clearances appear to cancel one another out and the machines push against one another on the arena floor, and on this occasion the grippy tyres of Gehenna win out against the hardox wheels of Liar 2, despite the horsepower advantage that Martijn has in this bot-sumo. Unfortunately for Andy there€™s nowhere for Liar 2 to go except to be pushed ever so slowly backwards into the spike strip, which of course doesn€™t even dent the thick hardox armouring of Liar 2.

OID moves in for another rear attack of Gehenna, but Andy is ready this time and instead of pointlessly pinning Liar 2 against the arena wall he spins Gehenna around to meet the oncoming threat from OID, rushing towards it so that they are both ramming towards one another, OID with the meaty spinning disc rotating at its top speed of 2000rpm and Gehenna ready to meet it with the 8mm titanium/vanadium wedge and 4mm hardox flipper! The collision is bound to be epic, but Liar 2 refuses to be left out of the equation and the moment Gehenna turns its back Martijn rams in on the attack at the hastily retreating rear end of Gehenna, his 7mph speed advantage allowing him to promptly catch Andy€™s machine and get under the rear ex-weapon, steepening the angle of Gehenna€™s front wedge as OID€™s disc collides with it!

With another huge slam OID is sent spinning away from the force of its own hit combined with the weight of two heavyweight robots gunning it at 22mph colliding with that. Gehenna is thrown off the wedge of Liar 2 and sent spinning away in OID€™s direction, while Liar 2 itself is knocked yet again into the spike strip. However, all three quickly recover and go back on the attack, with Gehenna being the quickest, getting under OID, whose disc is now motionless after the last hit, and rams it into the arena wall, firing the front hinged flipper and propping it up against the barrier!

The audience glares in disbelief as the promising OID is left helpless, stacked against the barrier and without a weapon. It would seem that the connection to the disc was broken in the last impact, and without the disc OID was vulnerable to attack from Gehenna, who complied by promptly putting Jack€™s machine against the wall. Nevertheless, this is a somewhat disappointing end to such a good battle, but the crowd counts OID down and out with uncompromised enthusiasm so it€™s all good.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

CEASE!

O.I.D is down out and dizzy; Gehenna and Liar 2 advance to the annihilator final!

Battle Board
Gabriel V [#5] vs. Liar 2 vs. Minesweep3r vs. O.I.D vs. Gehenna vs. Bloody Frigid