Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Oh, no no no no no no, no rewrites, the results were surprising is all. :D

Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors

I...am really not seeing much Gabriel can do here. Because Gabriel's nose cone ends at a point, he will hardly be able to push around DT at all (if he manages to stop the drum, anyhow), and flipping him...will be hard to do, but do nothing regardless. Sorry Joey, but Zarte gets my vote here. Even though Delirium Tremors is as annoying as hell. :P

Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II

I question how Traffic Warden was able to grab Storm II's sloped sides with its flat clamps last time, but whatev :P Here I think it has a better chance...unless EoR manages to eviscerate it. And that won't happen quickly enough to avoid a pitting. Steve ftw? Yes plz

Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5

That saw will work wonders at the sides, but those tires of Spin Dash are really exposed. Still, I think Tracy will lose wheels before Steve. Steve ftw again (sorry XD)

Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X

You again? :P Urgh.

Back to Rock has one thing going for it and that's the saw, as it can cause damage. Not a lot, but that counts for it in a JD. I intend to make sure it doesn't go that far. ...anyway, a very gutsy thing to do would be to try go onto his lifter really fast and slam the saw to jam it, but it would also be very stupid, and who says he'll get under me every time? :P Regardless, I have 2WD, he has 6WD, and I'm damn well taking advantage of that. Sneak around to his sides, get under, and drive to pit or OOTA (if he looks like he's going to drive off, quickly flip to score judges points, I guess :P ). If we're deadlocked and he's trying to push me, j-hook backwards (aka drive backwards on one wheel for you folks not in the know :) ) and he'll go by me, then wedge and pit or OOTA. The only real way he can control me is if he totally gets me on the lifter, and due to its steepness and my body shape it doesn't look like he'll have an easy time controlling me even then. I'm a slippery customer, let's prove that fact. ;)

Wedga Ennea [#5] vs. The Servant€™s Assistant

Good to see Lian doing so well. I think this match depends on who gets under who more, so I really can't say.

Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Autoism 4.0 [#12]

Tricky, tricky. If Autoism can keep lifting Hypo over and make him waste gas self-righting, I sense a win for Paul here. That I see happening, so Paul ftw

----

That's what I'm sayin' :P good luck you lot :)

Say wha?? :crazy: The first round is over...and what a round it was. Here are tactics and predictions, because I am pleased to give both of them :proud:

Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors
Delirium Tremors...deffo...no doubt at all. Seriously, as Kody's just said, what can Gabriel actually do to it?? :lame:

Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II
This looks more close than the other one: Steven has the speed and obvious power advantage. However, one major point is that the armour is thinned down to only 4mm Titanium to make way for the large motors and weapon. If Steve can stop the bar - the more likely outcome - then the Scotman will be flying on :lame: (yep, they REALLY are this bad :wink: ) If Joey can get the bar producing the 100+kj of energy, and slam in on the sides repeatedly, then I think Traffic Warden will get ripped a new one.

Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5
I would have said Spin Dash had it been a majority of the other robots in this round. The nice low frame, and the fact that he may be slightly less controllable than the Canadian lead me to believe that Spin Dash will get turned into a pancake. The Canadian hammer ftw :proud:

Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X
When I say I think Wedginator will win, I mean that I think and HOPE it'll win :o Back To Rock is one of the most powerful robots within this round, but I think that Wedginator is a brilliant adaptation from an existing design, and it is quite refreshing to see Kody design something that wasn't overly complicated :proud: I think that Wedginator will use the wedge to great use, and pit the Dutch Behemoth clone :talker:

Wedga Ennea [#5] vs. The Servant€™s Assistant
It would be unfair to knock Lian, because for a new robot it is extremely good - hell, it threw Psychosis + two random other robots 8) from the ring in it's first fight: that's nothing to be scoffed at. However, it's like one of the reigning vapourbot designs it's going against here. I think that Lian will put up a great fight, but this will end with Wega Ennea ejecting him from the ring.

Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Autoism 4.0 [#12]
Hey, I'm through 8) but this is one of the worst match-ups I possibly could've got: the flipper is extremely powerful, and literally Matt could win with one flip. In this fight, I have a couple of small strategies, and one big one. The first is to open the pit :lame: (REMEMBER TO REVERSE ONTO THE BUTTON SO I CAN STILL USE THE CLAWS) :lame: and the minor ones are:
Because of the way his flipper works, it will possibly freeze when at the top of it's range. If he misses a flip on me, try and get the claws inside the machine. The 7mm Hardox will be way too hard for 5 tonnes of crush, but the insides will take it much worse than the armour. If I hit something that immobilises him, then celebrate :proud:
Also, because he has 15 flips, I only need to turn him over a few times for the flipper to lose some power. His shape will help this this plan; looking at the picture with flat sides and a back angling out, this means he is easier to stack on this side, and easier to flip from the front (be aware that the latter is only in desperation :wink: ) So yh, constantly flip him, maybe if I'm getting lucky, flip him and back him up against the arena wall, and hope he does a Kronic style self-OOTA :proud:

Basically, lower my claws as low as they can go - scrapping the floor if necessary - and constant attacking will occur. Even if he gets to my sides, my skirts will hold him off. Stay in the arena centre as often as possible, and try to carry out at least one of those plans lol :proud:

Good luck Matty, everyone else, and also Lewis who is writing this wicked tourney :talker:

Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors

OK, so I feel this is a good draw for me. I believe Joey may be planning to remove the ears and the skirts. If he doesn't through a change of tactic, or through forgetting to post them at all, then attack those repeatedly, flip him over and then lay into the base. If he does remove them, he still has the tool spikes to go after. Attack these constantly and belligerently and hope it throws him over, if it does, badger the base still and attempt to damage, if not doing much, just get the drum into his self-righting angle so he falls straight back onto the drum. Stay away from the pit at all times and try and draw him onto a floor flipper. If I get caught out by it then who cares, I'm fully invertible.

Good luck Joey.

Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II

I've gotta go with Eye of Ran II win :P

Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5

Spin Dash to be the one who gets signal and make mobile fail.

Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X

I'm going with a Wedginator X-rated performance

Wedga Ennea [#5] vs. The Servant€™s Assistant

I'd put a wodge on Wedga.

Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Autoism 4.0 [#12]

Drive straight at the claws. And I mean at them not in them. If they grab us, they won't be able to pierce so we should be able to reverse, or at least turn so they can't push us in a straight line. If we get the shove right, our plate will meet their claw and either nothing'll happen, or we'll get underneath. If that happens, shove towards the wall and straight out, let's go for a MM fastest battle record :P

In response to Paul's 2 tactical moves of note, when he goes for the pit, slam into his side, the impact against the wall might throw him off balance and we could get underneath, or we might be able to push enough to stop him doing it. And with crushing the internals, make sure we only flip if we get a clear go. If it fucks up, rotate the machine to achieve the greatest difference between us and his claws. The retraction is near imminent but just in case.

Good luck Paul.

right, after a discussion with Kody in which the phrase 'wedge point' was used an inordinate amount of times, hehe, my tactics are thus:

Gabriel V vs. Delirium Tremors

The ears will be detached as, good as they are aesthetically, they will probably be battered quite badly by the drum. The same goes for the skirts as this isn't really going to be a fight that involves a great deal of getting under things, hehe ;P My tactics will be largely/entirely to ram and push with the back end - this should actually give me better control (which with a 16mph top speed helps, although I won't be using much more than two thirds of that unless I have DT well and truly under my control) as the wheels are nearer that end and a wide, angled wedgy plate of Hardox is not to be sniffed at - and use it to basically go Storm II on Delirium Tremors' behind and don't let it spin up, keep on top of it and shove it into the nearest pit with haste. Use the flipper where necessary but only where necessary, like self righting, throwing DT into house robots, or pitting, and try to use it where DT won't have the chance to come back and hit it.
Gabriel I think - looking at it from a neutral standpoint and how drums tend to perform against low wedges - could have a significant advantage in that, sans ears and skirts, pretty much everything slopes away from you, and is wearplate steel, which a drum will have trouble dealing with (it also can't rip panels off a welded bodyshell). Getting flipped would present a possible issue but even inverted the base would be angled away from the drum, and it'd more likely catch the lower edge of the Hardox body due to how the base is recessed and possibly help flip me back over.
I have to doubt whether DT can really survive its own hits for too long given the lack of internal shockproofing and 60kj in the weapon too, and its speed is quite a potential liability as Gabriel's considerably faster and has a big wedge to push and deflect with.

...wow...those were long tactics XD best of luck Zarte ^^

*points Joey has two fights and both are due in the next post* :P

...um...spin up, always present the front of the robot so it can't grab an arm, kill it? XD

*Opening music plays to various pictures of robots being destroyed in previous seasons*

They came to fight... They came to destroy... They came to win...
The Box Is Locked, The Lights Are On - Let The Wars Begin!

Welcome back robot fans! Last time we saw the final fights of round one, and fourth seeds Traffic Warden shoot through alongside ranked #2 Hypertension MK3.5. The first fight consisted of 3 swift pittings, while the second two OOTAs and a half pitting! An interesting episode indeed, but now round one is over and a real pedigree of machines are ready to rumble for a place in the quarter-finals!

Battleboard
Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II

In this episode we€™ll see the two opening fights of round 2, featuring the third and fourth seeds Gabriel V and Traffic Warden. They€™ll be fighting newcomers Delirium Tremors and Eye of Ran II respectively, but the question on everybody€™s lips tonight is will the seeds be able to utilise their experience to overcome the fresh blood, or are they getting a bit long in the tooth? Word is around the pits that newcomers The Servant€™s Assistant are the ones to watch in this round after they threw Annihilation champions Psychosis out of the arena in the eliminators. There are plenty of others to watch too though, such as ranked #2 Hypertension MK3.5 and Mobile Failure 2.5, the bot that took out the #1 seed Sheer Heart Attack 2 in the eliminators. So with no further ado, let€™s head down to the Annihilation Stadium!

Ranked #3, Gabriel V!
MMPts ~ 21
Season 3.0 Hitlist ~ Mornington Crescent, Super Gore Eahta, Gravity

Delirium Tremors!
MMPts ~ 5
Season 3.0 Hitlist ~ Overkill, Nidhogg Cubed [#9], Bloody Frigid

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Picus
Booth Blue: Team Devil€™s Incarnate

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

High ho, high ho, it€™s off to fight we go! Gabriel V is the immediate aggressor as this round gets underway, zooming across the arena in reverse at Delirium Tremors! The ranked machine looks rather, errr, naked in this round due to the ears and skirts having been removed beforehand, and it slams into DT€™s drum with some force! Zarte€™s drum was already spinning though and Gabriel is thrown up into the air, but not over! Joey quickly drives back on the attack and pushes the spinner robot back against the spike strip and pins it there, gaining points for control. Zarte rotates the drum though and the teeth catch on Gabriel, lifting it enough to remove its traction for a split second so that DT can trundle away from danger and turn back to face the ranked robot again, but Gabriel is quick to go back on the attack and spins into the side of DT, pushing backwards against the wheels and ramming Zarte onto the corner floor flipper! It fires and knocks DT forward onto a second pair of wheels, but it€™s fully invertible and quickly goes back on the attack, slamming into the side of Gabriel V and flipping it up against the barrier! Joey fires the flipper to self-right off the rails and back down into the arena floor, but Zarte was quickly into position and Gabriel lands on the drum, which rips into the aluminium base plate as Gabriel is thrown away from Zarte and against the spike strip! Joey grimaces and self-rights quickly, attempting now to drive back on the attack of Team Devil€™s Incarnate€™s machine, but the base is terribly messed up by that last attack and is buckled against the arena floor, barely leaving Gabriel with any traction on the steel floor!

It€™s not looking good for the ranked machine as Gabriel struggles to maintain any kind of controlled movement, but all the same the gutsy guys at Team Picus force the elongated pyramid back across the arena at Delirium Tremors, who comes forward to meet Gabriel and flips the rear up into the air again, pushing underneath and AGAIN ripping against the base armour, throwing Gabriel over another time! The ranked machine is really looking the worse for wear now, and we can see some of the workings through the shredded base armour now before Joey self-rights, but still Gabriel carries on! Joey does all he can to try and drive Gabriel at DT, managing to swing the nose cone around for the spike to slam into one of Zarte€™s wheels, but he drives in again and with a slight bump this time it seems what little life was left is knocked out of Gabriel! DT€™s drum spins up again while Gabriel sits motionless on the arena floor, before Zarte drives back in on the attack again and slams into the rank#3 machine, throwing it up and over one more time, revealing the destruction on the aluminium base armour, and we can see that some of the internals have actually fallen through the ripped up baseplate, leaving Gabriel immobile on the arena floor! The flipper is still working though and Joey self-rights, only for Zarte to come in one final time with the drum and slam into Gabriel, sending it in a 360 degree horizontal barrel roll as the crowd count it down and out!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

CEASE!

Gabriel V [#3] loses it€™s insides and heads to the losers€™ melees; Delirium Tremors advances to the quarter-finals!

Battleboard
Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II

Ranked #4, Traffic Warden!
MMPts ~ 20
Season 3.0 Hitlist ~ Liar 2, Merry Hampton Evo, Storm II

Eye of Ran II!
MMPts ~ 5
Season 3.0 Hitlist ~ I.A.N, Heliosphere [#6], Lime-y

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Braveheart
Booth Blue: Team Picus

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

And they€™re off! Another fight gets off to a quick start as Traffic Warden predictably goes on a box rush across the arena, but Eye of Ran II€™s blade is quickly up to speed and Joey comes forward to meet Steven€™s machine, slamming into the middle of the U-shaped machine and knocking it backwards across the arena! The four wheels roll slowly backwards, and there€™s a huge gash in the titanium armour... But there€™s no movement! Eye of Ran II, satisfied that Team Braveheart are already down and out, reverses smugly into its starting square and looks on with an air of superiority while Steven looks downcast and pushes down his aerial while the crowd count Traffic Warden down and out!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
The cause of the immobilisation is quickly pointed out by the judges as the failure of Traffic Warden€™s removable link, knocked from the robot by a combination of the robot€™s own 38HP slam and the kinetic energy dissipated into it by Eye of Ran II! An unfortunate exit from the round for this ranked machine, but it still has the loser€™s melee.

CEASE!

Traffic Warden [#4] is knocked out in a single hit; Eye of Ran II goes through to the quarter-finals!

Two very short battles that clearly exhibit the power of modern-day spinners, the two unranked machines advance to the quarter-finals! However, don't forget about Gabriel V and Traffic Warden just yet, they'll be back for the loser's melees later on in the season to try for a place in the quarter-finals.

Battleboard
Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II

Next up...

Battleboard
Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5
Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X

Awesome stuff Lewis!

It's nice to see one of my robots doing so well for once :rofl:

aw, come on Steve! :(

lol, nice fights Lewis

w00t for Eye of Ran, hard luck Steve :) regarding the Gabriel V/Delirium Tremors fight, I have serious issues about realism there and after talking with Zarte he agreed somewhat and offered his support for a rematch, but I don't really think it would change much or achieve anything except upsetting people, so...just do better next time Lewis ^^ and well done to Zarte on progressing.

Regarding the next fights, I'd go for the Failure and Back To Rock to progress.