Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Great stuff as always Lewis. :)

Flipper attachment off again...I think I will try my hand at attacking Sheer Heart Attack this time. I may not be able to break the tracks, but with my front shape I can most certainly stop the drum and grapple onto it from the front (though I wouldn't say no to a side grappling either ;) ) and drag it somewhere nasty, preferably the pit. Hell, the forks may hit SHA2's side and interfere with his driving, who knows. Avoid Leprosy Infection for now, and only attack SDU if he's been inverted. Stay away from the pit as much as possible otherwise.

Great battles, Lewis. Nice to see this going again. :)

I think Leprosy Infection could be in danger of going out next.

Thanks for the comments guys :D Grateful for the tactics and predictions too, motivates me to keep writing ><


And so we return to Mechanical Maelstrom for the third round of the third annihilator!

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, ranked #6, Sheer Heart Attack 2!

From Etobicoke in Canada, representing Team Zlayerz, Jinx!

From Glasgow in Scotland, representing Team Braveheart, Spin Dash Unleashed!

From Onehouse in Suffolk, representing Team Dinowarrior, Leprosy Infection!

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Varying Everyday, Team Zlayerz
Booth Blue: Team Braveheart, Team Dinowarrior

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

And the third round gets underway! All the damage from the brutal round that preceded this one has been fixed, particularly for SDU and Leprosy Infection who took some serious punishment. Sheer Heart Attack 2 is also moving freely again now thanks to the fixed track that was damaged by SDU in round 2, and Jinx didn€™t take much damage from CrOokEd EvO, which was the only bot it had much to do with. However, this time around Kody has set his sights on the ranked machine, SHA2, and Jinx goes straight in on the first onslaught of the match!

Martijn is having none of it though and the tank-style steering of Sheer Heart Attack turns to expertly meet Jinx front on and the two collide! The drum of the Dutch machine hits the front spikes of Kody€™s machine and bends them upwards ever so slightly, but this doesn€™t deter Jinx and she drives on forward, pushing SHA2 back and swinging the powerful axe over! It doesn€™t hit the bodywork of Martijn€™s robot though, hitting the floor between the tracks. This hasn€™t been a useless attack at all though, as now Kody has a strong foothold with which to pull SHA around, and that he does, dragging Martijn€™s machine back across the arena and onto the killsaws! BZZT!

Meanwhile SDU is the immediate agressor on Leprosy Infection, charging straight into the front of Chris€™ machine with the saw at top speed and stopping the drum dead in it€™s tracks, ramming Team Dinowarrior€™s entry backwards across the arena and into the spike strip! Not much damage caused to Leprosy Infection, but the drum is stopped by the impact, allowing Steven to worm around to the side of Leprosy and ram the side of it! Leprosy finds itself being driven sideways across the arena now as it attempted to drive away from the wall, but SDU was too quick and attacked the exposed side, now grinding away at the mini-skirts of Leprosy Infection like it did in the last round.

There€™s not much Chris can do to escape as Steven€™s saw does it€™s malevolent work and SDU slams Leprosy Infection into the conjoined pair of Jinx and Sheer Heart Attack 2, causing Jinx to relieve it€™s grip on Martijn€™s robot. He wastes no time and spins his drum back up before turning it into the side of SDU, ripping off one hinge of the side skirt! Jinx however, still has its sight plainly set on SHA2, and brings its axe up and over again, this time slamming down onto the drum itself, stopping it dead in its tracks! This infuriates Martijn, who reverses and gets one of his rear wedges under the side of Jinx€™s front wedge, pinning Jinx on against the wall and holding it lifted up above the killsaws, which rise and flip the raised Jinx onto its side! Kody swings the axe and the force is enough to knock it back onto its wheels, but SHA2 had the drum spinning ready and slams into the base of Jinx as it comes back down, taking a chunk out of the thick polycarb and throwing the Canadian machine back over!

SDU now has a skirt trailing, but that doesn€™t hold Steven€™s aggression back and now he€™s reversing against the drum of Leprosy Infection, which initially started to damage the rear panel of SDU, but was brought to a halt by that machine€™s backward motion and speed, and instead Leprosy is now finding itself again under the control of it€™s Scottish adversary, which slams it into the pit release button!

Meanwhile Kody has again managed to right the turtled Jinx, who is now looking slightly the worse for wear, but nonetheless turns to attack SHA2 again, swinging the axe over and clamping down on the left track of the machine, digging in slightly with one corner of the blade and can now drive Sheer Heart Attack across the Annihilation Stadium. And it seems this could be SHA2€™s final destination, as Kody has one place in mind: the pit!
He turns, SHA2 in tow and drives toward the chasm.

But SHA2 isn€™t the only robot that could go out here, as SDU is still slamming Leprosy around like there€™s no tomorrow. The drum is spinning, but SDU is at the side of Chris€™ machine, and the saw has badly buckled both skirts on one side now, leaving Leprosy with a higher ground clearance and impaired mobility. With such a low clearance of just 6mm it wasn€™t the most manouevrable to begin with and now with a dragging skirt it€™s having real trouble escaping SDU€™s grip, and now Steven has lined Leprosy up for a direct passage to the pit of oblivion!

However, Kody is already there with SHA2 in tow, but Martijn€™s machine is quite far up Jinx€™s frame, and in order to dump the former champion in there without eliminating himself Kody€™s going to have shake Martijn free of his axe! This is easier said than done, as Kody retracts the axe, but can€™t pull it free of SHA2€™s track! It must be buried deeper than we thought, but it doesn€™t matter because here comes SDU, driving Leprosy at full speed sideways into the pit, where it disappears in a puff of smoke! SHA2 is saved by the bell just as Kody manages to drag the axe free, thus dropping it into the pit, but Martijn€™s machine lives to fight another day.

CEASE!

Leprosy Infection is infected and leaves the annihilator, having failed to get it€™s revenge on Spin Dash Unleashed for it€™s Season 1.0 defeat.

Battleboard
Sheer Heart Attack 2 [#6] vs. Jinx vs. Bandwagon 2 vs. CrOokEd EvO vs. Spin Dash Unleashed vs. Leprosy Infection

Oh dear oh dear...looks like I may be the weakest link now. :/

Nonetheless my previous tactics remain; grapple'n'pit SHA2, and attack SDU only if it's been inverted.

And do I even need to say how awesome the battles are? Guess so. Great battles Lewis. :proud:

I actually think Jinx might go out here - with three robots left it's going to leave the two spinners with more room to manoeuvre and as Kody fears it may be the weak link.

Welcome back to Mechanical Maelstrom, where just three robots remain in this, the third annihilator of the series!

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, ranked #6, Sheer Heart Attack 2!

From Etobicoke in Canada, representing Team Zlayerz, Jinx!

From Glasgow in Scotland, representing Team Braveheart, Spin Dash Unleashed!

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Varying Everyday, Team Zlayerz
Booth Blue: Team Braveheart

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

And the match gets underway! Right from the off, Jinx remains aggressive towards SHA2 like it did in the previous round and rams straight at Martijn€™s machine. The ranked robot spins up its drum and turns to meet Kody€™s oncoming attack, hitting the front of Jinx and knocking it up into the air! Not much damage caused to the thick titanium front of Jinx, but points scored for SHA2 and Martijn is about to capitilise upon these points by driving in underneath the flipped up Jinx when SDU comes out of nowhere and slams into the side of the former champion, catching Team Varying Everyday unaware and Steven drives Martijn across the arena and onto the killsaws!

The onslaught was so fast and came from nowhere, so Martijn didn€™t even have a chance to put up a resistance against the Scottish machine. The killsaws rise and throw SHA2 up and over in a shower of sparks, but no serious damage caused by the arena hazards here and Martijn is quickly spinning the drum back up and going back on the attack, turning into the side of SDU and tearing off the side skirt! Steven quickly reverses away from danger, allowing Jinx to come in. Kody spots the opening to attack SHA2 and rams under the side of it€™s adversary, swinging its axe over onto the opposite track and digging the blade in! This won€™t immobilise SHA2€™s track, but it will certainly hinder the machine€™s manouevrability once Jinx tears the axe loose. However, that was a problem in the last round and could be one here!

However, there is an extra factor this time around - Spin Dash! Steven comes flying out of the corner and charges into the side of Jinx, giving Kody the momentum to shake free of SHA2, which is left with a tear in it€™s left track, but now Jinx is under pressure from SDU and finds itself being rammed sideways across the Annihilation Stadium and into the spike strip it goes! The saw of SDU provides some lovely sparks against Jinx€™s titanium armourment for the audience to gape at, but the damage is only cosmetic and SDU can only hold Jinx against the spikes for a certain amount of time. Before this time has elapsed though SHA2 has made its way across the arena and pushes its drum against the side of SDU that it previously stole a skirt from, flipping the Scottish machine up and over in one easy move!

This frees Jinx, who backs away from the spike strip and drives backwards under SDU, pushing it backwards across the arena and into the pit release button! The chasm descends and Jinx spins around, swinging the axe over again and bringing the fearsome weapon to bear on SDU€™s hardox underbelly with a loud CRASH! The damage is probably just cosmetic, but that large dent in SDU isn€™t going to give Steven any points should this go to a judges decision, and it certainly isn€™t an ego-boost of any kind! Jinx however, isn€™t finished and retracts its axe only to swing it over again and deepen the dent in SDU€™s hardox armour, how pinning Steven€™s machine in place before turning around and pushing it towards the pit! SDU was master of the pit in the two rounds that preceded this one, but now the dream is at an end and Spin Dash takes the plunge itself, disappearing in a puff of smoke for the second time in this annihilator, but this time it€™s the only robot in there and is out of the competition.

CEASE!

Spin Dash is spun out; Sheer Heart Attack 2 [#6] and Jinx advance to the annihilator final!

Battleboard
Sheer Heart Attack 2 [#6] vs. Jinx vs. Bandwagon 2 vs. CrOokEd EvO vs. Spin Dash Unleashed vs. Leprosy Infection

w00t, back-up tactics paid off! :proud:

Sheer Heart Attack 2 (6) vs. Jinx

Meep, I'm alone with him now. :| Not much I can do here except remain true to previous tactics of the grapple'n'pit variety. I'll take them from any angle I can get this time. Nothing more, nothing less. Pit pit pit. G'luck Marti.

Keep on truckin', Lewis. :D

And we€™re back for the final of the third annihilator!
Let€™s see how both of our finalists got this far.

In round 1 Bandwagon 2 was eliminated via default.
In round 2 CrOokEd EvO managed to give eventual finalist Jinx a hard time, but ended up in the pit.
In round 3 Leprosy Infection ended up in the pit too.
And in round 4 Spin Dash Unleashed became the 3rd robot to be eliminated via the pit this annihilator.

So let€™s see who€™ll join Nidhogg Cubed and Gehenna in the annihilator final!

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, ranked #6, Sheer Heart Attack 2!

From Etobicoke in Canada, representing Team Zlayerz, Jinx!

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Varying Everyday
Booth Blue: Team Zlayerz

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

The 3rd final begins and Jinx is the immediate aggressor of the match, driving towards it€™s ranked adversary and swinging the pneumatic axe over, but SHA2 is the quicker of the warring machines and neatly dodges the move before driving back in and clouting Jinx with the spinning drum, flipping it up into the air and buckling one of the front spikes! Kody grimaces and retracts Jinx€™s axe, but takes the opportunity to attack while SHA2€™s drum is spinning back up and rams underneath Martijn€™s machine, pushing it back against the spike strip before whacking down with the axe again, this time striking the track directly and digging in slightly with the sharp corner! It€™s not a great hold, but a grip is a grip and now Jinx reverses back across the arena, SHA2 in tow!

Martijn tries to worm free, and by moving the tracks and spinning the drum he does successfully loosen Kody€™s grip, but doesn€™t quite free his robot. Kody slams backwards into the pit release button though, and it€™s this collision that knocks Martijn off Jinx€™s axe, leaving him free to reverse away before driving back in on the attack and this time flipping the Canadian machine up and over as well as continuing to buckle the fork further! However Jinx is quick to self-right and Kody is again on the attack quickly, this time driving underneath the damaged track and bringing the axe down onto SHA2 again, but he was too far underneath this time and the 32cm height of SHA2 means the axe arm of Jinx clangs noisily against the front of SHA2€™s track, but does no damage.

This gives Martijn an easy escape and he backs off Jinx€™s wedge before hitting the pink machine with the drum again and flipping it straight onto its back! Jinx self-rights, but Martijn moves in again while Kody is dazed and strikes the front panel, breaking the some of the bolts on the front and ripping up the front wedge slightly! The damage is only cosmetic right now, but this leaves Jinx open to further attack later in the match. Kody doesn€™t intend on letting Martijn exploit anything though and Jinx moves in on the attack again, hitting SHA2 with its axe squarely on the drum, stopping it in its tracks with a sickening bang!

Martijn reverses to freedom, but the drum doesn€™t seem to be spinning back up! It would seem a chain was knocked off by Jinx€™s awesome strike, and now the former champion has been rendered weaponless! Kody sees an opportunity to cause further damage and rams in underneath the defenceless tracked machine, again using Jinx€™s axe as a clamping device and hitting the empty space of air between SHA2€™s tracks, the arm hitting the stationary drum. No damage is done by this manouevre, but it gives Kody the perfect platform from which to pilot SHA2 towards the pit, and he does so, releasing the axe upon arrival there to let SHA2 fall neatly into the chasm!

CEASE!

Sheer Heart Attack 2 [#6] is jinxed; Jinx advances to the annihilator finals!

Battleboard
Sheer Heart Attack 2 [#6] vs. Jinx vs. Bandwagon 2 vs. CrOokEd EvO vs. Spin Dash Unleashed vs. Leprosy Infection

Next time on Mechanical Maelstrom, the predecessor to two-time competitor The Zodiac makes it€™s debut in the form of #7 ranked Corona! This deadly ring spinner is matched against 5 deadly newcomers including famed (and first ever in Mechanical Maelstrom) realie Iron Awe 5, but who will prevail?

Annihilator 4
Corona [#7] vs. Lime-y vs. PsycloniZer vs. Die-Reverta Tops vs. ISRRNY vs. Iron Awe 5

:) great fight Lewis, a most unexpected but well deserved result too...congratulations Kody! and commiserations to Marti!

As far as this next one goes, I must apologise for the way the first round has turned out as I tragically mistook ISRRNY for a Tears for Fears album, and in my excitement of attempting to play it my CD drive inadvertedly destroyed the robot...I hope you can all forgive me for my crass mistake, I was overcome by the urge to hear Shout in glorious stereo :( and as for the second round, I think the spinners will be in trouble with three flippers in there...but things will be chaotic enough that they'll both survive the round, and I feel Die-Reverta-Tops is the weakest of the three flipping machines - either it or possibly Iron Awe to go out.

How'd I survive that one? O_O Great fight Lewis and Martijn, was totally expecting a loss. :proud:

Unfortunately, I'm not so sure Corona has an easy time here either. PsycloniZer is better off because it's invertible...I may as well get stuck in. Any wedges that come near I will try to hit on a corner, preferably spinning into the side of the corner so I don't hit the wedge and go up it. Avoid Psy for now.

G'luck lads and lass. :D