A wooty review.

The European Championships...it needs a wooty review.

RAZER vs PULVERISER
Pulveriser looked very destructive with its flywheel spinning up. Shame it never actually did any damage. Razer was just too nimble for them.
OK team, after reading your write-up in the other thread, Ill believe your self-pitting was a control issue...

BLACK HOLE vs ZEUS
Well, its been a while since weve seen an Italian robot...its also the first time weve seen a destructive German robot. Poor Zeus never stood a chance.

TORNADO vs SNAKEBITE
Well, this didnt go very well for probably the only swiss robot. Well, OK, they survived Psychos hammer, Tornados ram, DMs saw blade...only to be taken out by the steam vent (ala Tetanus). Oh well...well see their destructiveness later (or already have).

PHILLIPER 2 vs RAWBOT
Is it me, or did Rawbot look bigger here than it did in the 3rd WC? What-ever, Philliper had certainly evolved, what with the crushing tail fin. It worked, though Im sure Rawbot would have gone down if they hadnt fired the flipper.

PHILLIPER 2 vs BLACK HOLE
Well, did we predict this? Did we predict Black Hole would rip Philliper up? Probably. Did it happen? Yes. But did we also predict Philliper would flip Black Hole over (therefore apparantly causing it trouble with its own weapon) and pit them? Probably not. Did it happen? Yes! Obviously these people never learnt their lesson from Panic Attack vs Cassius.

RAZER vs TORNADO
Razers hook looked different to last time. Maybe evolving round Tornados frame. Well, this was a pretty boring match really...Tornado gave Razer a ram, got stuck on Razers hook, then Razer opened the pit. THEN, IT HAPPENED!
Razer doesnt normally smoke. I somehow didnt think it was traction either. And now they had Tornado stuck on their frame, they couldnt go anywhere, Tornado couldnt go anywhere because it was stuck...what do we do?

It went to the judges...they gave the win to Razer...though it appeared Vinny didnt look convinced/happy with that.

And, as a result, we meet Razer in the pits, and Vinny then explains that their motors burnt out, they should have been counted out, and they gave the win to Tornado. Only the second time this has happened in the UK Wars.

And Razer leaves the scene...breaking down...after so long of not.

TORNADO vs PHILLIPER 2
Are You Still Here Philliper? OK, Ill admit Craigs comments on Philliper were a little harsh, but she held on in there. I was wondering why the flipper wasnt working. Nice tactics near the end, but it wasnt enough. Tornado had beaten the original Philliper before, and he did it again.

Wow. Only one battle ended without a pitting.

In Vinnys own words .....

There was also an incident during the European Championship filmed as part of the 2nd UK Extreme series which went a long way to helping me make this difficult decision [quitting the Razer team].

During our fight with Tornado we were immobile and had held on with the claw for far, far longer than the permitted one minute and should have been disqualified or counted out. We were then shockingly given a judges decision which was never ours, and both myself and Simon immediately wanted to hand it back to Tornado.

Ian, as team captain, refused and a long discussion was needed to resolve matters. When I pointed out that a democratic team vote would mean that we should hand the match back I was told by Ian You didnt build the machine so your vote doesnt count. After giving so much of my life to the team you can probably understand I was more than a little miffed at that comment! Also, the matter had nothing to do with machine construction as it was all down to our honour and integrity, and I believe I had as much a say in that as Ian and Simon.

Ian eventually relented the following morning, but refused to be part of the filming when we handed the match back to Tornado. I considered this to be a little hypocritical from someone who in previous series had stated to camera were an honorable team. It was also a clear indication of how much Ian hates losing. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for storming out after the Pussycat fight in Series 4, but this second show of what can only be described as petulance was too much for me. A seed of doubt had been planted in my mind and several months later it bore fruit in the shape of my decision to retire.

This may sound a little ungrateful to some but it is the truth of the matter, and inspite of this I will always be thankful for all the truly wonderful moments that Ian and Simon gave me the chance to experience. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the other roboteers, the film crews and most importantly of all the multitude of fans that have given me such great memories during my time as a roboteer. I do miss you all!

Ouch...

Wow... I just dont know what to say. Razer was always one of my favorite teams. I could never imagine it ending that way. Ians obviously very passionate when it comes to roboteering, and, being competitive myself, Id be upset too if my team wanted to give away a victory. I just wish that Ian played for fun. Isnt that the whole point of Robot Wars Extreme?

If this happened in the main competition, I could understand Ian having a little outburst with 10 thousand pounds on the line (Although watching his mouth couldve helped.) Even then, what happened to it being the competition of the best amateur?

I mean, enough is enough, Razer did acheive, lets see, 2 international championships, a pinball tourney, the award for best design twice, second place, seedings in series 4 & 5 in spite of its actual performance, as well as beating Tornado twice before this. The point is, cant you forget one informal competition when youre already one of the most revered, nay, iconic teams in the history of Robot Wars?

Then theres the issue of Series 4. In his defense, the entire team was probably thinking the same thing as him. He just chose not to supress his feelings. The number one rule of TV is, youve got to look your best at all times or suffer the consequences. I worry sometimes about what wouldve happened if Razer in series 5 had fought Hypnodisc instead of Bigger Brother. Because of their massive weapons, all bets would be off. What if Hypno had done to Razer what it did to Splinter? How would Ian handle that?

In spite of all this, the team worked well when they could pull it together. It was an unforgettable robot that had a good life.

Okay, thats it for my 2 cents. Did the team ever enter any more competitions after this?