The Crash & Burn Mini-Tournament of Death 5

[playzooki]

did i already post my tictacs? :P

[kodster]

Truth or Consequences vs. Tengu VII vs. Good For It vs. Wedge Devolution


He may be a 10-year-old robot, but Josh Noel's Truth or Consequences is a newbie to the Crash & Burn Mini-Tournament series. He's pretty bulky with a whole 8mm of Grade 5 titanium armour, and a rear 5mm Hardox ram plate. He's got powerful 6WD, and a powerful flipping arm. His good buddy Revolver Ocelot has gone through, can he join Ocelot?
Mini-Tourn History: None


Tengu VII is the seventh iteration of Alex Holt's Tengu series, and even though like ToC he's new to the Mini-Tournament, he's pretty feared in the vapourbot world. Its spinning shell generates in the realm of 70-80kJ which is devastating, and has multiple teeth set-ups. Its famed anti-spinner ring also returns, but 4mm titanium elsewhere isn't the most resistant, and its drivetrain is subpar.
Mini-Tourn History: None


Another newbie making his first appearance is from a newcoming vapourboteer himself, who goes by the name of Playzooki. Good For It is a ring spinner with 'tude, with incredibly tough Ti10V alloy armour (even for the body!) and decent 4WD! Not as devastating as S.O.T.A.R., but its ring can cap out at 3000rpm and deliver a horrifying 180kJ! Of course, like S.O.T.A.R. it's completely vulnerable when not spinning...
Mini-Tourn History: None


Even older than ToC, Wedge Devolution is also a newbie to the Mini-Tourn. A Chaos 2-inspired machine with a flipper that can comfortably flip up to a tonne, 4mm Hardox armour, and LEM130 4WD, with skirting pretty much everywhere except the front, which has a front plate to aid the flipper in getting under adversaries. Semi-spheres on the side stop him from getting beached as well. But you know as well as I do that all pneumatic flippers run out of power eventually...
Mini-Tourn History: None


Tengu will be using the regular blades today:
Two 7.5-kilo blades with go into the robot to prevent them being ripped off, each is about 15cm long


Roboteers, stand by...


House robots: Asterix Quickfix, Rorschach


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


Marking the final melee of Round 1, we have two flippers and two spinners! But shockingly, it's a flipper that teams up with a spinner! Wedge Devolution and Tengu VII have gotten close together, but haven't attacked each other; they seem to be sizing up the other two! Good For It tries not to get flipped out... but that's not going to be a problem, seeing as the arena is enclosed! Truth or Consequences seems to be debating on who to attack first, when one of the machines suddenly makes its move first: Wedge Devolution! It makes a beeline for ToC, and gets straight under one of the corner wedges; with an almighty heave, the American flipper goes topsy turvy and lands smack dab on its back! As ToC self-rights, Tengu VII has crossed the arena and attacked Good For It, while passing over the slots! Sonic, Sonic... Sonic! We have lift-off!!! The arena spinner is revving up like a maddened Tasmanian Devil! And speaking of whirling dervishes, Tengu has collided with GFI, and instead of GFI's teeth hitting Tengu's anti-spinner ring, as Alex wished, GFI hit the teeth of Tengu and CRAAAAAAASH!!! What an incredible hit! Both spinners get rocked and blasted far apart from each other! While they are reeling, ToC has self-righted, but is the victim of another flip! Wedge Devo tries to find Tengu, but the green machine is nowhere to be found! Flip! ToC rights itself again with a stylish flip, and vamooses before Wedge Devo can move back in! As for the super-spinners? They are just now beginning to spin back up! The energy generated from the hit must have kicked back into their machinery, and only now have recovered! But instead of heading for GFI again, Tengu chases ToC down! Josh takes the hint and moves away past Tengu, and arcs around GFI in an attempt to ward them off... but wasn't counting on GFI to attack him!! CRAAAASH!!! The wheelguard takes the blow and ToC goes for a flight, but it also knocked GFI straight into an oncoming Wedge Devo, who neatly wedges the ring spinner and hefts it up into the air, where it bounces on its ring before coming to rest upside-down! Of course, being inverted won't hurt the spinner at all, but even with its seemingly mediocre drive, Tengu is able to move back in before GFI can move! CRASH!! Another attack by Tengu sends them both flying, but GFI's ring stands the test of time! Wedge Devo moves back in to attack GFI... but only gets under him in time for ToC to make a comeback, and slide under THAT side! FLIP! Wedge Devo AND GFI go for a tumble! Tengu, quick on the uptake, moves in on ToC, but Josh isn't quite that blind, Mr. Holt! ToC backs off and Tengu just barely manages to stop itself from hitting its own partner! Wedge Devo won't self-right either, in fear to flipping itself into the shell of Tengu! GFI meanwhile is moving around again and Tengu takes off after him instead, allowing Wedge Devo to right itself! Which it does! And gets launched by a prompt attack from Truth or Consequences! Wedge Devolution somersaults through the air, doing an almost perfect 540, and lands directly onto its back! Blimey! Steve isn't enjoying this and tries to self-right without further intervention, but the American is persistent. Wedge Devo gets tossed again just as it landed back on its wheels, but thankfully now lands right-side-up after the flip, and hastily scurries away to regroup! Meanwhile, Tengu VII and Good For It have come to blows again, and once again the bottom teeth of GFI connect with Tengu's! CRAAAAASH!!! Tengu pinballs into the wall behind and GFI goes flying... into a CPZ!!!

(continued in next post - damn it guys :P)

[kodster]

Judges, if you please!
----

Strategy
Truth or Consequences - 3 * 1 = 3 (avoided Good For It for the most part, and sometimes got in flips where it mattered, but nothing too much else, really)
Tengu VII - 1 * 1 = 1 (had no set strategy other than teaming up with Steve, and that didn't happen very often)
Good For It - 0 * 1 = 0 (had no strategy at all)
Wedge Devolution - 4 * 1 = 4 (made good on his promises to attack ToC and GFI where it mattered, and used Tengu as a mobile hazard at times)


Style
Truth or Consequences - 2 * 2 = 4 (flips are stylish, but was his only real method of attack)
Tengu VII - 3 * 2 = 6 (his self-righting was cool to see, but otherwise his only style points are due to collissions with Good For It)
Good For It - 2 * 2 = 4 (not too flashy besides the collisions with Tengu)
Wedge Devolutio - 3 * 2 = 6 (same as ToC, but he gets more than ToC due to his specific use of the house robots)


Control
Truth or Consequences - 2 * 3 = 6 (was really not in control that much; flipped around by Wedge Devolution and repeatedly had his wheelguard attacked by the spinners; points go back to him for his early control of Wedge Devo though)
Tengu VII - 3 * 3 = 9 (other than getting tossed around by ToC a couple times, was decently in control)
Good For It - 2 * 3 = 6 (Wedge Devo was all over him for most of the match, and most of the rest was spent in collisions with Tengu)
Wedge Devolution - 4 * 3 = 12 (showing why he's so successful; took on ToC and GFI easily. He did lose some control when ToC got at him early though, but he came back strong)


Aggression
Truth or Consequences - 3 * 4 = 12 (did decently, going after Wedge Devo and Tengu a lot, but loses points for being on the receiving end a lot)
Tengu VII - 2 * 4 = 8 (the only real points of aggression he showed were collisions with Good For It, and some cheap shots on ToC)
Good For It - 2 * 4 = 8 (see above)
Wedge Devolution - 5 * 4 = 20 (full marks. always aggressive, always showed it)


Damage
Truth or Consequences - 2 * 5 = 10 (he actually did somewhat decently, causing at least a bit of shock damage to Tengu, and Wedge Devo felt it for sure. But flips generally don't do much damage)
Tengu VII - 5 * 5 = 25 (relentless, did a lot of damage to ToC and ripped off GFI's tooth, causing him to slow his weapon down)
Good For It - 4 * 5 = 20 (didn't do as much as Tengu but managed to take out Tengu's weapon via shock damage, and did some modest damage to ToC)
Wedge Devolution - 2 * 5 = 10 (making use of the spinner helps him with the points here, as his flips weren't as spectacular as ToC's. Even so, he didn't really do that much damage, so he scores low)


TOTAL
Truth or Consequences = 35
Tengu VII = 54
Good For It = 38
Wedge Devolution = 52


Well, for Truth or Consequences, the consequences were severe and he couldn't handle the truth. Good For It? Good for whom? Not playzooki, that's for sure. Wedge Devolution and Tengu VII book their spots in Round 2!

[knightrous]

STEM Tech Stream giving you a big boost of inspiration

[kodster]

Well I planned to continue the tourney after college work was finished, but I didn't expect to write this many words.

Thanks Aaron.

[playzooki]

Yes not last :v

[steven_mcg]

Kody, are you an allegedly underwhelming Blue Sky Studios fantasy movie? Because that fight was Epic.

Why, yes, I did spend too long thing of that pun. Excellent battle all the same.

HEAT C
ROUND 2
S.O.T.A.R. v2 VS WEDGE DEVOLUTION

85kJ in one second? Oh crumbs.

Nobody to team up with this time, so I need to watch myself. No point in a frontal assault whatsoever, as that wrathful ring will either buckle my flipper blade into uselessness or simply rip the whole thing to pieces. The plan therefore will be to echo Bigger Brother's battle with The Mauler and spend the whole fight in reverse. I can live with torn armour and shredded skirts, but my odds of any kind of victory are going to plummet without the flipper.

The idea is to charge the spinning ring backwards before it can either reach terminal velocity or attack the more vital parts of my bodywork (i.e. the front). The more knocks the ring takes, the harder it'll be to spin up so quickly. Ideally I'd like to hound S.O.T.A.R. into the wall, stopping the blades entirely, and then spin round to get a big flip in. Keep flipping and flipping to rattle the innards about and keep those blades stopped, ultimately tossing it into the nearest CPZ. Better the House Robots than me. The second I see the ring back up to speed, though, I'm turning backwards and going back to passive pushing. The longer I keep the flipper away from harm, the greater my chance of survival - if I survive the first blow, that is.

but if Bigger Brother can survive Hypno Disc and The Mauler, there's hope for me yet.

G'luck, Tracy!

[shadowflare]

Do my best to keep off of the walls, keep myself spun up, and go for whatever parts of Wedgey I can sink my spiny spiny teeths into.

Good luck!

[NWOWWE]

Poor ToC can't deal with the rumbles. Awesome write-up anyway.

[andrewj]

Tengu VII vs. Gehenna 2

For this round I will be using the alternative rear set-up. My plan will be to use my superior manoeuvrability to keep the anti-spinner armour facing Tengu VII at all times. By driving into Tengu, the HDPE will absorb the impacts and slow down the spinning motion. This will give me the opportunity to spin round and get the wedge under. From there I have the opportunity to push Tengu into the CPZs or under the hammer, using the flipper if necessary. If Tengu is able to strike the wedge or the sides, I believe that the strength of the armour combined with the angle of the monocoque should be enough to withstand any major damage.