FIGHT 1: ROUND 1

I was slotted in for heat 4, and my first opponent was Claws 2 from Team Luna-Tic. I had faced the team before in my second Insomnia melee, and I knew how determined this family team was, as well as how well driven these machines were. With the chance of flipping them being questionable at best, I instead hoped the "flipper" would lift them slightly off the ground, enough to gain a control advantage in what I was sure would be a pushing game, similar to US spring flipper BW Butterfly Effect. I loaded into the arena and prepared to fight my first beetle battle.

(Skip to 14:14)

Some observations from this fight:


  • One weird thing about the drive on Léim was for some reason braking was enabled on one of the Vex 29's and disabled on the other. This meant whenever I'd let go of the stick Léim would essentially do a 180. As I only really discovered that in this fight, I had to adapt quickly, and so much of the start of the fight was dedicated to learning how to drive the bloody thing.
  • Claws 2's weapon was really the perfect shape for grabbing Léim, but there weren't too many times I was properly "grabbed" as it were. Still though, they definitely gave Felicity the control advantage, and as I couldn't win the wedge game I had to focus on getting around Claws 2 instead.
  • During the pin on Claws 2 about a minute in I was desperately activating the flipping mechanism in the hopes it could lift something. Unfortunately, Claws 2 didn't move a milimeter, and it was at that point I knew the flipper was a failure. Sigh...
  • Despite the weapon performing poorly, I honestly felt I had the slight edge in the control game for the first two minutes of the fight, and so long as I kept the flipper loaded, the titanium frontpiece still could be a decent wedge. Shame the flipper distracted from that I suppose.
  • Unfortunately, in the last minute of the fight, I lose drive on one side, and I can only really limply try to agitate Claws 2 as I'm bullied around until the judges decision finally arrives (fun fact: as all round 1 fights were filmed together, this was the first judges decision of the competition).


POST-FIGHT:

I knew even before the decision was read out that I'd lost, and fair play to Chris and Felicity, that is a nicely built and controlled bot. It was certainly disappointing for me however, this was really the first bot I'd ever built which just didn't work how it should've, and I felt I had done no favour to the image of spring flippers. Once I took the bot back to the pits, I saw what caused me to lose drive in one side. One of the grub screws holding the wheel hub to the motor had come loose; I knew this was an issue with Banebots hubs beforehand, but I didn't have the time or the tools to fix it before the competition, something I definitely paid for. I was still in the competition however, and there were still things I wanted to prove with Léim, one way or another. I wanted to see how far I could push the bot with sheer willpower alone.

https://i.imgur.com/4MAc3oW.mp4
The grub screw, barely holding on in this instance it seems.

FIGHT 2: REDEMPTION MELEE

My redemption melee battle put me against The Berg, a nasty drum spinner who lost their first fight due to unfortunate link placement, and Apex BW, a nasty overhead bar spinner which suffered numerous failures in its opening fight. As well as being built as a flipper, Léim was designed to tank hits, that front had 1.8mm titanium, and the walls at the front were 15mm HDPE (for comparison, Barróg has 10mm walls, my beetle is thicker than my feather). Both of these bots would be great tests for Léim's durability, and I was especially glad to finally face an Apex bot after missing out in my third Insomnia qualifying match only a few weeks ago. With these goals in mind, I loaded up, and prepared to fight to survive.

(Skip to 23:31)

Some observations from this fight:


  • I got some nice sparks from The Berg in those opening hits, and I seemed to tank many of Apex's hits with no problems. All was going well so far!
  • It seems that my wires inside the machine kept getting caught in the wheels, and so while I only properly started losing wheels in the final minute, I had mobility problems throughout the fight.
  • Fortunately these problems subsided long enough for me to get a well-timed charge on The Berg, and somehow managed to pit my biggest threat at that moment while staying out of it myself. Pretty happy about myself for that one.
  • At this point Apex was having issues again, and both of us were now struggling to move towards the other. I had more movement, but only barely, and the multiple hits seemed to knock something in the pentiometer loose, causing it to flip uncontrollably.
  • At one point, I lay off Apex completely to allow him to spin up. I came in here to prove I could take the hits, and by god, I wanted to see that happen, one way or the other. Unfortunately, Apex just couldn't shake its curse, and so I was left to limply charge at him once more.
  • Nearing the end, I was actually feeling fairly confident I could win via a judges decision, due to my control earlier in the fight and the way I tanked earlier hits. Unfortunately, my re-tightening of my wheels just didn't hold, and so they gradually gave way, knocking me out with only seconds left. So close and yet so far...


POST-FIGHT:

So I was out of the main competition without a single win. Certainly a disappointment after a stellar run with Barróg only a few weeks prior, but it wasn't all bad. Léim gave me a chance to prove my building talents, and no matter its results, I'm still proud I could get it, as my first beetle, up and running for a tight deadline when so many other builders couldn't make it. The bot took hits well, and while yes it did lose functionality in several places, it certainly lasted longer than some of the other competitors, so I could take credit for that. It was also just fun being at the event, everyone was lovely and the fights, pits, and competitors were all brilliant for me to witness in the flesh, even more so as I was still so new to this whole thing.

https://i.imgur.com/Pa6KKKy.mp4
A quick sweep of the bot post-Berg and Apex. Some small nicks here and there, but otherwise, it's 100% structure-wise.

I'm still going to hold off on some more thoughts, as this actually wasn't my last fight at Bugglebots. There is still more to come from Léim, and I'll wait to update you all on those, as well as some concluding thoughts, once the entire series is out. Cheers for reading, the rest of the show will be a hoot!