The Fowler Fic War Series 3

[matty_haka]

lol, absolutely! :P

[matty_haka]

OK, will do.

Ill try and get another heat and a bit odne htis week.

[mrdaves]

Matty (Dear) what are you going to do with the Kody/Devon double entry thingie because its unfair to have 2 sets of robots entered by the same person.

[pcbore]

Well, I was originally going to enter to make up numbers like I did for NSTT. I could throw some random crap together and do that.

[pcbore]

Your Name - Frank Goacher
Other team members - Only the Voices
Team Name - Team Bored

Robot 1

Name: NSBFR X (Never Seen Before Fic Robot X)

Shape: Invertible box wedge with rounded sides, plus side and rear skirts.

Weight: Dependant on weapon set-up, but the heaviest is 100 KGs

Speed: 20 MPH

Weapons: Interchangeable weapons selected from the below list:

1: Basic horizontal 5 KG spinning bar. This goes around at 1500 RPM.

2: Electric 4 mm hardox pincers with weight reducing holes. These have 5 CM soft compound rubber pads on the tips, and are used against FBS€™

3: The classic solid hardox scoop with controlling latch, weighing in at a massive 20 KG€™s. Mainly used against flywheel wielding nasties.

4: Electric lifting plate, able to tip over 150 KG€™s€¦ I€™m sure I can find a few things to use this on

5: 12 KG spinning drum spinning at 3500 RPM, powered by a LEM-130 (my favouritest spinner motor) at 48 volts. Probably won€™t damage much, but could tip some robots over.

Weapon attachment method: I have changed this. First off the weapons are slotted on, and a 1.5 CM titanium locking bar is pushed through the side of the machine, and then held in position with two 5 mm hardox bolts. The under-section of the weapon is then attached with more bolts, holding it on very firmly and should prevent the weapon from being torn off (which as far as I know never happened, but no sense taking chances).

Armour: 5 mm grade 5 ti.

Ground clearance: 0 at the front no matter which wedge is being used. 4 mm at the side, and 6 mm at the rear. If using the pincers, the front GC is 4 mm. The skirts give it 0 mm all round, and are hinged so flop over when flipped.

Wheels: 4 indoor go-kart wheels which are stuffed rather than pumped.

Motors: 2 LEM 130€™s powered at 48 volts.

Srimech: Invertible.

Safety link: Under a hatch at the rear.

Strengths: Good armour, interchangeable weapons. Quick.

Weaknesses: May not perform as well in melees. Might still be possible for weapons to come off mid-fight, but I doubt it€™ll happen.

Robot most compared to*- Tornado, with proper weapons instead of just interchangeable wedges.
Robot most feared*- Dunno.
House robot most feared*(Mine)- See above answer.
Preferred Heat Format*- Format 2
Preferred Arena*- Any

Robot 2

Name: Grabbit Advance

Shape: Rectangular, with hinged skirts, which flop over when flipped.

Weight: ~98 KGs

Size: 115X50X20 CM (LWH)

Speed: 15 MPH

Drive: Four wheels, powered by two S28-400 magmotors on 24 volts.

Weapon: Horizontal hydraulic pincers, operating at 3000 or 5000 psi, depending on tournament rules. The pinchers are made of 1 cm solid Titanium, and sharpened to a point. These can also be used as a 360o lifter, which is powered by 2 S28-300 magmotors, allowing it to grapple robots, lift them up and drop them somewhere VERY nasty.

Armour: 5 mm grade 5 ti.

Srimech: Runs either way up.

Strengths: Good pushing power, heavy-duty armour and powerful weapon. Once it has a grip on a robot, it€™s mine to play with. Also can€™t be stacked, as it can just push itself off the wall again

Weaknesses: Ideal shape for axes and vertical crushers.

Robot most compared to*- Big Nipper
Robot most feared*- Razer
House robot most feared*(Mine)- Donald
Preferred Heat Format*- Any
Preferred Arena*- Butchers

Robot 3

Name: I.D.S.F.A

Shape: Similar to Raging Knightmare..

Weight: 100 KGs

Speed: 20 MPH

GC: 0 at front, 1 CM at back and sides. 0 with skirts at back and sides.

Drive: 4 wheel drive, powered by two LEM 130 Lynch motors at 48 volts.

Weapon 1: A front hinged flipper on the front, using two 120 stroke, 80 bore rams on 250 PSI. Don€™t know how much it should be able to tip over, but should manage other robots fine. There is a lead weight bolted inside the machine in the far front to give it a little weight and ensure it can get under other machines, along with a sharp strip on the front to let it slide under skirts. There is also a speed bump on the end of the flipper to make sure fast robots like Storm 2 can€™t just drive straight over it.

Weapon 2: A rear steel horizontal disc. This weighs in at 15 KGs, and deals out 10 KJ€™s.

Armour: The front flipper plate is made of 4 MM hardox, and the rest of the machine is 4 MM grade 5 Ti.

Skirts: Made of 3 mm Grade 5 Ti. These are held down with springs, but not the dual sprung monsters as seen on SpinVerter. Just regular springs like on Storm 2 to make them a little harder to get under than regular hinged skirts.

Srimech: The flipper. The weight installed in the front of the machine makes sure it rests on the flipper and not on its back, for more efficient self righting.

Strengths: Fast drive and good flipper mean it could get under and throw over opponents before they can even move.

Weaknesses: Armour and rear flywheel compromised for weight.

Robot most compared to*- Disco or Son of Ripper, maybe?
Robot most feared*- The heavy duty spinners.
House robot most feared*(Mine)- Father of Rotatovater
Preferred Heat Format*- Not fussed.
Preferred Arena*- A stuff. That€™s what I can€™t give

Robot 4

Name: Scimiter

Shape: Wedge at the front, barrel at the back, with a blade at the wedge.

Speed: 12 MPH

Ground clearance: 0 at front 5 mm everywhere else

Weapon: Two stage sword lifter at front. After getting under a robot, I can do two things. First off the blade itself can be used as a lifter, powered by two S28-150 Magmotors on 24 volts, to prop up a robot a-la Voltronic. This will result in the entire robot being balanced on a point which can damage weak underbellies, or with good driving slip in the wheel-gap and damage the drive chain. However, the fun doesn€™t end there, as the wedge is a hydraulic lifter allowing me to theoretically tip over two tonnes. However this is unrealistic as the lifter would never balance that much without taking damage. It should tip over 200 KG€™s with no problem though, which is all I need. There is a wedge under the lifter, similar to the one on Tornado (S7 version).

Weapon 2€¦ Sort of: By raising the hydraulic lifter, and moving the electric lifter down, it becomes a crusher! As I have an under-wedge I can still trap opponents before crushing.

Armour: 4 mm hardox, except the base plate which is 4 mm Polycarb.

Wheels: 4 indoor go-kart wheels.

Motors: 2 LEM 130 lynch motors at 36 volts.

Srimech: Just rolls over if flipped. If it gets stuck, it can use the sword to push itself over.

Safety link: Under a hatch in the top.

Strengths: Unique weapon, it cant be trapped against a wall, strong armour.

Weaknesses: Can€™t get robots OOTA, may struggle a bit against invertible robots.

Robot most compared to*- What would happen if Mega Morg, Panic Attack and Razer had a baby. Yes, I meant to make your mind boggle there
Robot most feared*- Things like Dervish and The Disc.
House robot most feared*(Mine)- That one. *points*
Preferred Heat Format*- Format 2
Preferred Arena*- The Plinth

Robot 5

Name: Omega

Speed: 20 MPH

Weight: 95 KGs

Shape: Axle bot with a ball in the middle as opposed to just a shaft.

Weapon: Small vertical flywheel at the business end, can reach speeds of 2000 RPM. On the sides of the flywheel are two Stinger style spikes, so it has to attack with the overhead swing to cause the most damage.

Drive: Stinger style wheels, powered by LEM-130€™s on 36 volts. The wheels have been tyred with vulcanised rubber, so excellent traction along with nippy speeds.

Armour: 1 CM Ti wheel hubs. Shaft is made of 8 MM stainless steel, and the ball in the middle is made of 5 mm Ti.

Strengths: Speedy, and the flywheel should make for painful overhead slams. Difficult to get hold of as only an axle €˜bot can be

Weaknesses: Zero pushing power. Battery for weapon is in the ball between the wheels, so one good lucky blow from a vertical weapon can disable the weapon. Horizontal weapons will merely hit the wheels.

Robot most compared to*- Stinger
Robot most feared*- Boring bricks.
House robot most feared*(Mine)- Dunno.
Preferred Heat Format*- Format 1 or 4
Preferred Arena*- Last €˜Bot Rip Off

Robot 6

Name: Starstorm 2

Shape: Dome, with a spike on top in the centre to allow it to self right.

Colour: Black with stars painted on.

Weapon: Full body flipper. It uses three 80 bore X 160 stroke rams, powered on 500 PSI. When the weapon fires, the entire lid of the robot shoots upwards. The aim of this robot is: Shoot it high, watch it die. Because of the shape it€™s likely to throw opponents up rather than long, meaning a high drop but it will land near me, so with decent driving I can keep getting under them as they fall. Won€™t be able to OOTA unless pretty close to the wall though:sad:

Weapon 2, more or less: Four skirts completely surround the machine. These can be raised and lowered using linear actuators. They€™re raised when cruising, but when I want to get under something, the skirt in question is lowered as I attack, allowing me to slide under nicely. The skirts can also be lowered as a defence mechanism. When lowered fully, the skirts go flat against the floor, so most wedges will go straight over and onto the dome, and can then be launched.

Armour: 4 mm hardox with weight reducing holes for the dome, 3.25 hardox for the skirts and 6 mm Polycarb for the base.

Drive: Four wheel drive, powered by two S28-400 Magmotors.

Ground clearance: Variable depending on skirt level. Minimum is 0 mm, maximum is 5 mm. Under the front and rear GC though are rollers, allowing it to move up and down ramps easily.

Turning circle: 0.

Srimech: The lid will tip it over. Thanks to the spike, this will work 100% of the time.

Extras: Contains Tempest level shock absorption.

Safety link: The top spike.

Strengths: Hopefully very high powered flipper, reliable, tough armour. The shape of the armour will make spinners glance off rather than actually damaging it. Also 360 degree offensive/defensive capability.

Weaknesses: Can be out-pushed, and like any totally new ideas I€™m only 50% sure it€™ll work. Also thanks to the flipping method, opponents will likely go up high, but not along very much so may struggle OOTA-ing a bit.

Robot most compared to*- If I can put anything here, it means I€™ve failed
Robot most feared*- Pushy €˜bots.
House robot most feared*(Mine)- Donald
Preferred Heat Format*- That one.
Preferred Arena*- The Plinth

Robot 7

Name: Enter The May Tracks

Shape: Like Comengetorix, but with more of a wedge on the front.

Size: 130X60X18 CM (LWH)

Speed: 20 MPH

Weapon: Rear hinged flipper, powered by two 80X140 rams on 150 PSI. It has a flat extension plate, extending the front by 2 CM, and allowing it to defeat most skirts. It has a recycler system as well, theoretically giving it unlimited fire power. The sunglasses are made of metal, and are attached to the top of the flipper to stop robots going straight over the top like with Mute.

Armour: 5 MM hardox.

Mobility: Steel tracks, with rubber strips glued in place to provide traction. These are hidden inside the robot, meaning only an axe can attack them, after flipping the machine. As there are very few Axe/flipper combos I should be safe from this If I have to go up ramps, I can remove some hardox plates to expose the tracks and make it extremely manoeuvrable as only a tracked machine can be,

Motors: 2 S28-400 Mags at 24 volts.

Ground clearance: 0 at front, 5 at back and sides.

Strengths: Good traction, has a lot of flips, and all-round toughness. It can keep going on and on and on and on and€¦

Weaknesses: Tracks are exposed when flipped,

Random fact: It€™s brown coloured, and has decorative sunglasses.

Robot most compared to*- 101 with some mods.
Robot most feared*- Anything that can get passed the hardox to damage the tracks.
House robot most feared*(Mine)- See above answer.
Preferred Heat Format*- Don€™t care.
Preferred Arena*- Any

Robot 8

Name: Another Twist of Fate

Shape: Typhoon shaped. Sort of The basic shape is like that of Typhoon.

Speed: 15 MPH.

Turning circle: 0

Ground clearance: The basic GC is 1 CM.

Drive: four wheeled drive for stability. These are powered by two S28-400 Magmotors on 24 volts, providing a nicely powerful yet reliable drive.

Weapon: It€™s a *deep breath* full body spinning corkscrew flipper It has one blade that extends from a 4 MM GC and continues all the way around the machine in a corkscrew fashion, so anything the blade slips under should be lifted up as the machine spins and then tipped over €¦Or it might just be tossed into the far horizon, and it should be a good wheel killer too. I have no idea if this will work but if it does it would be so€¦ Freaking€¦ COOL The corkscrew is made of 5 MM hardened steel so it shouldn€™t bend under the weight. The corkscrew is carefully positioned to provide its own counterweight, but there is a hardox block directly opposite the main getting under blade to offset the weight of that, so no crazy gyro dances here. If an opponent has too low a GC for this to get under, or has skirts, the fact it provides exactly 50-60-ish KJ€™s is my answer. This is driven by two LEM-130€™s on 48 volts, so if any debris gets in the way it should just punt it into the far horizon.

€œWeapon€ 2 - For assault courses and the like, the corkscrew top can be removed for another dome with a 2 CM GC, and a front roller allowing it to travel up ramps and around slopes with the greatest of ease.

Armour: 5 mm Titanium/Vandium alloy. Should take a lot of blows to stop this.

Srimech: Technically none, but it might be able to push itself upright by spinning. That€™s if it doesn€™t burrow through the floor first

Skirts: Like all the girls I€™ve ever gone out with, it doesn€™t like wearing skirts.

Notes: I think I€™ve finally snapped.

Strengths: It€™s€¦ Unique. Packs a decent punch if the flipping thing doesn€™t work out.

Weaknesses: Design is untested to say the least. Also probably won€™t self right.

Robot most compared to- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Robot most feared*- Any well armoured flipper that can stall it long enough to throw it over.
House robot most feared*(Mine)- Smack the flipper
Preferred Heat Format*- Not fussed.
Preferred Arena*- The mo€¦ Sorry, The Plinth

There we go

[matty_haka]

On thew request of Mr. Roper, Heat A, and tthe start of Heat B will be up in a minute.

[matty_haka]

Welcome to the Fowler Fic War Series 3, and today we open up with Heat 1, and it€™s a series 2 heat, meaning that the gauntlet€™s here!

The first robot of FFW3 is Darth Dread. Kody Kunz€™s robot is armed with a lethal 25lb hammer capable of putting nice holes in titanium. The armour€™s no laughing matter either, with nice Lexan over titanium meaning that only strong weapons will be able to make much of an impression. It€™s extremely hard to flip as well with skirts and spikes shaving the floor all the way round. However, the drive isn€™t the strongest and spinning weapons can flip it. Could Darth Dread be Darth Mauled?

FFW History

In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Did Not Enter

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Straight from the offset it appears that Kody and his machine are going to take on the House Robot route. He cruises down the route, which has been left completely unchanged from Series 2. He charges straight at Dynamite Tee-Hee, and slams the hammer down. The Lexan armourment on the house robot is immediately dented, but he carries on anyway, sending out a blast of flame that does absolutely nothing but looks good anyway. He then gives him a good slam with the axe, which dents the top Lexan panel, before Darth Dread finally outmanouvres him. Next in his sight is the joint attack of Ringlets and the Sentinel. He chooses to take on the sentinel first, pushing back against the force. It has the better of him however and almost puts him down the pit, but he backs off just in time. This however puts him in a sandwich between Ringlets and Dynamite Tee-Hee. Whilst Ringlets revs up the discs, Dynamite Tee-Hee hammers down with the axe, denting the Lexan again. Ringlets then slams into the sides with the discs, ripping into the side, cutting through the Lexan and buckling the titanium underneath. He pushes them back very slightly, but as they do, the klaxon sounds and their run is over.

CEASE

TOTAL- 5.3m

That€™s not a particularly good run from Darth Dread; we€™ll have to see if it€™s enough later.

The second robot to take a run is John Woss. The number 12 seeds are one of the most dangerous machines out there this series and are looking to take the 2 off their seeding this year. Armed with a deadly 20kg, 3000rpm flywheel, which managed to put dents in thick hardox last year, this machine, is more than capable of winning on damage alone. Add a shape that€™s hard to hurt and makes it almost impossible for them not to self-right if flipped and you have a potent combination. However, if a flipper can get near them before the flywheel is spin up, then the ground clearance makes them easy to flip. Is Wossy a Wussy over flippers then?

FFW History

In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Beat Tough as Nails comfortably in Round 1, before having almost as comfortable a win against Odysseus 2 in round 2. The final was a long and hard encounter against Monsoon€™s back, but he won that one as well. Having made it through to the semi-final€™s Dave had high hopes, but in the end he went out in the first couple of rounds, and now he has an excellent seeding of number 12.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Immediately John Woss moves out of the blocks and goes after the same route as Darth Dread. He spins the flywheel up as he goes, taking his time so that it€™s up to speed by the time he faces up to Dynamite Tee-Hee. He smashes in the side Lexan as he sprints past, denting it into the wheel, meaning that he can now only move in circles. Knowing that, he makes a beeline for Ringlets, knowing he can€™t be sandwiched. Ringlets discs are up to speed, but because of the odd shape, only the bottom ring makes contact, and that just bounces him off to one side. He shunts his way past, scraping the wall in the process, but is soon back on track to face the enormity of Father of Rotatovator. He bides his time, waiting for him to make a move, as he knows that he can out accelerate him easily when it comes to it. He holds his moment, waits until the Daddy of the house bots makes his move before charging past him into the End Zone and into almost certain safety.

CEASE

TOTAL- Completed

That will be almost certainly enough to get them through to the next round, and it also puts Darth Dread in even more danger.

Next into the arena is Chris Cooper€™s Going Going Gone.

This deadly 3-way clusterbot is Mr. Cooper€™s first ever entry into the Fowler Fic War. Each machine weighs between 30 and 40kg an each is armed with a pneumatic flipper, capable of flipping most things in the arena over. They€™re also very quick and are designed to work in pincer attacks. The main issues with this machine is the obvious lack in weight, meaning that machines may make light work of flipping and ramming, whilst the 5mm titanium will be fodder to nasty weapons. Will anyone want to bid on this machine?

FFW History

In FFW1- Did not Enter
In FFW2- Did not Enter

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Clusterbots are at a great disadvantage in the gauntlet, as it€™s the average of the 3 distances that is taken. Chris decides to send all 3 parts down the middle route. He knocks the cans out of the way with no problem, but has more problems with the concrete blocks, as Going 1 goes through with no problem, but Going 2 and Gone cannot make their way through. While Going 1 continues his rampage, charging up to the maze and trying to waltz through it, the other 2 cannot make any more ground and are trying to turn around in order to get back on the straight and narrow. They can€™t seem to negotiate the fallen cans though, and so both Gone and Going 2 are caught between a rock and a hearth place. Going on the other hand has got to the house robots part of the route, and has now got the almighty forces of Buzz Flight-Gear and Smack the Flipper about to murder him slowly and painfully. He charges at Smack the Flipper thinking that he€™ll be the less dangerous of the 2. He€™s proved wrong though, as he flies up the flipper, which throws him through the air and over the fence. Knowing that he cannot continue in a new route, he focuses on trying to get the other 2 back through the blocks, however time runs out and he knows that he may be struggling.

CEASE

TOTAL- G1- 10.7m, G2- 2.9m G- 2.6m
TOTAL TOTAL- 5.4m

Very, very shaky, we€™ll see how he gets on


The 4th robot entering the arena for the gauntlet is Odysseus 2. After its minimal success last time, this latest creation from Team Technowizard has got itself the number 25 seeding. Armed with a bizarre harpoon on an arm, this shape, not seen in robotic combat as far as I€™m aware since Eye of Newt, is more than capable of causing a shock. It€™s been designed to be invertible as well, so flippers shouldn€™t cause too much of a problem. However it is quite sluggish, and is unlikely to win should it get involved in a shoving match. Let€™s see if it can Grecian Urn its place in round 2.

FFW History

In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Pulled off an excellent upset in round 1, beating AJ€™s SOR. Was comfortably beaten in round 2 however by John Woss. Could there be a grudge match here?

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Straight away it appears obvious that Alex is about to take on Route 1, the first machine in this series to try it out. He raises the arm, and immediately rocks back onto his back end, with the front wedge pointing into the air in order to make ramp negotiation easy. What he doesn€™t bargain on is that he€™s going to run into trouble even before he gets that far, as the ram rig traps him on his attempt to get through, pinning him against the wall. It comes back, but it€™s wedged itself underneath Alex and he has absolutely no escape whatsoever.

CEASE

Total- 5.3m

That€™s practically booked him a one-way flight out of the competition, unless 1 of the last 4 get worse distances as this will force a re-run between him and Darth Dread. On the other hand it does put Going Going Gone through.

Robot number 5 to enter the arena is another robot with strong hopes of taking this first heat. Chameleon is the first robot from the builder who won series 1 of the Fowler Fic War, Steven McGregor. Designed to have weapons to combat anything that it comes up against, the versatility of the machine makes it its main strength. It€™s easily controlled and very manouvreable as well, however, pushing power isn€™t always in large supply, and the 4mm titanium won€™t stand up to too much of a battering. Could Chameleon€™s colour change to pale green?

FFW History

In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Did Not Enter

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Immediately, Steve shows no hesitation in choosing his route, haring towards the furthest right route. Armed with his €œAnti-Fodder Device€ it looks like he€™s more than well equipped enough to take on the House Robots. First in his path to world domination is €œDynamite Tee-Hee€. By most opinion the least menacing of the house robots, Chameleon negotiates him with little trouble, getting little more than a blast of flame up the jacksie for his troubles. €œRinglets€ proposes to be more of a threat to him though, as the immense spinner has all 3 rings spinning before Steve even has the chance to get close. It looks like €œRinglets€ is planning on blocking off the way to the End Zone as well as he plans on making him travel between a spinning mass and the sentinel. Interestingly, Steve is not at all interested by what €œRinglets€ wants at all, and instead charges head on into Ringlets, catching his driver off guard. The result is mixed, as although it sends Ringlets flying out of the way, it does what appears like severe damage to the front scoop, taking a huge chunk out of it and bending the disc completely out of shape. It also takes Chameleon a moment to recover before he can make another assault on the end zone, and before that, Father of Rotatovator. However, time has run out, and he must wait for another opportunity later.

CEASE

TOTAL- 8.2m

Not setting the world on fire, but enough to go through. We€™ll be seeing them in the next round.

Number 6 to enter the arena is MDU-X, however I have no stats as although I read them yesterday, his server€™s just gone down and typically it€™s the only one he hasn€™t put up on the message boards yet. Therefore, from what I remember, MDU-X is semi-quick, with the same weapon as ever. Itself. A strange shaped, caved out cylinder outside face, with teeth inside it, it spins and is capable of delivering over 50Kj to shock the hell out of its opponents. It€™s got a very strong chassis as well, but carbon fibre armour may prove lightweight to certain weapons, and the pushing power is not the best. Could MDU-X become Ex-MDU?

FFW History

In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Did Not Enter

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Aaron uses the spin-up time of his machine to his advantage, waiting while it spins up to stay in the cage and choose a route. When it€™s reached full speed he flies out of the cage and chooses the middle route, ploughing through the cans with no trouble at all, and in one case actually cleaving the can clean in 2. Next comes the bricks, and MDU-X relies on his weapon to get through them, slamming his way through with just the teeth clearing the paths. This is the bit that Aaron€™s the most worried about as he goes on his course. He takes an excellent line through the first gap of the maze, squeezing through the second as well. He even manages the 3rd and 4th fences with little difficulty, but with time running out, and the thinnest of the gaps, the 5th proves too much for him and the blade slams against it, slicing the edge in 2, but stopping the weapon on impact. Smack the Flipper and Buzz Flight-Gear take advantage of this, charging in and slamming him into the fence. Buzz Flight-Gear tries to worm his way underneath but can€™t. Smack the Flipper though is more than capable, propping him up against the fence with the flipper, just as the klaxon sounds.

CEASE

TOTAL- 8.7m

Me- Looks like MDU-X isn€™t going out yet either. We€™ll be seeing Aaron and his machine in the next round.

Now entering the arena is the penultimate machine. And this time it€™s the first of Chris Mason€™s entries, Leprosy Infection. This very nasty machine is based on one of Chris€™s favourite machines, Tetanus Booster. The 10kg 4000rpm drum is nothing to be sniffed at, as with its curved teeth, not only will it destroy, it€™ll flip as well. 7 mm titanium should protect it from being destroyed as well, as will the 18mph help to stop robots from catching it. However the Magmotors might leave it susceptible to being outpushed and the wheels are exposed to axes and crushers. Will it just be skin dropping off?

FFW History

In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Did Not Enter

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Immediately, Chris comes out of the blocks and looks to be taking on one of the first 2 routes. As he turns off, it€™s clear that its route 1 that he€™s after, and he uses his skid steer to turn the corner and top speed to accelerate out of the corner and past the ram rigs before they even have a chance to catch him. The ramp and the sphere is next, and knowing that he may not be able to push the sphere, he chooses to take the ramp on instead, trying to use his top speed to fly over it. It causes him a bit of a problem though, as unlike Odysseus 2 earlier, Leprosy Infection has a very low ground clearance, and so it takes up several seconds of her precious time to get onto it, and a few more to get over it. From then on, it€™s a battle of speed as he tries to out-traverse Pearcer to get to the line. Pearcer€™s having none of it though and blocks his route, trying to trap him in the arms. He gets him in there, clamping him, but just as he begins to push him back, the klaxon sounds.

CEASE

TOTAL- 9.3m

Me- One of the best runs of the heat, Chris can be very proud of himself for that one.

Last into the arena to take on for the Gauntlet in this heat is Scott Anderson€™s excellent machine, Scottishly Fictional. Scott Anderson€™s machine is armed with a front drum embedded in the scoop to make this bot as Scott says, €œStorm 2 with a reasonably damaging weapon€. It€™s got the same motors as Storm 2 as well, making it no €œpush€-over as well. It€™s quick as well, with very thick titanium armour. This bots weakness? No skirts. Is that really a real weakness? Is Scottishly Fictional reality or insanity?

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Immediately Scott takes his machine down route 3 with the aim of shunting the House Robots out the way on his way to the finish line. Taking a similar approach to the bend as Leprosy Infection did on the last run, he slides past, accelerating so quickly that he manages to completely avoid Dynamite Tee-Hee and almost get past Ringlets in the process. Unfortunately, with the line he has to take, he almost falls down the pit and so Ringlets finishes him off almost straight away, slamming into him with the slowly spinning rings, tearing the side titanium slightly and throwing him into oblivion.

CEASE

TOTAL- 7.8m

Me- Not a particularly good run, but it€™s enough to put him through. We€™ll be seeing Scott-ishly Fictional in Round 2

Final results

John WOSS (12) - Completed
Leprosy Infection - 9.3m
MDU-X - 8.7m
Chameleon - 8.2m
Scottishly Fictional - 7.8m
Going Going Gone - 5.4m
Darth Dread - 5.3m - Eliminated
Odysseus 2 (25) - 5.3m - Eliminated

Next up in the Fowler Fic War Series 3, it€™s the Sumo Basho. Who can outpush Pearcer?

Thoughts about the first battle, tactics, predictions?

[matty_haka]

Who€™ll make it through to the heat semi-finals? After a short pause, let€™s head over to the sumo plinth with our remaining 6 machines to find out.

First into the arena, as the loser of the gauntlet is Going Going Gone. Chris has been extremely unlucky in drawing this heat, as due the obvious advantage gained from being a clusterbot in this situation, he€™s been limited to putting one part in the plinth. He has chosen Going 1, with it being the heaviest of his 3-way clusterbot, so let€™s see whether he can make a fist of it in the arena.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

As Going 1 launches himself out of the blocks, Pearcer does likewise, slamming into the front of going, before closing the arms and dropping him over the edge and into the smoking tyres.

CEASE

TIME- 9.9s

Next in after that quick run is Scottishly Fictional. With drive exactly matching that of Pearcer, it should come down to traction as to who gets the better of the match-up out here.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

As Scott brings his robot straight out to meet Pearcer, in the same way as Going in the last run, Pearcer takes a slightly different approach, traversing away to try and get around the side. Scottishly Fictional is quick enough to catch him out however, and slams into the side of him, pushing him around, before finally mustering up the traction to put him over the edge and out of the competition, almost guaranteeing himself a place with it.

CEASE

TIME- Off in 23.7s

The 3rd robot to try and guarantee themselves a place in the heat semis is Chameleon. Steve McGregor€™s machine is more than able to push back his adversaries in the arena usually, but with the power of Pearcer, will he have enough to do so?

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Flying out at him, it looks for a minute as if Steve may have got the better of Pearcer, slamming him backwards and into the air with the sheer speed of the pelt from the €œanti-push€ device. Pearcer fights back though, first crunching with the arms, and then trying to push Chameleon off. He fights for a while, using all the traction he has to stop him, but in the end it€™s just too little as he€™s sent plummeting off the edge to join Going in humiliation.

CEASE

TIME- 26.1s

Next up to have a crack at out shoving the shover is Aaron Knight€™s very dangerous MDU-X. Dangerous it may be, but with weapons being banned in this trial, and limited pushing power ad traction, the Aussie may find himself taking an early bath.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Flying out the blocks, he goes straight into the arms of Pearcer, trying to knock him backwards like Chameleon. Pearcer however just closes the arms, gets some traction, and shoves MDU-X off the edge.

TIME- 10.2s

Second from last to enter the arena is Leprosy Infection. After doing very well in gauntlet, Chris is hoping to be just as effective here. Let€™s take a look and see how he does.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Chris and his machine fly out of the blocks, but become the first machine not to fly straight at Pearcer. Preferring to come at him from the side. Pearcer turns, but Leprosy Infection just keeps dodging, not allowing him to get into a position to push him. He even has a go at hitting him off from the side, only for Pearcer to use this as his chance, quickly turning and getting him in the claws. A short pushing match ensues, but Pearcer dominates him comfortably in the end, shunting him off the edge with very little conscience.

CEASE

TIME- 29.4s

Last in to take on Pearcer is John WOSS. With no-one else managing to last more than 30 seconds with Pearcer, will Dave Sheppard€™s machine be the one to break the trend?

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Knowing he only needs to survive around 10 seconds to make it through, Dave immediately tries the traversing method, spinning to the side of Pearcer to force him into making a move if he wants to come and get him. He does, but John WOSS move quicker, slamming into the side to get him closer to the edge before moving away again. Pearcer spins, only for John WOSS to have moved again. He keeps circling the house robot, only for Pearcer to open his arms, slamming into the moving John WOSS, throwing him back onto the edge of the platform. He cannot move now, but Pearcer doesn€™t realise this immediately, and so takes a moment to readjust himself for the incoming attack. When he does realise however, he takes no time at all to try and finish John WOSS off, slamming into the hexadecagon and slamming it onto the tyres.

CEASE

TIME- 45.0s

So the results:

Scottishly Fictional- Victorious
John WOSS- 45.0s
Leprosy Infection- 29.4s
Chameleon- 26.1s
MDU-X- 10.2s
Going Going Gone- 9.9s

So, Aaron and Chris€™s first conquests at the title are over, and here€™s the round 2 draw.

Scottishly Fictional v Chameleon- The Plinth
John WOSS (12) v Leprosy Infection- The Butcher€™s

Thoughts, Tactics, Predictions, Time machines?

[matty_haka]

Welcome to the first of our 2 heat semi-final battles, and today, Scott Anderson€™s PTT3 champion, Scottishly fictional, and the man who gave him that title, Steve McGregor with Chameleon, battle it out in the plinth.

Let€™s head over there to see which of these 2 Scotsmen will make it through to the first heat final of the series.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Scottishly Fictional come out of the blocks the faster of the 2, and immediately starts spinning up the little drum in the concave wedge, ready for an attack on Chameleon. Both robots know that this fight€™ll probably be a case of whoever pushes the other off first. Chameleon knows that this is more likely to be Scottishly Fictional as he has more power, but it€™s not stopping him from having a good go, as he tries to get the anti-fodder wedge underneath the side panels. Scottishly Fictional moves away though, hopping around to the side of Chameleon, and sliding the very bottom of the wedge underneath the skirts. He tries to push Chameleon around, but he can€™t get enough of the wedge underneath to keep him from moving away. Steve drives his machine away, only to turn around and charge straight back in. Scott isn€™t afraid of the incoming assault, and actually turns to face Chameleon has he makes his way towards him. This turns out to be exactly what Scott needed, as the fact that Chameleon is fast, and the fact that his wedge is lower, allows him to slip straight under the front of Chameleon. He uses the drum on the underbelly to do some shredding work, before turning it off to enable him to push easier. The finale of this battle is short, as Scott just shunts him to the edge, before turning the drum on again, and flicking him off the scoop and into oblivion.

CEASE

Chameleon€™s looking green after a sickly performance. The red of fury will come later. Scottishly Fictional is horribly factual, and so he goes through to the heat final.

Straight after that last fight comes the second of our heat semi-finals, but this time it€™s a Dave v Chris battle, as Dave Sheppard€™s 12th seed John WOSS takes on Chris Mason in the form of Leprosy Infection. This battle is gonna be the first time we see Le Rip-Off in action this series, so let€™s see who€™ll come out on top.

Over to the arena for all the action.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
Activate!

Leprosy Infection uses his far superior manouvreability to shoot out of the blocks and into John WOSS before Dave has managed to move his machine much more than an inch. The drum of Leprosy Infection has spun up almost as quickly, and actually manages to knock John WOSS over on the first impact. The shape and weight distribution means that he rolls back over almost straight away, but it gives some cause for concern for Dave. Chris on the other hand is still perfectly happy to take the dominant roll early on in the fight, chasing John WOSS around, giving him the odd nudge with t he drum, and essentially preventing Dave from getting his own weapon into play. Eventually though, Dave gets the chance to stray away from the front of Leprosy Infection for a while. It€™s long enough to get the flywheel on the base up to a semi-deadly speed, and this is going to make the fight more equal and therefore more interesting. The flywheel manages to get up to around 1500rpm before Leprosy Infection comes in again, and this allows them to hit Leprosy Infection and send him away. It does very little to the 7mm titanium though, and so it doesn€™t put him off coming back in. It also means that he€™s slowed the flywheel down and to that end, gives him more of a chance of doing some damage to John WOSS. As it is, it€™s not damage that happens, but another flip, sending John WOSS onto his back and stopping the flywheel completely. He manages to roll back over, but not before Leprosy Infection has positioned himself in a good place for another attack, pouncing as John WOSS falls back to the ground, and slamming him over again, this time into one of the walls. This time, with Dave finding it harder to get his machine back over, Leprosy Infection has more time to use his tenacity to his advantage, trying to shred the wheels with the drum. The impact however knocks him back over. He€™s still cornered however, and this allows Chris to continue to hit Dave with the drum, this time managing to bend one of the claws out of shape, putting it out of the ability to do anything damaging for the rest of the fight. Chris isn€™t about to stop there, and he ploughs in again, trying to knock him back over, but this time, he hits him so hard that he actually manages to get John WOSS out of the corner. Much to Dave€™s delight and Chris€™s disgust, this enables John WOSS to spin up again. Admittedly he has 1 less claw capable of doing damage, but he still has the more dangerous weapon, and it looks like he€™s finally going to get a chance to show that. He runs away, and due to the time taken for Leprosy Infection to get out of the corner and respond, it€™s almost up to the full 3000rpm. Chris ponders how best to attack, but this indecision costs him dearly as John WOSS makes his min up for him, flying in at the side and slamming into it. The result is a big dent in the 7mm titanium. It doesn€™t sound dramatic but it certainly looks it as it now looks like a concave surface. Leprosy Infection tries to move away to stop it from happening again, but instead gets hit in exactly the same place by John WOSS, who this time tears a little hole in the side. Chris has had enough of being on the back foot though, and moves out the way quickly, before turning back in to get in an attack of his own. He slams into the spinning flywheel again, but this time he gets the better result, smashing the flywheel up and flipping him over once more. Dave rolls over again as per normal, but the flywheel has stopped again and it€™s put Leprosy Infection in control of the fight once more. Dave knows that the fight at the moment will go to Leprosy Infection if it goes to the judges, so he also knows that he has to try and either finish Leprosy Infection off, or turn the fight around by the time the minute is up. Chris isn€™t about to give him that opportunity though, and ploughs into him with the drum once more, sending him rolling back onto his back. This hit, flip and roll technique continues repeatedly for quite a while, with Leprosy using his superior drive and manouvreability to ram John WOSS back into the same corner as before, and this time, he ahs no intention of allowing him to escape. Dave has other ideas and uses what little room he has to go into maniac FBS mode, rotating his own body manually in order to slam Leprosy Infection out of the way. That bit of the plan worked, but it also meant that he slammed himself into the corner on rebound, so it just allows Chris to come straight back in and box rush him again with the drum. He still hasn€™t managed to do any damage to the armour on the main hexadecagonal body, but the flywheel is now looking a complete mess with the main body of it being crunched upwards and the claws being mangled. It€™s still pretty much functional though, or at least it would be if it weren€™t for the fact that Chris was being so tenacious that he hadn€™t had a chance to spin it up for a while. Dave know that time is fast running down and knows that he has to take drastic steps to try and turn this fight around, but he can€™t as he€™s pinned in the corner with no method of escape. Chris backs off, and Dave thinks he sees a window of opportunity, only for him to charge straight back in and use the drum to flip him up against the wall again. He rolls back over, but before he can get away, is met with the sight of Leprosy Infection hurtling in at him again, looking meaner than ever. He gets tossed over one more time, but it looks like he may escape more pain, as the klaxon sounds, sparing him form any more attacks.

CEASE

What an absolutely fantastic fight! Twists and turns, but no-one bale to come out of the fight on top. Let€™s head over to the judges to see who they think wins.

This series we will be using the €œout of 10€ method made famous by FAR on the following categories.

Control
Style
Damage Caused
Damage Received
Aggression
Strategy
Overall.

And, the 3 judges, Professor Vengeance, Dr. A.K.A. Idiot, and Dr. Qui Poof have reached their verdict. It€™s unanimous, and on a 146-64 points decision, the winner is LEPROSY INFECTION!

So, the heat final draw.

Scottishly Fictional v Leprosy Infection - The Butcher€™s

Thoughts, Tactics, Predictions, Sleeping Pills?