Good afternoon everybody.

A few ground rules before we begin the Annihilator. The first rule is that once one vapourbot has died, the Annihilator is stopped, as the killed robot is removed from the arena, but the robots start off in the same place as they ended up, except in round 4 and round 7, where the remaining robots are started off in the starting blocks for some strange reason which I will think up some time later. The 2nd ground rule is that a robot is counted as dead, the second it drops down the pit/is over the wall. If that robot is flipped onto its top where it can€™t self-right or its drive is damaged, they have 30 seconds to prove that they can work again under their own power, so in theory an immobilised robot can last a couple rounds immobilised if another robot is pitted/flipped out of the arena. After rounds 3 and 6, the pit stop will happen, where repairs can be mended and weapons recharged etc. The third and final ground rule is that a round€™s time is unlimited, until a robot is immobilised. This is because the judges are away watching football.

So with all 3 ground rules set down, we shall begin the first 3 rounds.

Entering the ring first is the American, Bloody Tears 2. It€™s a heavily armoured box with 4 wheel drives, which can go in any direction you can imagine. Tony€™s machine has 4 weapons, which include spiked side skirts, a punching front plough and a rear flipper. I think it runs upside down, but it doesn€™t say this clearly in the stats, but I will assume it can run upside down. It€™s very defensive, so could outlast the other robots in a scale-mate, but if something gets underneath Bloody Tears, than it could be bloody tears as its torque levels are very low in comparison to the other machines out in the field.

The 2nd robot to enter the ring is Infusion. This crazy idea of a machine might work, with a spinning ring used for a power burst when Aaron wants to go onto a ram. Also the spinner is a spinner, and can damage robots. It is invertible, and comes with a front Hardox wedge as standard. It might find being ganged up on hard, but with that power available as drive, it could get underneath anything. Aaron is fighting for the pride of the Australians.

The third robot out into the field today is another defensive robot. Baldur by name, it€™s a 4 wheel drive box with front spatula, which can lift and drop up to 70 degree either way to lift robots off the ground. The robot hasn€™t got any side skirts or skirts around the rear, so it could be flipped around the arena in the melee, but can€™t rest on its sides due to the weapon domes. Baldur will re-stand a lot of the battering in the Annihilator, but a lack of side skirts could be it€™s downfall in a melee fall of wedges.

The 4th robot to enter the ring is so old that Andy had to shave its beard off this morning and oil its joints because they had gone solid from being stood around in his virtual garage. Son of Ripper 5, it has 2 wheels to power itself around, with side skirts and a front wedge extender. The flipper is now bigger brother style, and the rear spinner has got more powerful and is now on the X-axis. It can work upside down, and also self-right, which is useful in times of war. Its major weakness is that Son of Ripper might get damaged by some of the super-spinners out there today.

The 5th robot into the arena is €œA Night at the Bar€, its weapon is a rear mounted spinning bar, which is painful if you run into it, when it€™s drunk and wants a fight. Martijn is hoping for a few early knockout blows, because A Night at the Bar€™s weakness is that it lacks any rear pushing power. If Martijn can get those early blows in, he should do well, but that bar can drain the batteries pretty fast if run at full power, so if it enters into a long battle, the bar won€™t last though the night. Martijn is fighting for Holland.

The 6th robot into the arena is the Scottish competition. Coming from near Glasgow, it€™s Metal Sonic Spin Dash, the 5th in the Spin Dash series. 6 wheels, Hardox armour come as standard, so does a new front wedge with the spinner imbedded inside the wedge. However that does mean that the drive system for the saw isn€™t directly linked to the saw via a gearbox, instead it uses belts. The side skirts should prevent robots from getting underneath and flipping MSSD over onto its back, where it will self-right. The disadvantage is that a couple blows from that saw onto Hardox, could knock it out of alignment, and that the self-righter has a limited number of flips before dying.

The 7th machine into the arena is Tim€™s wonderful creation, yep, one of those remote controlled cars embedded in a cardboard box. But wait, it has got stuck on the entry ramp to the arena, and the damage has ripped something out, as Tim€™s wonder robot falls down the ramp and into a waiting bin bag, so the first machine has crashed out of the contest before it has even began.

The new 7th robot into the arena is Obliteration. It has 8 wheels powered, but in a Big Nipper style, with 4 on top and 4 underneath. It€™s a ring spinner, with a powerful outer spinning ring. It€™s one of the slowest robots here today at speeds of only 5 mph, and also with a lot of other spinning rings, it needs time to spin up to speed, so an early attack or a continuous attack could see Obliteration in trouble.

The 8th robot into the arena, is fighting for the pride of the welsh; Artemis is a front torsion powered spike to damage the underside of other robots. There is another flipper, which is used to self-right the machine if it gets tipped onto its rear. The armour is tough and should survive a few hits from the mega spinners, and the drive system should provide enough power. However the weakness is the ground clearance around the sides and back, which could prove to be its downfall

The 9th and final robot into the arena is Veg 2. It has the weakness armour of all 9 robots in the ring today, but the most powerful weapon, and grippy wheels. The major downfall could be its lack of control of the flipper, but it can run upside down, like Son of Ripper, and still use its flipper, which is nice.

All 9 robots are in the arena, ready for the first 3 rounds, as the lights start to drop down, as the voice from the heavens announces, that the robots are all ready to party:

3
2
1
Activate

Sunday Bloody Sunday, it is as all 9 robots start, as the 3 spinner machines starts to spin their weapons up to speed, as the party begins, no body knows what is happening down in the arena, as any tactics they had, have all gone out of the window, as MSSD rams into Obliteration, as Veg 2 is going after Baldur, as Aaron€™s machine has got the first blood, drawing a part of the front armour from Daniel€™s Machine, as Son of Ripper is hiding in the shadows, so is Bloody Tears 2. The other robots are partying, trying to get an advantage over the other robots, to knock them out, as A Night at the bar, hits into the side of MSSD, but the real action, is near the sides, as Son of Ripper 5 has managed to slam into the sides of Bloody Tears, and is pushing Tony€™s machine sideways towards the arena wall. But in the background, Veg 2 looks like it€™s about to cause some damage to Baldur, by flipping it around. MSSD is turning, and slams into the Dutch machine, as helium enters the air, as Baldur gets some space between its wheels and the arena, as Son of Ripper 5 fires the flipper, sending Bloody Tears near to the arena wall.

Metal Super Spin Dash takes a slam from Obliteration, as Artemis has opened the pit, but Infusion slams into Artemis with a strong force. Baldur has exited the arena.

CEASE

Baldur Gamma is the first out of the Annihilator, as the men in orange coats remove Baldur from the camera tracks; the door is once more closed, as the countdown begins again.

Round 2

All the robots with spinners are allowed to spin back up to the speed there were at when the match was stopped.

Activate

Before anymore time is wasted, Son of Ripper 5 fires its flipper, sending Bloody Tears in the same direction of Baldur, but the real worry of this round is that Metal Super Spin Dash hasn€™t moved, this round, as Infusion has managed to get Artemis onto it€™s front wedge, and is driving towards the pit, the red flags go up to show that Bloody Tears 2 is out.

CEASE

The men in orange coats have to put down their cups of coffee and come in to remove Bloody Tears from the arena, using their own little robot for safety. The all-clear is given, as the 3 seconds pre-activate warning is given.

Round 3

Activate

Aaron continues on his drive, as MSSD has started to smoke, but Artemis is down the pit, as A Night at the Bar slams into the side of Veg 2, ripping a large slice out of the armour. The smoke comes up from the pit, as the red flags go up, to signal that Artemis is pitted.

CEASE

As all 7 robots are taken out of the arena for a pit stop, Artemis won€™t return, as the first damage report is out:
Infusion - None
SOR 5.0 - None
A Night at the Bar - Slight dent in RHS wheel hub
Metal Sonic Spin Dash -
Obliteration - None
Veg 2 - Large slice out of the RHS armour

So all robots will be able to return to the arena for rounds 4, 5 & 6.

Infusion vs. SOR 5.0 vs. A Night at the Bar vs. Metal Sonic Spin Dash vs. Obliteration vs. Veg 2.

Tactics anyone?