The Returners Tournament

**andrewj** · 25th March 2008, 18:12

TAN vs. Drilla Killa 7 - Drilla Killa 7 has more traction and a more powerful drive train. I cant see TAN causing much harm to the 5mm Hardox. Therefore, I think TAN will end up in the pit.

Leprosy Infection vs. Wedginator 6.0 - I think this is a case of how long can Wedginator hold out. With no OOTAs and Leprosy Infections invertibility, I think Chris has the advantage of just picking away at Wedginator until its knocked out.

**pcbore** · 5th May 2008, 10:52

Battle 1

Weâ‚¬â„¢re heading back towards the Classic arena, which of course has house robots. Dave is very sorry he couldnâ‚¬â„¢t be with us today. However, who we DO have with us are:

Tough as Nails got through round 1, disposing of Tengu with surprisingly little trouble by simply nipping and pitting it. No damage sustained, the Dutch machine is good to go.

Drilla Killa 7 is in equally tip-top shape. Despite a failed team up against Leprosy Infection, it was Flipping Mad who fell, and Drilla Killa who went on.

3â‚¬Â¦
2â‚¬Â¦
1â‚¬Â¦..
ACTIVATE!!

Drilla Killa is box rushing Tough as Nails from the get go, but Tough as Nails is heading towards the pit release button again. Drilla Killa turns around and gives chase on Tough as Nails, wedging under the rear end and pushing it into the wall, which bounces Tough as Nails on top of Drilla Killa. With the wheels not touching the ground, Tough as Nails is unable to extricate itself, but Drilla Killa sorts that problem by driving itself into the nearby CPZ of Uncle Tomahawk.

The axe smashes down on top of Drilla Killa, hitting Tough as Nails a couple of times. Drilla Killa suddenly reverses, dislodging Tough as Nails enough for one wheel to hit the floor, which gets just enough purchase to get the rest of the machine off. Tough as Nails turns around and tries to get a side on grip on Drilla Killa, but one arm just goes up the wedge, and itâ‚¬â„¢s easy for Drilla Killa to just turn around and push Tough as Nails right back into the CPZ.

The axe doesnâ‚¬â„¢t bother Tough as Nails as it comes out of the CPZ, this time gripping the front end of Drilla Killa as it comes in to intercept. Thereâ‚¬â„¢s a brief struggle for control, but Tough as Nails finds itself being pushed back into the CPZ again, and there are some happy faces in the Drilla Killa booth. Not for the damage being caused to Tough as Nails, which is minimal, but because they now know they can easily out-power the Dutch robot.

TAN lets go of Drilla Killa for the purposes of escaping Uncle Tomahawk, but theyâ‚¬â„¢re being pinned in there between Drilla Killa and the house robot, and donâ‚¬â„¢t look to be going anywhere without the permission of either robot. Drilla Killa grants that permission, as it reverses away and drives for the pit release button, and that all familiar siren sounds out as the pit lowers.

Drilla Killa drives back towards TAN, and TAN once again catches Drilla Killa in its embrace, but again to no avail as Drilla Killa just keeps going and rams it hard into the wall, turning around to make TAN face the pit and driving forwards. TAN manages to turn, however and just slips past the pit, almost driving Drilla Killa in instead! Drilla Killa reverses, but TAN has sensibly let go, and there is now some separation between the robots.

Drilla Killa turns and comes forwards again, but with Drilla Killa being between the pit and TAN, the final blow on TAN is going to have to wait. Instead, Drilla Killa drives straight at TAN, and pushes it backwards towards the wall where it bounces off with a CRASH. Drilla Killa gets under TAN again before it can get away and pushes it towards another CPZ, where The Militant puts a dent in it with the flywheel, bouncing it away again.

There are some concerned faces in the Dutch camp, as the TAN team know theyâ‚¬â„¢re going to have to get creative if theyâ‚¬â„¢re going to be moving past Drilla Killa. Drilla Killa is coming in towards TAN again, ramming it sideways into the wall so hard itâ‚¬â„¢s flipped onto its side! A quick fire of the claws un-beaches TAN, and Drilla Killa slams in behind the Dutch machine, with the body riding up the wall!

Drilla Killa reverses a little and pushes in again, trying to push TAN out of the arena! That isnâ‚¬â„¢t going to happen though, and TAN slides down the wall and on top of Drilla Killa once more, managing to wriggle off as one wheel hits the floor. Drilla Killa reverses now, and the pair are heading towards the pit! TAN just about manages to wriggle away from the pit, and Drilla Killa almost heads down it! The brakes are slammed on, but the left side of Drilla Killa has gone over!

Drila Killa starts to carefully reverse, but TAN has gone around in a circle, and the rear bumps into the side of Drilla Killa, edging it over the pit a little more. Itâ‚¬â„¢s not fallingâ‚¬Â¦ But wait! Itâ‚¬â„¢s starting to slowly tipâ‚¬Â¦ Itâ‚¬â„¢s tippingâ‚¬Â¦ Itâ‚¬â„¢s gone! The TAN team celebrate and theatrically wipe their brows. They know theyâ‚¬â„¢ve just been lucky.

The winner, via pitting: Tough as Nails!

Battle 2

Now we head towards Last â‚¬ËœBot Standing.

Leprosy Infection survived a team-up in the first round, taking on Drilla Killa and Flipping Mad. Flipping Mad went into the moat, Leprosy went through.

Wedginator 6.0 came through impressively, after taking the fight to both Tengu and Tough as Nails, even sending Tough as Nails out of the arena after cease was called.

3â‚¬Â¦
2â‚¬Â¦
1â‚¬Â¦..
ACTIVATE!!

Both teams have similar ideas and box rush each other from the off. Wedginator drives straight under the drum, although not without cost as a piece of lexan is seen flying off the flipper. Leprosy is soon sent to follow it however, as the flipper fires, spinning Leprosy high into the air before it smashes down onto a corner, and skips another couple of times.

Wedginator is in pursuit, however and gets under again before Chris has a chance to get Leprosy back under control, and again the invertible machine is fired through the air. Wedginator follows the flying machine, flipping it another two times before itâ‚¬â„¢s bounced off the arena wall, and back over the pursuing Wedginator!

Leprosy moves off now, but not in the direction Chris is trying to go in. He was trying to move Leprosy away from Wedginator to create some space and allow him to turn Leprosy around and go back on the attack. What happens is Leprosy backs into Wedginatorâ‚¬â„¢s rear. Chris smiles and shakes his head, reverses the control and moves Leprosy away.

Wedginator reverses too, turns around and gives chase. Leprosy just about dodges the charge and the drum catches the side of Wedginator, bouncing it up. Now Leprosy pushes Wedginator along into the wall, the drum clipping the base on numerous occasions in a shower of sparks. Wedginator looks in trouble now, having been pushed on its side into the wall, but the flipper fires, pushing Wedginator away from the wall and onto its back. The flipper fires again, self righting Wedginator.

Leprosy comes in again, scoring more damage to the side of Wedginator, and chewing away at the exposed part of Wedginatorâ‚¬â„¢s wheel! Wedginator reverses from the attack and drives under Leprosy, flipping it once more. Leprosy lands against the wall and slides down, and Wedginator is in there immediately, flipping again and trying to stack Leprosy. Leprosy is flipped into the wall, hitting it drum first and bouncing away again in a shower of sparks!

Once more Wedginator is pursuing the bouncing Leprosy and fires the flipper under the very rear of Leprosy. The drum hits the floor as Leprosy is tipped up, and Wedginator drives under before it can come back down, and now Leprosy is being pushed against the wall. The flipper doesnâ‚¬â„¢t fire as Kody moves Leprosy slowly, carefully, getting Leprosy to slide off the wedge towards the wall and carefully backing off, leaving Leprosy leaning against the wall at an angle, only to groan as it slides back down and back into the fight.

Wedginator drives in at Leprosy, only to slam hard into the wall as Leprosy shoots forwards. Chris was trying to reverse at the time, but both options workâ‚¬Â¦ Wedginator reverses and gives chase, managing to catch and flip Leprosy, which bounces at an odd angle after the drum smacks into the floor. The odd bounce causes Wedginator to miss its next attack, and gives Chris the vital few seconds he needs to work out which way up Leprosy is.

Leprosy drives after Wedginator, catching it as it turns and flipping it up, again smashing it hard into the wall. Wedginator self rights, and drives away from Leprosy, smack into another wall. Leprosy drives in on Wedginatorâ‚¬â„¢s side, scoring another hit with the drum, and Wedginator is taking off down the arena, the flipper firing as it goes. It smashes into another wall, reverses, bumps into the wall rear first and just misses Leprosy coming into attack, and now itâ‚¬â„¢s Leprosyâ‚¬â„¢s turn to drive into the wall head first.

Wedginator is going in circles now, the flipper firing intermittently, and itâ‚¬â„¢s starting to become obvious that whoeverâ‚¬â„¢s in control of Wedginator, it certainly isnâ‚¬â„¢t Kody, as he frantically moves the controls around, the air in his control pod starting top turn blue. Leprosy manages to clip Wedginator again, but backs off as CEASE is called!

Wedginator suffered from a loose aerial. The winner, via technical knockout: Leprosy Infection!

Next time:

Leprosy Infection vs Tough as Nails in Last â‚¬Ëœbot standing!