The Fighting Vapourbots Association League!

[majinb]

any indacations on when my writing skills be required?

[team_britespark]

I think Matty informed AJ and Kody of his squad on MSN. His robots are featured in the updated line-ups here: http://strickenone.proboards99.com/index.cgi?board=fvaleague&action=display&thread=34 6&page=1http://strickenone.proboards99.com/i...n=display&thre ad=346&page=1

Hope that helps.

[andrewj]

Are you ready?

Fighting Vapourbot Association League
Heat A - Round 1
Mªle 1 - Do or Die vs. Salamander III vs. Axe to Fall vs. Grim Reaper

€œFrom Manchester€¦ Do or Die!€

Do or Die is a classic rambot, with its four-wheel drive and low profile box shape. Tremendous power is provided by two LEM200 motors, which drive the robot to a top speed of 15mph. Armoured in 5mm Hardox with a 6mm Polycarbonate base, this is also a tough nut to crack. Its weaponry comes in the form of a front 10mm Titanium scoop which can lift using linear actuators. But with a lack of damaging weaponry, will Do or Die be left€¦ dead?

€œFrom Geddington€¦ Salamander III!€

Unlike Do or Die, damaging weaponry is one of Salamander III€™s greatest strengths. This axlebot style competitor has two large innovative 6mm Titanium wheels with 4mm Hardox hubs. Basic wheelchair motors provide 12mph top speeds, while the armour comes in the form of 3.25mm Hardox. The Crash and Burn Tournament champion has a huge 800mm wide 22kg horizontal flywheel, which spins at 2000rpm. However high ground clearance could be a problem.

€œFrom The Netherlands€¦ Axe to Fall!€

This axe robot has a sloping semi-spherical shape. The drive comes from two LEM130 motors that reach 15mph top speeds on its four-wheels. The front armour is 8mm Titanium, while 15mm Polycarbonate is used elsewhere. The weaponry is a large 5kg bi-directional axe designed to slice into opponents armour. It is powered by high pressure Nitrogen and claims to have 2 tonnes of downwards force! Although gas pressure is limited, and the axe cannot hit opponents at its sides.

€œFrom Bognor Regis€¦ Grim Reaper!€

The first real robot enters the competition in the form of a Robot Wars Series 7 semi-finalist. Bosch 750 watt motors drive the green wedge shaped robot. Its weaponry is a rear hinged pneumatic flipper, which can easily throw opposing robots over. But like Axe to Fall, a limited supply of CO2 could be its downfall.

ROBOTEERS, STAND BY!

Booth #1: Chezza, Alex
Booth #2: Martijn, Dave

For this fight, making their debut are two of our new house robots Die-Ro and Charon. Die-Ro is a box-wedge robot, driven by LEM130 motors at 8mph. It has 7mm Titanium protection and sports the head of Spyro the Dragon. The head can flip and its horns can pierce. Just to add to the mayhem, there is a flailing mace at the rear. Charon is a coffin shaped wedge; powered by two Etek motors to provide a 7mph top speed. It is armoured in a very tough 6mm-14mm thick Hardox monocoque. It is equipped with a four-bar lifting arm with a hydraulic claw at the end; at the rear is a 15kg drum. Charon also has the ability of illuminating a fallen robot before clanging a bell to signal its demise.

3€¦
2€¦
1€¦
ACTIVATE!

And so our epic journey begins, with all four competitors moving out of the starting blocks looking to make a good first impression. Grim Reaper gets us underway by heading straight to Salamander III, but Alex quickly moves his robot out the way, still spinning the disc up to speed. Do or Die joins in the action by catching Grim Reaper side on and slamming it hard against the nearby arena wall. Axe to Fall, meanwhile, has chosen to tango with Salamander III and the two robots dance around each other looking to get the first hit in. Martijn has the first glimpse of a chance and drives his robot€™s front wedge under Salamander III. Axe to Fall fires its chopper, but the slippery Salamander has already gotten away causing Axe to Fall to leap in the air under the force of its own weapon. In reply Salamander III turns back in towards Axe to Fall but suddenly gets a face full of Do or Die€™s front scoop! The impact of disc to scoop sends both robots away in a shower of sparks. Grim Reaper gets away from the arena wall but gets straight into the path of Axe to Fall! The Dutch robot catches the Reaper on the front wedge and fires the axe, penetrating the top armour! With the axe locked in, Axe to Fall turns round, looking for somewhere to take Grim Reaper€¦ Salamander III is quick to spot the situation and drives in, slamming its horizontal flywheel into the back of Grim Reaper! A huge gash appears in the back of the real robot, but at least it is now free of Axe to Fall€™s grip. Axe to Fall meanwhile is now being pushed right across the arena by Do or Die€¦ smack! Straight into the angle grinders on the West wall!

At the opposite side of the arena, Grim Reaper finally gets under Salamander III and fires its flipper, rolling the yellow and black robot over. But being invertible, Salamander isn€™t bothered in the slightest and responds by slicing into Grim Reaper again with its spinning disc! Do or Die rejoins the action, slamming into Salamander III at 15mph and battering it into the arena wall. The linear actuated scoop begins to lift Salamander III up€¦ just as Axe to Fall comes in and slams its axe down hard onto the top of Do or Die! But even an axe this powerful can cause little harm to Do or Die€™s tough 5mm Hardox shell. Grim Reaper takes its turn to attack now, and slides under the side of Do or Die and fires its flipper, tossing the rambot over! Axe to Fall takes another swipe with its axe€¦ but oh! This time the axe blade cleaves straight through the now exposed 6mm Polycarbonate base plate! Suddenly Do or Die and Axe to Fall are locked in a deadly embrace and are pushing and shoving each other about€¦ until Salamander III puts an end to their fun by crashing into the side of Do or Die, sending sparks flying but causing nothing more than a scratch to the paintwork. Axe to Fall retracts its axe, but is quickly met by an attack from Grim Reaper, who gets underneath and throws the Dutch bot onto its side. Do or Die slams into Axe to Fall, but the axe fires and it rights itself quickly. Grim Reaper turns its attentions to Do or Die and gets another good flip in. Chezza doesn€™t seem bothered as Do or Die is now right way up and is travelling across the arena€¦ to hit the pit release! Meanwhile Salamander III collides with the side of Grim Reaper, putting another dent in the side. Axe to Fall quickly rushes in and slams its axe down, getting a near perfect shot in on one of the axlebot style wheels of Salamander III! Do or Die rejoins the action and gives Grim Reaper a nudge€¦ onto the kill saws! The saws cut upwards, slicing against the bottom of the Reaper, but no apparent damage is caused.

Grim Reaper quickly rushes away from danger, but is followed sharply by Do or Die! At that moment, Salamander III brushes against the front wedge of Axe to Fall, causing nothing but a dent in the 8mm Titanium. But the attack was enough to slow the spinner down and Axe to Fall follows up by firing the axe and crashing down onto the Hardox body of Salamander III! Meanwhile, Do or Die has buried Grim Reaper deep into the CPZ of Die-Ro! The house robot has Grim Reaper cornered and is ramming its horns against the former Robot Wars semi-finalist! Content with its work, Do or Die moves in towards Axe to Fall, who has pinned Salamander III against the arena wall and its raining down the blows with its axe! Do or Die batters into its fellow competitors and sets them free€¦ Salamander III quickly takes an exit, presumably to spin up while Do or Die and Axe to Fall begin a head to head pushing match! The wheels dig in against the arena surface and spin, cancelling each other out€¦ but Axe to Fall seems too be inching its way backwards, and Do or Die is using its scoop to lift Axe to Fall€™s wheels off the ground! Grim Reaper appears out of nowhere and slides under Axe to Fall, throwing it over onto its side! Do or Die quickly resumes its rivalry with Grim Reaper, pushing it back into the vacant CPZ in the top right corner of the arena. Axe to Fall finally gets some room to breathe and self rights using the axe€¦ but not for long! Salamander III comes in on the attack and slams its full speed disc straight against the Polycarbonate side panel of Axe to Fall, completely shattering it!!! Martijn panics and drives Axe to Fall away, and it seems to be working fine, but there is a huge shard of Polycarb missing from the side of Axe to Fall!

The Death Egg begins to rise from the centre of the arena, as Alex is clearly interested in attacking the exposed internals and starts chasing after Axe to Fall. Elsewhere, Charon has grabbed on to Grim Reaper in the CPZ and is parading it around in the air. The house robot soon drops Grim Reaper down, and Do or Die is quickly back on the attack to ram it towards the North wall and against the angle grinders. Do or Die isn€™t finished there and begins to push Grim Reaper again€¦ this time over the killsaws! As before, they don€™t appear to cause much damage to Grim Reaper, but Dave can€™t be happy with the way his robot is being shoved about. But that doesn€™t bother Do or Die, who begins its push again as Grim Reaper fires its flipper in frustration! This push results in Do or Die smashing Grim Reaper against Axe to Fall, who was busy running away from Salamander III. Salamander itself has a pop at Do or Die, grinding its disc against the side panel but causing nothing but sparks and shards of paint. Axe to Fall takes this opportunity to slam its axe down onto Grim Reaper and grapples it. Grim Reaper is now being pushed around by Axe to Fall! Do or Die has meanwhile shoved Salamander III into Die-Ro€™s CPZ, but all attention has turned to Axe to Fall and Grim Reaper. Grim is on the brink of oblivion€¦ Axe to Fall retracts the axe and one last shove€¦ Grim Reaper is buried in the pit! But look at this! Do or Die has followed up behind Axe to Fall, and dumped it in the pit as well!

CEASE!

Grim Reaper and Axe to Fall are buried in quick succession.
Salamander III and Do or Die advance to Round 2!

[kodster]

w00tiful fight, Mr. Jackson!

[joey_picus]

I agree, brilliant fight...and Charon got a go! Yay!

[team_britespark]

Pffft, Im not reading all that! Ill jut wait for the heat round up!

Seriously though, amazing fight! If thats what the first melee is gonna be like - this is gonna be an awesome tourney!

[steven_mcg]

A most excellent opening fight, AJ!

HEAT A
ROUND 1
Bull in a China Shop L.E. VS Death Threat 0.1 VS Topsy Turvy VS WEDGE DEVOLUTION

Two invertible robots and one super spinner. Lovely.
Not entirely sure who to go for here. BIACS is an axlebot, so if it comes near me, I should be able to shove it about with relative ease and stick it into a House Robot. If Death Threat goes for me, Ill get the flipper under the claws or stick to the sides and attempt a pitting or OOTA. As for Topsy Turvy, box-rush the bugger from the start and pray it never gets to top speed.

[andrewj]

OK, as you probably know by now my co-host Mr. Kody Kunz is taking a very well deserved rest from writing for a while. Therefore he will no longer be participating in writing battles for this tournament. That pretty much leaves me as the host of this tournament, but as we know, this is intended to be a join effort. Therefore, between several battle writers we have allocated each person a heat they are willing to write. If you wanted to write and didn€™t get a heat, don€™t worry, as there are still the side-events, semis and the final to be allocated at a later date. As it stands, I will now be finishing the rest of Heat A. Just wanted to clear it up for those not in the know.

Thanks for all the kind words about the battle, by the way. Much appreciated!

[team_britespark]

GO TEAM EFFORT! Woo!

LOL!

[joey_picus]

Youre very welcome, Andy :P and just to warn people, Im doing heat B.