The Chevron Championship Series 2 - Medium Medium Speed Ones

[kodster]

Being back feels good. w00t!

System Shock V: Hex vs. Thor

Thor's a tough nut to crack, and I fear too tough. System Shock to lose a judges decision based on damage.

Shadow Zone Forever vs. M.O.R.D. 2

I've beaten M.O.R.D. 2 before, but with Wedginator...5.0. XD How'd I beat it? Pushing it around and eventually into the pit. I plan to make this time no different. Bore into it with the scoop and smack it around. The drum shouldn't really damage me, at the very least not the front. Aim to get it down the pit, and toss it over only if it's being a pest or if I need to self-right.

Good luck Richard ol' pal.

[velociraptor]

Good luck back, Kody! SZF looks like a tough nut - I'll try and use the drum on the sides, and lower the scoop and push if I run into the front or rear.

[andrewj]

FEATHERWEIGHTS ROUND ONE
Rolling Pin FTW vs. Skink vs. Heretic vs. Micrompression vs. Little Hitter 2

Joey: Okay, now the reason you readers - all three of you - are listening to my drivel now is because it's time for the weight classes other than the 100kg heavyweights to take the stage and show us what they can do, as they fight for a place in the otherweight finals later in the series. Two of the machines here will go through, out of five...first one is Rolling Pin For The Win, built by Steve and very Barberous-esque in its approach, it has a Speed 900 driving the body to about two thousand revs per minute, drill motor drive, and I've been asked to say it's the *gets out piece of paper* Perfect balance of spin-up and slaughter, whatever that may mean or whichever object it refers to, but there it is. Skink is next, it has two Gold motors here for power, armoured largely in high density polyethylene of varying thicknesses and this flipper *Jack raises robot's flipper* can throw quite a lot, it runs on full bottle pressure CO2.
Heretic is another of Kody's Canadian machines, it's...Kody, take your hand out of the robot's wires when I'm showing it off!...it's got two drive motors, a Magmotor in here that powers a blade, and the entire machine in my opinion actually looks like it came out of Doom...might be just me, but the paintwork is similar. Now, the only featherweight in the competition with hydraulics in is next, Micrompression, courtesy of one Lewis Matthews, it's also powered by Gold motors and has a Hardox monocoque body with these claws on the front, hydraulically driven, and a wedge in between for beaching opponents so they can be compressed. Finally, the machine that scares me more than any of the others here *Sam laughs*, it's the titanium covered Little Hitter, which might incorporate water bottles as part of its construction but this axe here does the business.

*cut to arena*

ROBOTEERS, STAND BY

Booth 1: Steve McGregor (middle left hand side), Jack Orr, Mike Hamilton-Macy (lower left hand side)
Booth 2: Kody Kunz (top centre), Lewis Matthews (upper right hand side), Mark Lumb, Samuel Park (middle right hand side)

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The spotlights lift from all the featherweights as the lighting in the arena generally brightens...this is a very good thing as within a second of the call to begin all the featherweights have left their appointed starting positions, up at the top of the arena Heretic turns towards the pit as Micrompression shoots past it with claws extended, while at the other side of the pit Rolling Pin FTW's giant turd is looking more and more so as the black teeth blur with the wood effect body to give a very fecal overall effect. Skink powers into the middle of the arena, angling towards and colliding with Micrompression going in the opposite direction, but Lewis has no time to get a grip before the robots bounce apart and brush each other aside, the hydraulic crushing claws close on thin air. Little Hitter sees its chance now, driving in on Micrompression, which turns around and clatters the titanium box with its claws, deflecting the charge of Sam and Mark to one side.
The axe flicks over the body, but hits at nothing, and as Little Hitter turns away from the scene to line up another attack, Micrompression charges in, full forwards, with the claws half open as they collide with the side of the axebot, scraping over the paintwork as the sideways push begins, until they clear the bodywork and Little Hitter fits snugly inside the claws as Micrompression pushes its opponent towards the top end of the arena...as they approach the outer corner of the patrol zone, Heretic slams into reverse, the blade now a red and grey blur beneath the robot, and comes in at the side of both robots!
CRASH! Micrompression's claws lose grip on Little Hitter as both robots are thrown aside, but the damage seems to be mainly kinetic - aside from the paintwork of Micrompression being scratched and Little Hitter's armour recieving a nasty gouge, both machines still seem to function properly, Micrompression ramming in again on Little Hitter, which is now in the correct orientation to use its weapon...and does so, flicking it back over the robot before firing it once more, slamming down on the Hardox lid of Micrompression as Lewis' machine pushes it towards the arena wall once more. Meanwhile, Rolling Pin FTW is accelerating across the arena pursued by a slightly dented looking Skink, which has some deforming of the HDPE armour on the right hand side of the robot, but seems fast as ever as it angles to one side, Mike and Jack attempting to catch up to Steve's machine.
Rolling Pin FTW turns, as Heretic is reversing out from the edge of the patrol zone - Killalot having come a bit too close for Kody's liking - and barely dodges the full body drum spinner, only to come between it and Skink and ride up on the scoop of the plastic flipper! The bar packs very little energy now, and is slowed to a stop by the flipper plate and the arena floor. Skink almost immediately deviates from its course and pushes Heretic towards the top left hand corner of the arena, turning and picking up speed, while Micrompression, having been clawing at Little Hitter while recieving punishment from the axe, reverses its drive to back away from the arena wall, away from the range of the weapon, which gets a final hit in on the hinged wedge as the right hand claw wrenches itself free from the gouge made in the titanium cladding. The top armour badly dented, Micrompression creeps backwards, back from the arena wall - and straight into Rolling Pin FTW!
CRASH! Micrompression is thrown end over end, landing on Little Hitter, which though it fires the axe again does little more than push it out of its way. Both machines move away from the still advancing Rolling Pin, Little Hitter as part of a retreat pushing Micrompression out of the way, and Lewis getting traction just in time to flee a second hit from the drum and swerve off around one of the wheel hubs of Steve's machine. Heretic and Skink, meanwhile, have reached the top of the arena, and although there is no opportunity to flip opponents OOTA at this juncture, Jack presses on the switch anyway, flicking the still stranded Heretic up into the air and off the wedge, bouncing off the wall and back over the top of Skink...and landing on the edge of the pit, skidding, straddling the edge of the abyss before hitting the corner and the weight of the blade turning to pull Heretic down onto the tyres, to an eruption of pyrotechnic smoke from the pit and a resigned sigh from Kody, the first person eliminated from the melee!
Four left, two to go, as Rolling Pin FTW backs up at an angle in pursuit of Micrompression, which brakes on one side to swivel and face it with the wide open hydraulic claws, and after a couple of spoken thoughts from Steve he starts to move forward instead, the drum spinning for all it is worth, turning as Little Hitter comes across from the left with purpose. The axe fires, but at thin air as Rolling Pin FTW's wheel moves deftly out of the way...and the drum comes in on the side of Mark Lumb's machine!
CRASH! Titanium sparks light up the arena as Little Hitter is thrown somersaulting over onto its back, the titanium plating showing signs of warping from the impact energy of this and earlier collisions. The axe flicks over, though, flipping the robot back onto its wheels as it bounces on the arena floor...but the Pin comes back, and Little Hitter can't seem to get away from the second charge! There's no movement, no twitch of the weaponry - something had been dislodged by the self righting after repeated attacks, and Sam seems to realise this as Rolling Pin almost coasts into the side of Little Hitter, flicking it up with some sparks, and allowing it to hang in the air for a moment before toppling onto its side, immobilised, and out.
Skink has turned from the arena wall, and Mike is sending it back into the action - shooting past the still waiting Micrompression, which elects to take up the chase having been out of the action for a bit. The Rolling Pin reverses back onto the scene as well, colliding with a speeding Micrompression but the slowed drum having no real effect, the titanium teeth halted by the Hardox claws. Lewis powers ahead regardless, catching on the wheel hub of Rolling Pin FTW and edging it to one side, and beyond that foe is Skink, who has made a U-turn and is headed squarely in Micrompression's direction...and its foe pauses for a moment before accelerating forward to meet it, the featherweights collide...and Skink rides up the front hinged scoop of Micrompression! The hydraulic claws begin to close, one side slipping beneath the increased clearance of the beached Skink but the other finding a weak spot...not penetrating much due to the lack of anything to crush against, but twisting Skink sideways on the front scoop, stranding it firmly.
Up in the control booth, Kody is advising Lewis to 'get it down the pit' and it seems that is advice well taken by the Micrompression driver, who turns in a 200 degree arc on one wheel before applying power to the other side, Skink remaining stuck on the front, and Mike and Jack seem to be able to do nothing as their machine is driven towards the pit, a flick of the flipper doing little more than hopping it into the air to land further wedged on the top edge of Micrompression...until the edge of the pit is reached, and with the Rolling Pin looking on, its weapon spinning down, Micrompression performs a quick turn as the plastic yellow and blue machine slides off the claw and wedge and falls out of view, descending to land on top of the beaten Heretic!

CEASE

Micrompression backs up from the pit as Rolling Pin FTW begins to spin around in victory, Steve showing a broad grin as he shakes hands with Mike and Jack, while Kody pats Lewis on the back as he exchanges congratulations with Mark and Sam.
Heretic pitted by Skink
Little Hitter immobilised after attacks from Rolling Pin FTW
Skink pitted by Micrompression
Micrompression and Rolling Pin FTW go through to the featherweight final!

[kodster]

Aw dangit. I guess Pillow Torque got revenge through Skink. :P

Wonderfully written nonetheless

[swanaldo]

Thor is built for spinners. With hardox armour spinners will have a tough job stopping Thor. Hammers love spinners and Thors hammer will cut short any spinners life. Now with 30 to 40 top power fires there is lots of damage to be done. Good Luck guys

[joey_picus]

Firstly, apologies for the delay recently, I have been a bit ill and unable to concentrate on writing.

However, one sudden burst of inspiration has resulted in this, which I present to tide you over:

Heat B
Semi Final 1
System Shock V: Hex vs. Thor

ROBOTEERS, STAND BY

Booth 1, left hand side: Liam Eliot
Booth 2, right hand side: Jason Marston, Shane Swan

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Both robots in the fight almost jump the gun, System Shock's drum already rotating fast as it darts forward from its starting position while Thor turns to one side before correcting itself, coming out slightly slower, as it curves around to face the rapidly accelerating System Shock. Liam pushes harder at his robot's controls, sending it on a banzai run across the arena and braking one side of the drive to swing the left wheels around, bringing the rapidly spinning weapon in on the side of Thor just after the centre of the arena!
CRASH! The Lynch motor driven weapon hasn't had time to store a lot of energy, but it's still enough for the drum teeth to create a shower of sparks on contact with the Hardox weapon, and the hammer of Thor flicks over to little use as it hits thin air, the machine having been flicked up in the air by five or six inches. Liam takes advantage of this and continues the assault, the drum slowing to a halt against the front edge and base of Thor but the robot well in underneath, before System Shock abruptly brakes, and Thor's hammer retracts only to pull Thor further over its side and cause it to topple over onto the flame grid. The fire flares up, briefly engulfing the black and silver machine, but the hammer raises the body of the robot out of the flames, Thor tumbling out of the way of System Shock and bouncing back on its wheels just to the side of the flame pit, pulling away in reverse and retracting the hammer as Jason sees System Shock turning towards his machine.
Thor glides to a stop before turning and accelerating slowly towards System Shock again, which responds in kind, but Liam has twice as many volts at his disposal, and with the drum beginning to spin up again he suddenly floors the power and his robot jumps forward towards Thor...the drum sparks from the front edge but does little other than knock Thor upwards a bit, the lack of energy meaning one wheel still has contact with the ground...and as System Shock comes in for another drive, Thor's hammer flicks over the top...and impacts just to the left of one of the motor covers! Liam winces up in his control box, pushing further forward on the sticks to get Thor out of the way...but as the drum scrapes on the front of Thor and the two robots move towards the left of the arena, in a cacophony of squealing tyres, the hammer retracts...and fires again, this time directly impacting the large bump atop the robot housing one of the drive motors!
The height of System Shock's chassis left the motors very exposed, snuggled right against an arch of Hardox that was the only protection for the part of the 20cm diameter motor left outside of the 15cm high chassis...and the shove suddenly stops, as Thor backs away, the hammer scraping over the top armour and dropping down onto the stainless steel arena floor. System Shock twitches, and the drum begins to spin again as it moves forward...and downwards...tracing an arc over the arena floor as it becomes clear that only one side of the drive is working. Thor's hammer flicks back over the body, before Jason, allowing a small smile to show on his face, drives in for the kill...System Shock can't get away, Liam's efforts to get the shocked motor to respond are for naught, and Thor cruises in on the side of his machine before the hammer hits a third time, chipping at the paint atop the Welsh machine, and retracts to leave a distinct dent in the Hardox top, firing again and denting again...
Thor eventually pulls away, having rained down blow after blow on the now rather bowed inwards top armour on System Shock, and it has taken its toll as Liam can't seem to get any power to his robot at all. Jason looks very satisfied across the podium, his shoulders relaxing as Shane grins widely, flicking the axe back into position one more time as Thor begins to rotate in a spin of victory.

CEASE

System Shock, on top early on, is defeated by a single hammer blow from the thunder god.
THOR GOES THROUGH TO THE HEAT FINAL!

*cut to the pits*

Joey: ...uh...far be it from me to ask the obvious, but what happened?
Liam: *laughs* We got hammered, basically. Something shorted out against the top armour in the end...I'm amazed, it actually bent it down to scrape the components, it got a right bashing.
Joey: It did indeed...what's that?
Liam: That is...well, rather it was one of the motors, the LEM 200...it got hit by the hammer, through the armour, small dent here, and it cracked the magnets, no power from it at all. Just stopped one side of the drive dead in its tracks.
Joey: Ah well, it's been good having you here...you're back in a few heats anyway, better get working on your other menaces *laughs*
Liam: Thanks, yeah I better had get working *grins*

COMING NEXT:
Shadow Zone Forever vs. MORD 2

Comments, predictions, a large rubber fish?

[eene]

I had a feeling Nightstalker was going to lose

[swanaldo]

Sweet. Onwards and upwards with the mighty Thor.

[joey_picus]

Heat B
Semi Final 2
Shadow Zone Forever vs. Thor

ROBOTEERS, STAND BY

Booth 1, left hand side: Kody Kunz
Booth 2, right hand side: Richard Southworth

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MORD drives forward almost immediately, banking to the right, and unusually Richard has elected to start the fight with the scoop raised high here...not as odd as it seems as this exposes the front spinning drum weapon, which is slowly being brought up to speed by two of the four electric kart motors powering the machine. Shadow Zone moves tentatively out also, twitching and turning slightly, Kody glancing up at his transmitter aerial briefly...before, while MORD is cruising across the arena, slamming down the power and sending Shadow Zone lurching forward, barrelling across the arena and slamming into the front corner of Richard's machine!
CRASH! Both machines rebound from the collision (as do a shower of titanium on titanium sparks!), the teeth on the drum of MORD now visible as the motion is temporarily stopped, their stored energy showing itself in the scratched paintwork on the titanium scoop though. And it recovers quickly, the shuffling beams propelling MORD straight across and just in front of the corner of Shadow Zone, which turns, applying more power to the other side as the scoop edges are wedged forward onto the edges of the skirts, folding them underneath a bit and lifting the left side of the long machine from the floor, but the beams keep going and the right hand one, still in contact with the floor, pulls Richard's robot forward, swinging it off the front scoop as Shadow Zone begins its push...but as it breaks free, MORD banks worryingly, tipping over to one side as it turns, before the scoop is brought down by Richard to contact the floor and stabilise the robot, tipping it back onto its feet just as Shadow Zone turns and Kody is powering his machine forward on another charge! MORD evades it though, speeding backwards, briefly over the flame pit, which then flares obligingly as Richard stops, turns, and accelerates MORD forward through the flames and into the centre of the arena.
The last vestigial flames fading away in its wake, MORD comes to a stop and, with Shadow Zone in close pursuit, the beams swivel Richard's machine around quickly as the scoop raises, revealing the spinning drum to its opponent. Shadow Zone pauses briefly, Kody quickly working out a plan of attack, before applying power to the Lynch motors and darting up towards the top patrol zone, past the advancing MORD, and braking one side, swinging the four wheel drive rammer around and the edges of the scoop go beneath MORD's skirts once more...there is no last minute pull away for MORD2 this time, and the throttle is floored as Shadow Zone begins a push down the arena, in towards the house robots as it gets faster and faster...screeching to a halt at the edge of the patrol area, allowing its stricken opponent to slide off the scoop, the shuffling beams only getting traction with the floor in time to reverse the machine into Sir Killalot, crashing into the left track of the house robot! MORD turns away, but Killalot brings the lance across, turning and catching on the edge of MORD's scoop to drag it back into the zone, while Shunt comes across and barely misses the titanium top of MORD with the axe, retracting it and firing again to hammer the left shuffling beam. Richard looks concerned up in his booth, trying to get out of the corner he finds himself in, while also trying to steer his robot away from the house machines making his life difficult.
He backs MORD up a bit, causing the next axe blow to miss entirely, and shoots forward...out of the patrol zone...and manages to catch Shadow Zone Forever by surprise, the drum not spinning very fast but still creating a few sparks and a little hop when it impacts on the front side of the scoop. Shadow Zone reverses its wheels, but MORD is already in on the front corner and influencing its direction, edging it in an arc just in front of the flame pit...guiding Shadow Zone to neatly wedge itself in the wall, the faintest whiff of Shadow Zone's tyre smoke hanging in the air. MORD backs up, and the two PERM motors begin to spin the drum again, while Shadow Zone Forever drives forward away from the wall...the scoop grazing against the arena floor...ah. Shadow Zone cones to a stop, one side of the scoop having its corner firmly wedged at the edge of the flame pit, and as Kody's face falls behind the Lexan, a close up shot shows the scoop's supporting rubber is bent and slightly torn from the second impact from the drum, rendering the front end of Shadow Zone more of a hindrance than a help. Thinking quickly, Kody reverses Shadow Zone back, and slowly turns it in an arc so the rear end faces towards MORD 2, which is back on the attack with a rapidly spinning drum. MORD banks to one side, turning one way then the other to try and get in on the side of Shadow Zone, but Kody is quick to react and swings his robot's rear end in, the conrer just getting beneath the unskirted front of MORD before the drum can come into play...it pushes the wedge back slightly as sparks skim from the surface armour of Shadow Zone, but...
FLIP! MORD2 doesn't take much of the power of the flip, but it is still flicked...and CRASH! The drum makes midair contact with the flipper blade and pings both robots away from each other, Shadow Zone being flicked back into the corner of the arena and MORD beginning to fall back down, at a distinct angle...landing on its side, the skirt folding underneath the machine...and worryingly, the raised scoop that accommodates the drum is preventing MORD from falling completely over onto its back, the robot stuck between the side corner and the scoop! Richard tries his controls, and MORD's scoop turns...writhing the robot like some sort of agonized robotic worm, but as Shadow Zone slowly turns and controls itself back across the flame pit, dragging the now sorry looking scoop behind it, MORD doesn't show any signs of getting back onto its feet...the lifting plow is there whenever it manages to overbalance itself, preventing it from getting completely mobile again, and a resigned look forms on the face of the Lancashire roboteer as his results from the first heat seem, inextricably, duplicated in this; a gauntlet completion, a narrow scraping through in the trials, and...inevitably...a defeat in the semi finals.

CEASE

MORD2 had the upper hand just before the end, but one flip changed it all...
SHADOW ZONE FOREVER GOES THROUGH TO THE HEAT FINAL!

*in the pits, Richard straightening out one of MORD's skirts*

Joey: Bad luck there mate, you seemed to be doing well.
Richard: Well...after I got out of the patrol zone I had him on the ropes, before I dunno *laughs* but it was a good fight, just my luck really.
Joey: Yep...kind of strange, really, how the exact same thing happened last time.
Richard: It is actually...what are the odds of someone finishing the gauntlet, being fourth in the trials, and then going out...in consecutive heats?
Joey: Accidentally in consecutive heats.
Richard: Yes, accidentally having the exact same results...*looks directly at camera*
Joey: ...yeah. I can virtually guarantee it won't happen a third time though, sorry about that. *also looks at camera*

*pause*

Richard: *whispering* ...Joey...this improved budget of yours...does it extend to such luxuries as having a fourth wall?
Joey: *whispering* ...no...

COMING NEXT:
HEAT B FINAL
Thor vs. Shadow Zone Forever

...I'd like to apologise for the pace of this lately. My cousin visiting didn't help things , but after he left I didn't really have a good reason to slack off as I did...sorry about the lack of fights lately, I have a little bit more free time now so I shall endeavor to try and make this move quicker in future.

For now though, could I have some tactics, predictions, comments, and something gentle, creamy and rich please. No, Karoline, not what you're about to say

[kodster]

Good fight Joey, commiserations to Richie, yeh did well.

Thor vs. Shadow Zone Forever

Right. Thought I'd be seeing Thor in the heat final if I won, even before Thor's fight, and I've been cooking up a plan for its downfall. As with all evil plans it'll probably fail, but we'll see. :P

I'm gonna start out with the flipper pointed at Thor, and I'm just gonna come right at him and try to get under him. If I get under, flip immediately, then ram him all around the shop, it's what SZF does best. If he gets under me, I should still be okay. Reason being is that if he fires the hammer (which I'm sure he will), I can fire the flipper into the 'open' position and negate his hammer stroke for the most part, since he'll be smacking my flipper back down into its 'closed' position. I might even catch the axe shaft and stop it completely. In this way I can also protect my wheels. It will also be effective at negating him if he tries to grapple me, and then after either of these situations I can scoot away for another attack. My main target will be the sides and rear of Thor, and try to get it out of the arena or into the pit, if it's been opened, but if he's on the attack, I'll have the flipper pointed at his front to ward off his hammer strokes. The hammer's powerful, no denying that, but it can't do anything if all the force of it is being put into changing the position of my flipper. And yeah, if the flipper does go bye-bye, or if Thor's trying to get at the scoop, I'll turn around, and repeat my side/rear/get to pit tactics.

Hope those are sufficient enough tactics. :P Good luck Swanny.