PTT - Regeneration

[alex_holt]

If anyone here thinks the Daily Mail is a good source of information I disown them lol

[leorcc]

Is that the one with the interesting articles on page 3?

[swimm3r]

no.

buy The Sun next time your in the UK leo

[alex_holt]

Is that the one with the interesting articles on page 3?

Only if by 'interesting articles' you mean whiny, ill-informed and pompous right wing articles with a hint of xenophobia.

[steven_mcg]

I prefer the Guardian myself, even with its typos and wall charts. I just like Charlie Brooker. :P

Anyways, final time!

HEAT D - THE STORY SO FAR:
ROUND 1
EYE OF RAN II & ORKA R.V. won their battle when Eye of Ran obliterated Skullcrusher and the Orka threw Autoism 3.0 out of the arena!
DISCO 5 & INTRIGUOUS won their battle when Kody's machine pitted Bloody Frigid and Hacked-Off Haka lost a judges decision, 40 & 41.5 - 34.5 respectively.

ROUND 2
INTRIGUOUS grappled and pitted Eye of Ran II
DISCO 5 won a furiously flipper frenzy with Orka R.V., which saw the whale diving into the Void!

And now...

HEAT D
ROUND 3
HEAT FINAL
DISCO 5 Vs INTRIGUOUS

House Robots - Scarlek & Scream

Roboteers, stand by...
3...2...1...
ACTIVATE!

Intriguous' excellent acceleration gets it off to a flying start, but Disco 5 narrowly avoids a head-on collision! Martyn attempts to get under Intriguous' sides, Kody trying likewise to bring his axe into play! The duo dance-off until Intriguous shunts into Disco's left-hand side! Down comes the axe, once and twice! Martyn isn't about to take this lying down and he turns Disco around sharply to reveal the spinning rear flywheel...
CRRRASH!
Intriguous bounces off the floor, nearly getting flipped over from the blow! We're only a few seconds into this battle and already our Finalists are battle-scarred! Disco swoops in underneath the stunned Intriguous and pushes the Canadian competitor across the arena! Kody attempts an escape but Disco powers on and fires its flipper! Intriguous finds itself propped against the arena wall, though one flick of the axe pushes it back onto its wheels! Disco dives back in for another assault, but Intriguous blocks the veteran off with its front scoop! The axe snaps down on Disco's sloping body, putting a third dint in the titanium monocoque shell! This time Intriguous keeps the hammer down, attempting to grapple and push Disco into the nearest hazard! Martyn isn't about to let Kody lead this dance however, as Disco pushes back hard! Talk about an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object! The shoving match appears to be a stalemate, until Disco turns around, revealing the rear flywheel back up to speed! Intriguous attempts to avoid the blow, but...
CRRRASH!
The collision knocks Intriguous back, adding another scar to the gruesome green paintwork! Kody should count himself lucky that his axe didn't get hit as well! Disco turns to resume the shoving match, but Intriguous proves too quick! The Canadian competitor charges into Disco's side, scraping its scoop under the side-skirts! Martyn attempts to get away, but down comes the axe, pinning Disco in place! Intriguous pours on the push and begins shoving the PTT veteran down across the arena, Disco vainly struggling all the while! Deciding Martyn deserves a taste of his own medicine, Kody guides Intriguous down towards Killeidascope Corner! Disco continues its flailing, even firing the flipper a couple of times, but it's not enough...
CRRRASH!
Disco is thrown aside by the enormous psychadelic drum, finding itself perilously close to Scream's CPZ! One side of his armour partially shredded by the arena spinner, Martyn decides to make haste and retreat to the middle of the ring, but Intriguous blocks it off by charging into its rear, stopping the titular disc dead before it can reach a deadly-enough speed! Intriguous digs its wheels in and pushes Disco straight into Scream's own rear flywheel, nearly up-ending the veteran on impact! As Intriguous backs away Scream spins around to play, sweeping Disco into his corner and scraping under its skirts! Martyn can only watch helplessly as Disco is catapulted into the air by the House Robot's frightening flipper, accompanied by his trademark shriek of terror! Luckily for Martyn, Disco remains within the arena but comes back down to earth with a terrible clatter near the arena centre! By now Disco is starting to look rather dazed and confused, and that's not Martyn's only problem - the blare of an echoing siren reveals that Intriguous has gone and opened the Void!
Martyn revs up his flywheel and readies himself for a charge attack, but Disco is looking a little less lively than before! Our two competitors meet head-to-head, and it looks as though Intriguous is getting the upper hand! Disco turns to bring in the spinner, but it isn't quite up to speed! Intriguous barges into the disc, stopping it completely and taking a small slash in the paintwork for its troubles! Disco makes to turn back round for a frontal assault, but Intriguous powers under the rear flywheel and attempts to grapple the veteran with its axe! It appears the shoving match is in full swing again, but this time it's no stalemate! Despite Martyn's best efforts, Intriguous gradually forces Disco down the arena towards the gaping jaws of the Void! Disco barely manages to wriggle free as they near the corner zone, but Kody isn't about to let the last place in the Grand Final slip through his fingers! Intriguous blocks Disco off, scraping under the right-hand skirt and punching the wedge's lid with its axe! With one last heave Disco boogies over the edge of the Void and out of sight! Kody reverses, cheering wildly and hammering the ground for no particular reason! We have our final Finalist - and its name is Intriguous!

CEASE!

Disco 5 has suffered a terminal case of Saturday Night Fever - well, Tuesday Night Fever to get technical. Ah, just beat it, will ya?
INTRIGUOUS GOES THROUGH TO THE GRAND FINAL!

Congratulations to Mr Kody Kunz!

-------------------------------------------------

NEXT TIME:
THE P.T.T. REGENERATION GRAND FINAL
- NIDHOGG EVO
- THE CRASHING BORE 2
- ACHILLES (1)
- INTRIGUOUS

So at last, after nearly six months of long, grueling waits (and the occasional fight) we have our four Finalists. I'll slap up the draw and the Road to Armageddon in a couple days, so until then, feel free to wing me your thoughts on the series thus far and get yourselves prepped for a Final to remember - for a week or two, at any rate.

Thank you!

[joey_picus]

It's not entirely been too bad overall few delays here and there but the perseverance has been worth it, the ol' PTT writing is as excellent as ever.

Also I found a Sun board game in a charity shop today, I couldn't believe such an item had ever existed so I had to get it!

[kodster]

Hoo'way! I'd give commiserations to Martyn, but it doesn't look like he comes here anymore. :P

Jolly good show Steve, ol' bean. The other finalists look absolutely terrifying, but I'll burn that bridge when it comes. Wooty stuff!

[steven_mcg]

Well, here we are. It may have taken nearly half a year, but we've finally made it - the PTTR Grand Final. It's been a hell of a journey and one tough mother' of a tourney to write. I can honestly say that this is the most difficult tournament I have ever had to judge and it's all down to the ludicrously high standard of the robots that have been entered. Before I unveil the Grand Final draw, let us pay tribute to the sixteen schmucks who offered up their creations to be battered and broken into tiny pieces. Chaos bless each and every one of them.

P.T.T.R. ROLE OF HONOUR:
1. Seung Mina V (Kody Kunz)
2. Intriguous
3. Flank Attack T (Alex McWilliams)
4. Eurypterus Evolved
5. Gehenna (Andrew Jackson)
6. Fissure
7. Under Pressure (Martijn Benschop)
8. Back to Rock III
9. Dervish: The 1337 Generation (Daniel Stickler)
10. Propane Nightmare
11. Disco 5 (Martyn Forsyth)
12. The Deer
13. Orka R.V. (Chris Mason)
14. Leprosy Infection
15. Eye of Ran II (Joey McConnell)
16. Nidhogg Evo
17. The Crashing Bore 2 (Frank Goacher)
18. Raging Tempest
19. Tengu VII (Alex Holt)
20. Achilles
21. Infusion (Aaron Knight)
22. Nerix
23. Nitro-Gene 5.0 (Paul Cuomo)
24. Autoism 3.0
25. BIACS-is of Evolution (Matthew Fowler)
26. Hacked-Off Ha-ka
27. The Kill Point (Elliot Stevens)
28. Skullcrusher
29. Mobile Failure (Tracy Farber)
30. Bloody Frigid
31. Apocalypse (Liam Eliot)
32. Kill Saw

And not forgetting our little Featherweight friends:
1. Heretic (Kody Kunz)
2. Neowedge (Alex McWilliams)
3. OverDrive (Andrew Jackson)
4. Afterschock (RR) (Will Thomas & Martijn Benschop)
5. Deadly Lampshade (Daniel Stickler)
6. DTK (RW7) (Mike Lambert & Martyn Forsyth)
7. Bulldozer (Chris Mason)
8. Isolation (Joey McConnell)
9. Pillow Torque (RR) (Karoline Pannell & Frank Goacher)
10. Sith (Alex Holt)
11. M.B.X. (Aaron Knight)
12. Skink (RR) (Mike Hamilton-Macy & Paul Cuomo)
13. Tidal Wave (RR) (Will Thomas & Matthew Fowler)
14. Sons of Thunder (Elliot Stevens)
15. Innis (Tracy Farber)
16. Werewolf (Liam Eliot)

32 Heavyweights came to play, but now only four remain. Let us relive the journey thus far as we wind our merry way towards the Final down...

THE P.T.T.R. ROAD TO ARMAGEDDON

HEAT A kicked off proceedings with a clash of old and new, as Raging Tempest and Gehenna, the youngest Son of Ripper, went head-to-head with Eurypterus Evolved and Kill Saw. The new Tempest fought bravely, but its bouncy nature proved its undoing as Eurypterus dumped it into the Void; and despite its unique weaponry, Kill Saw soon joined it! In our other melee, Leprosy Infection coughed and spluttered out of its second war, falling completely to pieces courtesy of terrifying newcomer Propane Nightmare! The newbie also ensured that Mobile Failure failed to make a lasting impression, with a little help from Nidhogg Evo and Killeidascope Corner.
Round 2's first scrap was short and sweet, with Nidhogg Evo swiftly grappling and pitting Eurypterus Evolved. The second battle, however, proved a truly thrilling affair, as Gehenna and Propane Nightmare fought to the bitter end, surviving to a judge's decision. It was a close contest, but Damage and Strategy won the day for Propane Nightmare, winning on a 39-37.5 decision.
In the Heat Final, Nidhogg Evo and Propane Nightmare met again and, while it was touch-and-go with Nidhogg for a while, the dragon soon ended the Welsh bot's dreams with an impressive pitting. Nidhogg soared into the Grand Final - and Dulcy found herself a new pin-up!

The opening fight of HEAT B could arguably be described as the 'Melee of Doom', with Apocalypse, Dervish, Tengu and Under Pressure. While Dervish's new spinning blade looked ferocious, the 1337 Generation proved no match for Apocalypse's flipper; and neither did Under Pressure for that matter! Apocalypse sailed through, along with a slightly confused Tengu VII. Melee number two was just as vicious, with the granddaddy of vapourbots, the Crashing Bore 2, showing off its upgraded guillotine! Aussie spinner Nerix helped it make light work of the Kill Point, before the Bore dumped Fissure into our arena's own monstrous crack!
Round 2 opened with a clash of the titans, as Tengu VII met the Crashing Bore 2! Both robots are highly experienced and as deadly as they come, but it was the Bore's blade that one the day, while the PTT3 runner-up was banished to the depths of the Void! The newcomers put on a hell of a show too, as Apocalypse faced off against Nerix. Despite a destructive debut in its melee, Nerix soon found itself dazed and confused on the camera track. Rack up another OOTA for Apocalypse!
The Heat Final was quite literally a battle for the ages, as one of the oldest vapourbots met one of the most up-to-date. Apocalypse and the Crashing Bore 2 fought long and hard, with the scrap eventually boiling down to a narrow judge's decision. In the end, experience won the day and the Bore claimed a 34.5-31.5 victory. Frank's newest upgrade is making waves this season and no mistake!

HEAT C saw the return of our glorious reigning champion Achilles, who quickly proved its hypothetical conquest of PTT5 was not without reason. After the similar Seung Mina V tossed Flank Attack: D.T. out of the arena, Achilles proved the original is always the best. Aided by Nitro-Gene 5.0, the champ stormed into round two, while Seung Mina stumbled into the Void! The second melee showed a truly diverse range of robots, from the terrifying Infusion to the towering B.I.A.C.S-is of Evolution! The newest Bull in a China Shop was innovative, if not too effective; The Deer soon herded it into the arena pen, before its antlers were clipped by Back to Rock III propping it against the western wall! Not a good day for the animal kingdom, all in all.
Back to Rock III was back in action in our opening semi-final against Nitro-Gene 5.0. Here, Nitro-Gene showed us what it could really do, outpushing the Dutch veteran and eventually throwing it clean out of the arena! Meanwhile Achilles had its hands full defending its title against Infusion. The newcomer proved a serious match for the champ, but even its unique 'turbo boost' ability couldn't save it from the Void. Hail the conquering hero!
The Heat Final saw Achilles and Nitro-Gene 5.0 clash for a second time. After a series of thrills and spills, flips and rips (the latter provided by a tempestuous Surligig), Achilles eventually won the day with its third successive pitting. Will the PTT see its first ever two-time champion? We'll find out soon enough.

HEAT D rounded off our contest in spectacular style, with the return of Chris Mason's awesome Orka! A Heat Finalist in the last war, the new Orka R.V. had a whale of a time throwing robots left, right and centre, even catapulting the Big Nipper-esque Autoism 3.0 clean out of the warzone! Newcomer Skullcrusher was sadly unable to see this - as it had already been torn to pieces by fellow newbie Eye of Ran II! The Eye and the Orka went through, while Skullcrusher went into orbit (I love our launchpad). The series' final melee was chaos personified, as veterans Disco 5 and Hacked-Off Haka squared off against Bloody Frigid and Intriguous. Bloody Frigid was soon sunk by Intriguous, leaving the three remaining robots to fight on to a judge's decision. Haka fell short with 34.5 points, while Disco and Intriguous won out with 40 and 34.5 respectively.
Round 2 open with newcomer against newcomer, Eye of Ran II against Intriguous. In a short but frantic face-off Intriguous managed to grapple and pit the bladed bot - but not without taking a couple of scars in the process! The second semi-final was flipping fantastic as Orka R.V. tried to eject Disco 5 from the dancefloor. Disco's titular weapon soon gave it the upper hand however and it wasn't long before the Orka was swallowed up by the Void!
And so to our final Heat Final, a rematch between Disco 5 and Intriguous. At first it seemed that Disco's flywheel would make this a brief encounter but Intriguous came back strong to eventually grapple 'n' pit the PTT veteran. This newcomer will make an intriguing finalist indeed...

So, four Heats, six months and twenty battles later, we have our four Finalists:

1) Newcomer NIDHOGG EVO (Joey McConnell)
2) Four-time veteran THE CRASHING BORE 2 (Frank Goacher)
3) PTT reigning champion ACHILLES (1) (Alex Holt)
4) Newcomer INTRIGUOUS (Kody Kunz)

-------------------------------------------------

And now the moment you've been waiting for - the last draw.

P.T.T.R. GRAND FINAL
ELIMINATORS
Achilles (1) VS Nidhogg Evo
Intriguous VS The Crashing Bore 2

Thoughts? Tactics? Last-minute prayers?

Thank you.

[joey_picus]

Oh...arse.

NIDHOGG EVO'S TACTICS

Use the fact the wheels are in the front to maneuver out of the way of Achilles' charges, get the forks in underneath the front side - where there are no skirts - or under the side skirts and the body of Achilles, lift the lifter, bring the claw down to gain complete control over it, drive to the pit and dump it down. No messing - these are pure Tiberius get it over with and win tactics, if Tiberius had ever posessed a lifting device.

Best of luck Alex, may the best fictional mythologically named machine win.

[kodster]

You had me thrilled from the get-go of that post, Steve-O.

Achilles (1) vs. Nidhogg Evo

Tough to say, but Achilles' weakish armour here might prove its downfall as Nidhogg chews into it. I'll go with Joey to win here.

Intriguous vs. The Crashing Bore 2

Ah yes, Mr. Oldest Vapourbot ever. My, how you've grown. And such toys...

Okay I'm done.

Frank's machine has an appalling width. 40cm? That's going to make turning around a huge problem, especially with 4WD. I have double that width, so I can easily outmanoeuvre him. However, all the other things about Crashing Bore 2 are quite good. The more powerful trap, the more powerful drill, the Hardox armour, the wedge, and the skirting. So...what I'm going to do here is, like I did to Disco, take advantage of the crappy turning/manoeuvrability, and try to grapple him and ram him down the pit. I'm confident I can do so. My hinged wedge is heavier than the side skirts so I think I can get under those. If I can't, then give him a huge whack of the axe. Even with his monocoque my axe should do some good damage to it. He's a bit more powerful than me, so I don't want to get caught in a push/shove competition. If I do, just back off (whack him if he's in range).

Just get to those sides, grapple'n'pit or whack until dead. Or if a house robot is nearby, feed the Bore to it.

Good luck-o, Frank, and a great 'well done' to Steve and the other competitors thus far.