For some strange reason, you guys seemed to love the Pussycat Tribute Tournament, my major vapourbot contest named for the late David Gribble. While it was fun for the most part, the last tournament - PTT5 - was marred by squabbles, procrastination and decreasing interest on my part, due to distractions from school and other fan projects. In the end, I felt that I had taken on far too big a task and no longer had the time and energy for major-writing, so I hypoed the tournament halfway in. While it was a relief to bring some sort of closure to PTT5 and move on to different things, I felt a little bad ending the PTT on a whimper rather than a bang.
Thats why Im launching this mini-tournament. After the successful comeback of the VFT and the positive reviews of my own Phoenix Cup last year, I feel I owe it to you poor deluded schmoes to give you at least one more full ride on the PTT roundabout. Just remember to wipe the seats first; theyre a little dusty.
1. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
- I am looking for 16 people to enter 2 Heavyweight robots and 1 Featherweight robot each.
- Entries can be either vapourbots or real robots, Im not fussy.
- The weight limits for Heavyweight vapours are:
100kg for wheeled/tracked robots (eg Tornado/Mortis)
110kg for shufflers (eg Son of Whyachi)
120kg for unclassable methods of motion (eg...I dont know...a hovercraft or something)
150kg for €˜true€™ walkers (eg Mechadon)
- The weight limits for Featherweight vapours are:
12kg for wheeled/tracked robots
15kg for shufflers
16kg for unclassable methods of motion
18kg for €˜true€™ walkers
- Flying robots are not permitted.
- Clusterbots are permitted, with no limit to the number of parts (but lets keep things realistic here). When half or more of the parts have been eliminated, the whole clusterbot will be eliminated.
- Robots with interchangeable weapons are limited to five set-ups. All must be stated in your initial stats.
- If you have a town or country youd like to represent, please put that down too.
- Basic tech rules apply for everything else.
2. TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE
The tournament will be standard knockout elimination, with 4 x Heats containing eight robots each. The winner of each Heat will go through to a Grand Final Heat at the end of the series to determine the champion.
The Featherweight tournament will also be standard knockout elimination, consisting of 4 x 4-way melees, one in each Heat. The winner of each melee will go through to the Featherweight Final in the Grand Final Heat, with the winner becoming the champ.
3. THE ARENA
The arena is the Team Braveheart Wrexagon, a 20m x 20m square with a slightly triangular top and bottom, making it resemble a squashed hexagon. A pair of horizontal Pussycat-style sawblades stick out of the east and west walls, while each of the six corners contain a horrible hazard. These hazards include:
- 2 x Corner Patrol Zones, each containing a House Robot (top right and bottom left)
- The arena pit, affectionately dubbed The Void (bottom right). This operates just like the RW pit, except that within the walls of the hole lie several concealed vaccuums. This means that anything trundling by the edge of the Void is getting sucked right in! Works best against bots with weak traction. Impossible, yes, but fun.
- The Void Activation Button (top left)
- A flame grill (top centre)
- A hefty psychadelic spinning drum littered with curved teeth, also known as Killeidascope Corner (bottom centre)
The middle of the arena is now also home to the Launchpad, an arena floor flipper which fires straight upwards rather than forwards. Any fallen robot shunted onto this square will quickly find themselves eating ceiling pie.
Flipping robots out of the arena is perfectly possible in this arena; so flippers, go nuts. Any robots propped on or trapped by the walls will be deemed immobile. The walls and floor are all conveniently constructed from Hardox, so the imaginary builders wont have to keep fixing them between fights.
Follow the link for a proper peek at the battlefield: http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2945/arena2009wp6.pnghttp://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2...ena2009wp6.png
4. JUDGING
Should both robots still be mobile at the end of a clash, a winner will be declared using the following system:
DAMAGE = mark out of 5, multiplied by 3
AGGRESSION = mark out of 5, multiplied by 2.5
STRATEGY = mark out of 5, multiplied by 2
CONTROL = mark out of 5, multiplied by 1.5
STYLE = mark out of 5, multiplied by 1
TOTAL ( / 50) = Damage + Aggression + Strategy + Control + Style
In the unlikely event of a draw, I will ask an Outside Judge to make his or her own decision on the fight. Both results will then be averaged to give a final mark.
Of course, this is all asuming I can be bothered writing a fight which lasts that long.
5. HOUSE ROBOTS
Ever the showman, Ive decided to let Team Coldheart join in the fun. Robot roll call!
- SURLYGIG - And you all thought Whirligig was horrible enough. A full-body spinner with a domed head, six shuffing feet and a dozen odd terrible teeth.
- MICHAEL PLIERS - Everyones favourite slasher flick lunatic. A steep wedge with sloping sides and a pneumatic hatchet.
- FAWKES - A fearsome phoenix with a diamond-tipped crushing beak. Its wings also act as a pair of hydraulic pincers, allowing for thrice the pain.
- THE TAXMAN - Nothing says fear incarnate like the Inland Revenue. A demonic bowler hat with front lifting forks and a vertical spinning disc.
- SCARLEK - Our representative from the Planet Skaro. A Dalek grunt with a front scoop and a blowtorch concealed in its Exterminator arm.
- DULCY - Fresh from the 15th Century, Dulcy is armed with flamethrower breath, ramming spikes and a rear axe tail. The neck articulates ala Warheads tail for maximum awesomeness.
- MR HYDE - The scourge of Victorian London. A low dome with pneumatic grappling arms and a powerful axe.
- SCREAM - A sleek wedge with a powerful rear-hinged flipper and a rear vertical flywheel. A piercing scream emits from the flipper whenever it fires.
- THE GRIM BEEPER - Who could make a better referee than the keeper of the robot underworld himself? The Beeper is equiped with a front plough to help trapped souls and and a fire extinguisher in his right hand to cool the flames of damnation. Just pray he doesnt touch you with his sythe - because that means youre already dead.
You can see the whole of the rogues gallery in glorious Technicolour right here: http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9449/teamcoldheart2007py6.pnghttp://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9...art2007py6.png
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Um, and thats it. Good luck, yall.
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