The Vapourbot Grand Prix 2010

[team_orr]

w00t

[steven_mcg]

About a month and a half later than hoped, here it is!

THE VAPOURBOT GRAND PRIX 2010
ROUND 5/10: THE MONACO GRAND PRIX
ARENA - Monty Carlo's Fighting Casino
HOUSE ROBOTS- N/A

For this fight, Slammer VI will be using the grabbing claws again.

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

...Well, that was the signal to start, but few of the robots seem eager to leap into action. Right now, the teams seem more focused on staying away from the edge of the arena. The revolving roulette-wheel floor remains static for now, but not for long, it seems. Killobite goes against the flow and charges for the Golden Button on the far left!
CHA-CHING!
Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets, because there goes the wheel! The floor starts spinning at an alarming rate as all the robots flee to the centre of the arena. Already the robots with the weaker grip are feeling the struggle as Axeon, Delirium Tremors, O.I.D and Slammer finds themselves slowly slipping across the wheel. Eye of Ran, meanwhile, is hovering near the top most Slot Machine, getting its blade up to speed. With a spin, Joey manages to strike Delirium Tremors, who nearly finds itself flying over the edge! Matt pulls back in time, however, just as the floor begins to slow once again.
With a CLUNK, the spinning stops and the bots get back into action. Killobite and O.I.D. stick close to each other, attempting to 'smash 'n' grab' the other bots together. Flick of the Wrist purposely stays slow to avoid flying off the edge of the ring and gets into a close-quarters scuffle with Axeon. Slammer attacks Eye of Ran, accidentally driving right over the bladed bot like a doormat of death. Richter stays close to the Totem in the middle of the arena, waiting to strike at whoever comes nearest. That someone turns out to be Delirium Tremors.
CRRRASH!
Both bots fly away from each other. Delirium Tremors takes a nasty knock, but not as nasty as Richter. The Welsh entry bounces into the Totem and has its 'eggbeater' stalled for good measure. As Dan tries to get it going again, here comes Delirium Tremors again for another blow.
CRRRASH!
Dan's in trouble now as he finds himself on the edge of the warzone. A burst of speed, however, and he's safe again.
CHA-CHING!
Uh-oh, but for how much longer? Killobite's gone and hit another Golden Button and round goes the arena again! Richter huddles together with Eye of Ran and Slammer as the other bots stay close to the centre. Eye of Ran breaks away just long enough to get its blade going and strike the duo, just as Dan gets his own blade into play. Slammer tries to position itself for an attack of its own when Richter strikes...
CRRRASH!
And out it goes! The 'eggbeater' has sent Slammer tumbling over the edge and out of the Monaco GP!
CRRRASH!
Oh, and O.I.D. nearly joins it after being fed to the Totem by Flick of the Wrist! O.I.D. swings around, putting a gash in Killobite, but gets a shunt by Flick for its troubles - straight out of the arena! The first two bots go out just seconds apart from each other as the floor begins to slow down once more!
The ground now stable, Killobite tries to get under Flick of the Wrist and succeeds. The claw comes down and Kody now has a firm grasp on the current VGP leader. Martijn struggles to break free, but Killobite is in command here as its wheels grip the arena floor tightly. Kody raises his forks and aims for the edge of the arena...
CHA-CHING!
Oh, great! Now Axeon's gone and hit one of the Buttons! Once again the arena is a blur as the floor starts spinning wildly. The bots once more head for the centre of the ring while Killobite stays stock still. Flick of the Wrist's extra weight is helping to keep it anchored down. Matt is wishing he had an anchor right about now - Delirium Tremors is starting to slide about the spinning flor and getting dangerously close to the edge. Matt swings the drum-on-wheels around, right into the path of a passing Axeon.
CRRRASH!
The axebot takes a hit, but Andy takes vengeance. Axeon swings round, right under Delirium Tremors and promptly dumps the spinner out of the arena!
A few seconds later the floor slows back down to normal, allowing Killobite to resume its proposed dumping of Flick of the Wrist. Unfortunately for Kody, here comes Richter to screw everything up. Killobite has just reached the edge and begun released Flick from its grasp when Richter leaps out from behind...
CRRRASH!
Down goes Flick - and down goes Killobite after it!
Three remains, as Axeon and Eye of Ran duke it out under the northern Slot Machine. This is Joey's best performance to date and all he wants to do is keep hanging on in there for as long as he can. He's done a pretty good job so far by sweeping into Axeon's side time and again, scarring the sides and even getting right underneath a couple times. Axeon's done well too, landing a few good blows on Eye of Ran's lid and holding up to the Slot Machine's own blows the few times it's wound up underneath the giant maces. Is it me, though, or does Axeon seem a tad slower than earlier?
CRRRASH!
Ooh, very good attack from Eye of Ran there. Axeon looks dazed, but here comes Richter to join the party!
CRRRASH!
Now it's Eye of Ran's turn to feel the pain, nearly spinning out of the arena! Joey swings round to start the blade up again, but Axeon sweeps under the unusual bot's side and ends Joey's survival record with one sharp ram. Joe's earned his first medal, though, so I doubt he'll be too upset.
We're down to the last two now, as Richter moves to strike Axeon. The axebot turns to dodge...and keeps right on turning round and round in a circle! Those last few blows from Eye of Ran must've wounded Axeon's drive, because it can't seem to move in a straight line! Dan senses victory and lines himself up for a charge...
CRRRASH!
The sparks fly as Axeon bounces into the Slot Machine! The German GP champion turns again and fires the axe, but misses as one last shunt from Richter sends it over the edge and into second place!

CEASE!

9.9 ON THE RICHTER SCALE WINS THE MONACO GRAND PRIX 2010!

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MONACO GRAND PRIX 2010 RESULTS:
1. 9.9 ON THE RICHTER SCALE = 10 points
2. AXEON 4.0 = 8 points
3. EYE OF RAN II = 6 points
4. KILLOBITE SIGMA = 4 points
5. FLICK OF THE WRIST = 3 points
6. DELIRIUM TREMORS = 2 points
7. O.I.D. = 1 point
8. SLAMMER VI = 0 points

Congratulations to Daniel Stickler, Andrew Jackson and Joey McConnell!

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We're halfway through the VGP now, and here's how the points stand thus far:

TOTAL RESULTS (5/10):
1. FLICK OF THE WRIST = 33 points
2. KILLOBITE SIGMA = 31 points
=. 9.9 ON THE RICHTER SCALE = 31 points
4. AXEON 4.0 = 30 points
5. O.I.D. = 13 points
6. EYE OF RAN II = 11 points
=. SLAMMER VI = 11 points
8. DELIRIUM TREMORS = 10 points

The gap has widened, but certainly not at the top. Just four points separate our top four competitors, with a tie for second place! The others shouldn't be discouraged, however. They're in a very close race themselves and with five more GPs to go, there's still time to catch up on the leaders.

Case in point, Round 6!

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THE VAPOURBOT GRAND PRIX 2010
ROUND 6/10: THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
ARENA: The Sumo Basho Arena

Konichiwa! Welcome to the Sumo Basho Arena, where peace of mind and pieces of scrap complement each other perfectly. The Sumo Basho Arena follows the Buddhist philosophy of 'less is more'. To whit, there are no hazards, House Robots or any other over-the-top gimmicks to be found on this battlefield. The Arena is nothing more than a raised circular platform with open sides. The only ways to guarantee victory here are to push your enemies over the edge or beat them senseless with your own bare servos. Fights here are never very long, but they're always a riot!

You don't really need a Paint pic for this one, but what the hell. It's tradition :


Sorry for the long wait again, guys. Hope it was worth it. Till next time!

[joey_picus]

w00t! Finally I manage to finish in the same postcode as the leading machines ;P well done to Dan for winning and Andy for running up.

TACTICS FOR ROUND SIX
Tactiques pour la sixi¨me rond

Don't spin up, as my own reaction force might throw myself out of the arena. If, though, by some act of God or Buddha or Allah or Roland Orzabal I manage to survive until there's four or less robots in total left, then I shall spin up and hit robots, trying to calculate the vectors such that I remain in the arena while they fly out.

As for actual tactics...stay near the middle, away from rammers if possible, and survive, keeping my wedges pointed at other robots where possible.

Best of luck everyone

[kodster]

Curse you Dan!

Tactics: again go after Flick, but this time make sure no one's trying to take advantage of my exposed rear, such as Richter. Speaking of which, go after him next once I'm done with Flick. Be aggressive, but try to stay near the center of the arena when I'm not attacking. And, of course, keep my front pointing at as many attackers as possible.

Brilliant thus far Steve-O!

[team_britespark]

Huzzah!

Sumo Basho arena..... ick.

Tick-tocks

Get my spinner up to speed right away and use it defensively. If anyone hits it, then chances are they are going to go up into the air and not have any chance to push me out.

Move into the centre of the arena and target the tougher machines (Flick, Killobite and Axeon primarily, but also Slammer just cos I have a hunch it can do well). Don't attack them, but stay on the defensive.

Not much else I can do really....

[andrewj]

Woo!

I don't have any particular tactics for the next round. Just stay on the platform for as long as possible, and use my wedge shape to help push the others out. I'm fairly manoeuvrable too, so that should help out in an environment like this. Avoid using the axe much in case I manage to push anyone out and get dragged down with them...

[majinb]

w00t for having entered a rammer, now I see this arena.

Ram! More specifically, make the middle of the arena my starting point for every such ram I wish to perform, and from there look for whatever opponent looks juicy, preferably attacking sides or rears, get under, lift, take all control away for them, and ram them over the edge. Return to somewhere near the middle of the arena and pretty much repeat the process. Im feeling good about this arena, but at the same time, Im gonna make sure I wont get wedged myself. I have speed to not make that happen, and I will happily try and face whatever attacker attacks me with my own weapon. If anyone gets under me, Im relying on my Tornadoesque rear wheel set up, and will drive off asap.

[team_orr]

Nice fights so far

Right, im going to once again avoid the edge and stick to the mddle, i suppose it must be a bit crowded there so if in doubt spin up and clear a path, im hoping i dont ricochet off in the process, hopefully my distance from the edge and other robots in the way should help me out there. im trailing the leaders badly now, so if the top 3 or 4 wouldnt mind just driving off that would be a real help

Jack

[kodster]

BAd news all...and I'm NOT lying. I can ask Steve to confrim this if nessacary.
VGP2010 is cancelled. Steve's dad is moving to France as a translator, and Steve has no choice but to come with him. However, in France, he has no free time, PERIOD. So that means he won't be able to write any fights.
However, he will still be able to make a hypothetical tourny on who he would think he win, without any details of the fight [At least, thats what I think he means by that]
THis is for those who haven't heard on MSN yet. Ask any of those [Joey or Andy] and they'll tell you.
So..this is a painful loss for all..fairwell, awesomeness of VGP which I never got to see done...sigh....

[joey_picus]

...merde! Merde, merde, merde! C'est une tragedie! J'aimes les choses et les autres choses! Je revais d'un autre monde! Egare dans la vallee infernale, l'hero s'appelle Bob Morane!