The tournament formerly known as FFW

[andrewj]

Gehenna 2 vs. Terrorhurtz

The first thing to do is to see if I can cause any damage to the polycarbonate with my drum. Then it's just a case of pushing it round with my superior power into the house robots and/or the pit. , so I am confident that I can do the same here.

[majinb]

SOTAR!

As often with FBS's, rush at it as quick as I can, and ram it before it fully spun up... at this point I SHOULD be able to slide under and hopefully flip it agains the wall!

Those would be my tactics if this were utopia (my utopia that is, not Tracy's, sorry ). If things dont go quite THAT smooth, keep my pressure on SOTAR at all times, ramming, lifting, flipping, and pretty much NOT let it spin up. And through it all use the hazards to my advantage.

good luck tracy!

[Zarte]

Welcome to round 2 of Heat B of the ZFC, where today we see our 2 seeds for this heat, try and win against our 2 first round winners.

First up, we see Terrorhurtz who came through round 1 on a judges decision, take on the immensely experience number 3 seeds Gehenna 2.

Gehenna is low wedge with sloped sides and a rear which carries, as its main weapon, a very fast and powerful low pressure front-hinged flipper. At the rear it also has a defensive weapon in the form of a small spinning drum to bat opponents away. It's nippy across the arena as well but the monocoque CAN be broken and it can also be outpushed.

Previous History - Came 4th in series 5, but only made it through to round 2 in series 4 (13 points)

Let's cross over to the arena where your house robots today are Sgt Bash and Shunt

3...
2...
1...
Activate!

And here we go then for a place in the heat final, and first away from the blocks is Gehenna 2, starting off in reverse and moving towards Terrorhurtz who is clearly supporting some new armour after its last fight, and it's obvious to see as there's still one or 2 pieces of gaffa tape holding something on though what that is I'm not exactly sure. Gehenna immediately sets to work at the side of Terrorhurtz trying to get the drum into action. It can only flick at the skirts on the sloped sides though and whilst catching them, it can do little more than leave a flail-like set of scratches. AJ attempty to keep harrassing the former grand finalist, keeping inside close quarters to the sides, but realising he can't do any damage to them, he attempts to move closer to the front to have a go at the flatter and weaker polcarbonate. Terrorhurtz turns though and slams the axe down, landing on the top of the angle of the wedgeand leaving a small slice as a token of their affection.

AJ already seems a little worried by the resistance being shown by Terrorhurtz, who many had just expected to roll over and die very quickly here and so designs on a change of tact. He turns the robot around and tries to get back to the sides, only this time trying to negate the skirts with the ultra-low ground cleaeance with the front wedge. He tries to slide underneath but he juust grinds out against them. He tries to push forward but the angular sides make it difficult to push against even with the skirting, and it makes it very easy for Terrorhurtz to turn around and fire the axe again, this time clubbing forcefully on the flipper panel. There's no signs at all of a perforation, however there's clearly been a bend either in the plate itself or in support for the flipper. AJ backs away and fires the flipper, seemingly to test that it's still functional, and whatever has caused it, it is as the flipper opens and closes again with no problems at all.

Terrorhurtz decides it can be more aggressive now and moves forwards, looking to hit Gehenna staight on again but AJ makes Gehenna put in a quick burst of speed, sliding underneath Terrohurtz at the front, and the reflexive firing of the axe by Steve at the Terrorhurtz controls only serves to get Terrorhurtz in an even better position. AJ seems a little unsure as to where to take Terrorhurtz so just drives in a straight line towards the side wall to try and get a good line to flip him out of the arena. He fails in his efforts but does manage to get Terrorhurtz on his side against the wall. Gehenna backs away to try and get the momentum for another go but Terrorhurtz uses his axe against the wall to roll it back over onto its wheels, leading AJ to slam straight into the wall. Terrorhurtz tries to get its balance back quickly and does so, trapping a slightly jaded Gehenna up against the wall and slamming down four, five, six times in a row on the top. He's dented the lid and actually cleaved a slice into it in one place.

AJ manages to get his bearings back and get all 4 wheels touching the ground and gets a huge amount of traction, using the rear to push Terrorhurtz away and eventually after grinding into the polycarbonate, turning Terrorhurtz back over once more. Terrorhurtz fires the axe trying to self-right but Gehenna continues to nag at the bottom of him and is making little snips in the base panel, the drum seemingly not for big damage but capable of doing some accumulatively. Gehenna slams Terrorhurtz into the side wall once again and sparks fly as the angle grinders meet the axe head. Gehenna has to back off and only then is it that Terrorhurtz can right himself once more, wobbling slightly before going the correct way up, but Gehenna had backed away and turned around and comes back in with the flipper again, getting a good flip in this time, but the circulaw saw dock prevents him from getting what looks like it would have been a clean out of the arena shot.

Terrorhurtz gets back on it's wheels yet AGAIN, but still AJ will not let Gehenna relent for a second, getting back underneath Terrorhurtz and driving him down to the far end where Sgt Bash sits in his corner patrol zone. Gehenna fires the flipper but Steve pre-emptively fires the axe which takes out the sergeant's flamethrower! Gehenna flips again now that Terrohurtz's axe is intertwined with the house robots maimed weapon and once again, completely unintentionally, this causes Sgt Bash great harm, as the axe head pulls him over as Terrorhurtz is toppled. Terrorhurtz self-rights almost immediately, only for Shunt to muddy the situation by flying down from the other end of the arena and slamming into Gehenna who hits the wall and is axed by Shunt. It's totally fair as Gehenna WAS sat in the CPZ, but it lets Terrorhurtz out, while Gehenna gets swiped ineffectually by Shunt. Terrorhurtz seems to take it upon himself to ram the dead frame of Sergeant Bash back over, presumably thinking that he would help to do some more damage to Gehenna, but he soon realised that this plan is not going to work and leaves for the middle of the arena to plan his next attack for when Gehenna makes his probable escape.

Gehenna manages to swivel his way around in the CPZ and as Shunt's axe comes down, making barely a mark in the titanium and vanadium alloy armour, for the last time, Gehenna slides underneath him and throws him over. Both the house robots are dead at the hands of the house robots. Gehenna begins to start driving up towards the top of the arena but Terrorhurtz comes across attempting to intercept, and slamming down the axe, only for him to miss. This allows Gehenna to pick up a burst of speed which he uses to run up to the top of the arena and hit the pit release but as the floor descendes and the chorus of air raid sirens wail out, Terrorhurtz has managed to catch him again and slams the axe down, another 2 blows leave another small dent, and enlarge one of the little slices. Gehenna slams into reverse again, scratching up the front panels once more with the drum, but Terrorhurtz tries to veer out the way, succeeds and Gehenna nearly flies down into the pit he just opened himself!

He turns around, only to see Terrorhurtz coming towards him trying to shove him in, but he drives forwards and gets the wedge underneath, driving him over towards the wall again and flipping. Once more he doesn't quite get the angle right, but this time he just spins on a sixpence and slams into Terrorhurtz with the drum, the first couple of impacts scratching the sides before putting a slight bend in the corner of one of the skirts with the next attack. Terrorhurtz self-rights once again in this fight and looks to get an angle to bring the axe down once again only to see the Refbot's counter timing down for the end of the fight. As Terrorhurtz tries to get one last sneaky axe blow in, the voice from above shouts his last command.

CEASE!

Well that was a truly epic battle, let's see how the judges scored the match.

Damage -
Gehenna - 4 x 4 = 16
Terrorhurtz - 6 x 4 = 24

Terrorhurtz caused slightly more damage with the small slices into the top of Gehenna, than Gehenna did with the scratching with the drum.

Aggression -
Gehenna - 6 x 3 = 18
Terrorhurtz - 4 x 3 = 12

Gehenna's attacks were slightly more brutal in their consistency as opposed to Terrorhurtz's slightly more opportunistic ones

Control -
Gehenna - 6x 2 = 12
Terrorhurtz - 4x 2 =8

Gehenna although making a couple of mistakes, would quite often rectify that by foiling Terrorhurtz's advances, which although Terrorhurtz did as well, the frequency makes the judges lean slightly towards Gehenna

Style -
Gehenna - 5 x 1 = 5
Terrorhurtz - 5 x 1 = 5

Both robots made stylish manouvres in different ways, Terrorhurtz with the jumping attacks and the self-righting, Gehenna with its more sleak and smooth flipping style.

Totals -
Gehenna - 51
Terrorhurtz - 49

Well it could not get ANY closer. The number 3 seeds are through by the skin of their teeth, while Terrorhurtz must feel truly gutted to go home here.


And after that great match, the show must go on as SOTAR, who we saw so beat Equinox so violently and impressively, take on the number 17 seeds, Flick of the Wrist.

In shape, Flick of the Wrist is a Tornado clone, but don't let that fool you as he's so much more. a 2WD machine with 6 wheels for added grip, Flick of the Wrist is armed with 2 fully invertible hardox lifting spikes. The 7mm armour is useful as well. It has no damaging weaponry however and the high top speed can make it tricky to control.

Previous History - Only made it to round 2 of the last wars, but gets its seeding based on good past performances, getting to the heat final of series 3 and the last 8 of series 4.

Let's switch over to the arena, where your house robots for this fight are Sir Killalot and Growler.

3...
2...
1...
Activate!

Before anyone even has time to blink Flick of the Wrist is right on Tracy's case, attempting to stop SOTAR spinning up with the forks fully out in the air, seemingly being used as some kind of battering ram. It stops the ring from spinning and Tracy clearly wasn't expecting that as she hammers frantically at the controls trying to give herself the space she needs to spin up SOTAR's immensely powerful spinning ring. Martijn isn't about to give her that opportunity though if he can help it and so slams back into SOTAR, this time with the forks down, trying to get underneath the barely spinning shell as one of the slow moving teeth just knocks him away gently. The shell still isn't up to speed though, and this is exactly what Martijn needs if he's going to take Flick of the Wrist to a 3rd heat final and into an all-seeded final at that.

There's one problem though. Although Martijn is doing everything in the book and more in these early stages, the shape of SOTAR, as well as the low teeth moving, however slowly, means it's very difficult to get a hold of and so all Martijn can do is to attempt to manouvre SOTAR towards something through a series of constant forward and reverse manouvres. He's accepting that for now though and once again slams into SOTAR, knocking her slightly further back towards the near end of the arena where BOTH house robots are currently choosing to sit. The same process and again SOTAR is knocked further back, this hit even knocking the Team Alt creation slightly off balance but only for a split second.

Marrtijn continues his onslaught but this time for whatever reason, Tracy just manages to move enough to get out of the way and Martijn slightly overruns his charge. Tracy begins moving away far enough to make some headway, and Martijn has to turn and then come in for another charge. He keeps the forks to the ground on the off-chance that they may find their way underneath but as he charges at SOTAR, Tracy has got her ring going right up towards its peak speed. As Martijn's forks make contact with the teeth of SOTAR, both robots are spun away, but Flick of the Wrist's forks are clearly up to the job as they seem to have taken little to no damage from that attack. The number 15 seeds are clearly extolling the virtues of Hardox weaponry.

Flick of the Wrist finds himself with the rear pointing towards SOTAR and so rather than waste time turning around to use the fork, he accelerates backwards and slams once more into SOTAR. Again both robots seem completely fine, though upon expection of the replacy it becomes obvious that SOTAR has put a big dent in the bottom part of the rear pointed body shell. Martijn knows that he can't take too many more of these hits, but SOTAR has other ideas and as Flick of the Wrist comes in again she glides to the side and the teeth make a clean contact with the side of Flick of the Wrist, using its near top speed to scythe through the 7mm titanium shell, showing us once again just how good this spinner is. Martijn comes in yet again, this time with the forks again, and once again they're up to the challenge, sending both spinning away scathe-free, only SOTAR it seems has spun dangerously close to Growler's CPZ!

Tracy again is seen hammering maniacally attempting to find a way to get her combatant out of trouble but Flick of the Wrist is on her like a shot, this time using the rear of the robot again. Another slice later, Flick of the Wrist is knocked away from the CPZ, whilst SOTAR is knocked right back into it. Flick of the Wrist sees this as his chance to peg it down the end of the arena to hit the pit release button, but as he streaks across the arena floor, SOTAR escapes almost immediately from the near jaws of doom. Martijn has no choice but to commit to hitting the button, but as the sirens screech, they're nearly drowned out by the sound made by SOTAR at what, if not full speed, must be terrifyingly near to it. Martijn knows his forks and actuator could be vulnerable at that speed and so tries to reverse into SOTAR, which impacts against the angle again, sending bits of metal flying.

The hit has sent Flick of the Wrist slamming into the side wall, forks first, and presents SOTAR with the perfect opportunity to slam into Flick of the Wrist again. She does so, and angle or no angle, what was left of the panel underneath the rear point is flung across the arena, and Martijn is slammed from close quarters into the wall, this time with the wall protecting his now exposed rear. The impact has also flung SOTAR into the angle grinder though, with no room to spin! Martijn sees his opportunity and uses the forks to slam into SOTAR slamming Tracy's slowed aggressor into the angle grinder again, and for the first time in the fight, managing to get underneath it.

Flick of the Wrist slowly lifts it's prongs and edges slowly forward whilst turning. Martijn gradually sets himself up for an attack on the pit and with several slow adjustments manage to get himself perfectly lined up. He struggles to control the speed of his machine and so jerkily sets about getting the Canadian opposition towards the pit. He's nearly there when he puts his proverbial foot down slightly too much and rolls SOTAR over. Both roboteers have a brief panic, one trying to escape, one in trying to win, but try as Tracy might, it's too late as with one last speedy shunt, Flick of the Wrist prongs his way into his opponent, as well as into the heat final, while Tracy finds it's a long way to fall into oblivion.

CEASE

Flick of the Wrist isn't arthritic yet. A valiant effort from SOTAR, but she's out. Flick of the Wrist go through to the heat final.

And what a heat final it promises to be:

Gehenna 2 (3) v Flick of the Wrist (15)

Thoughts, Tactics, Predictions, Ergonomic keyboard?

[kodster]

bugger, there goes my prediction streak...well written though!

I don't think Gehenna can do much to Flick, I'll reluctantly say Flick of the Wrist will win.

[andrewj]

Gehenna 2 vs. Flick of the Wrist

I don't know whether it will work or not, but my aim will be to try and stack Flick of the Wrist up against the arena wall. I will use my maneuverability advantage to keep my wedge facing Flick of the Wrist, so that when it tries to push me, it should just ride straight up the wedge, and then I can push it around myself.

Good luck, Marti.

Remember that pak choi I gave you, Zarte...

[joey_picus]

Marti sez: (for it is he, he cannot log in from his present computer): okay, keep on facing his sides and rear corners with my forks... the rear corners should be safe since the reach of that spinner isnt awefully big, lift, push, use the hazards :P if he wedges me, I have my design such that my rear wheels will keep contact with the ground a la Tornado, so drive off ASAP, good luck Andy!

[Zarte]

Welcome, welcome and welcome again to the Heat B final of ZFC where you join us for what promises to be a fantastic heat final here today.

Our number 3 seeds, Gehenna 2 are first in the arena, and in their only fight so far, they got past Terrorhurtz in the narrowest possible judges decision.

Their opponents, are the number 15 seeds, Flick of the Wrist, whose invertible design and lifting forks got them past SOTAR in a fantastic battle.

Your house robots today will be Mr. Psycho and once again, Growler.

Here we go.

3...
2...
1...
Activate!

It's Flick of the Wrist who gets out of the blocks in the quicker fashion, but Gehenna isn't out much slower and the 2 meet almost immediately straight away and in a bizarre meeting of metal minds, Flick of the Wrist drives straight over the top. That was incredbinly reminiscent of Panic Attack v Cassius, and you could even see that these 2 are the modern day enhancements of those 2 machines. Gehenna slams into reverse and begins shoving Flick of the Wrist backwards, but unlike against Terrorhurtz, where the drum helped AJ hold on when shoving, the angles of Flick of the Wrist give very little assistance to Gehenna's attempt to get a hold on this fight, and so Flick of the Wrist soon manages to use his speed to get out of the way. He tries to turn into the side of Gehenna 2 , but whilst Flick of the Wrist has the speed, Gehenna has the manouvreability, and AJ just turns on a dime and has the wedge facing Flick of the Wrist.

Martijn tries to turn away but AJ manages to get underneath the forks and slides underneath him. Flick of the Wrist tries to reverse, but AJ sees this coming and fires the flipper for the first time in the fight. Flick of the Wrist is turned over, but although he's invertible, it gives AJ a chance to get underneath him again from the back. This also gives AJ the advantage of preventing Flick of the Wrist being able to reverse away, or so AJ thinks. Gehenna tries to go into forward drive but whether through luck or by Martijn's design, Flick of the Wrist's spikes are grinding against the wooden floor, and making it nigh on impossible for Gehenna to make any sort of advance whatsoever. AJ fires the flipper again in this instance, and once more Flick of the Wrist just gracefully rolls over. Martijn slams straight into forward gear, and this time he has somehow managed to find his way underneath the wedge, and tries shoving him forwards, whilst using the forks to lift him up in the aim of keeping him under his control. This fails however, as the slight elevation and the speed going forwards just sends Gehenna 2 rolling onto his back, Gehenna 2 fires the flipper almost immediately, and with a bit of a leap, lands almost perfectly on his wheels first time. No sooner has he landed though, but Flick of the Wrist is straight back on him.

This time he finds himself trying to slam into the back of Gehenna 2 with his prongs, but as his prongs are still slightly raised, they just meet the spinning drum, scattering the arena with sparks. It also lifts the prongs slightly further, but even so, Gehenna 2 cannot deny the immense power of Flick of the Wrist's magmotors and finds himself being rammed wedge-first into the wall. He tries to push back but can't, allowing Flick of the Wrist a chance to manouvre in at the side. Gehenna tries to reverse, but can't escape the lifting forks, and with a slight shove forwards into the angle grinders that are sticking out from the wall, he lifts Gehenna up and gently over. AJ tries to self-right straight away but the base just hits the wall. He fires 2 or 3 times in a row, but seems to be stuck in between the gap between the arena wall and the angle grinders and can't quite seem to wobble free.

Martijn knows that this fight is now his to lose, and decided to stay back rather than trying to go in for the kill and ppossibly surrendering his advantage. AJ is still firing the flipper continuously, but it seems to be showing a decline in power, and the look etched on his face is one that accepts his imminent defeat. The Refbot comes in, and as the countdown begins, Flick of the Wrist begins doing a little victory dance, before, as the count reaches 10, raising his forks in the air victoriously. But it doesn't end there, oh no, not for Gehenna. Mr. Psycho comes over and begins bashing it with the hammer, doing nothing more than leaving a great dent, but humiliating Gehenna even further. He then scoops him up in the claw, and hoists him up into the air, parading him around the outside of the arena to the audience, seemingly as a reminder to what happens to robots who try and attack the house robots as Gehenna did to Shunt in round 2. Finally, he lowers the arm to outside of the arena and lets him go, just to remind AJ of the out of the arena he failed to achieve in this series.

CEASE!

Gehenna's seeding is reduced to psyhotic mockery. Flick of the Wrist extends 2 fingers to the number 3 seed, and takes his number 15 self into the semi-finals.

And so the heat C line-up, with a slight change due to a clash.

Bloody Frigid v Compression
Super Gore Eahta v Nurse Pain

Round 2

Back To Rock III (5) v ???
Spin Dash Unleashed (17) v ???

Thoughts, Tactics, Predictions, Paper Bags?

[kodster]

woohoo! is my prediction streak going to start up again?!? :P

er, already given tactics and predictions, good luck everybody and well done so far Zarte

EDIT: ooh...I never noticed the switch :| err...

Bloody Frigid vs. Compression

Again, depends on who gets under who. Frigid seems to put more weight at the front so I'll go with Tracy I guess. :|

[Zarte]

Sorry Lewis, you hadn't posted when I had to change the draw. I only just noticed Traffic Warden and Spin Dash in the same heat.