The Fowler Fic War Series 5

[kodster]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

OMG! Thats hilarious! I really did not expect that. Commiserations to AJ, Ill buy you a can of Magners anyway; you were robbed. Brilliant fight Matty.

Gravity (15) v SBPOTFR

SBPOTFR...is that a Frank machine? Err...Gravity FTW?

Archangel of the Abyss (31) v Megalodon Maneater

If Richie can grab him once, then the fight will go to him as thats all hell need. Im thinking thatll happen. Richard to win.

[matty_haka]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Heat 8 - Round 2 Battle 1 - Gravity (15) v NSBFR-X (apologies for mistake in the billing)

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

And straight away were off, with interchangeable-weaponed rambot up against insanely powerful flipperbot. Straight away the 2 machines come out of their blocks at a great pace, NSBFR-X especially who seems to be the quicker of the 2 machines in the arena today. Gravity immediately starts dancing around, evidently trying to catch an opportunity to get underneath the practically impenetrable skirts, whilst Frank just allows his machine to keep spinning to keep the front facing. Neither machine seems in any great hurry to make an attack and both spin around tentatively. This is currently more like a secondary school amateur dance piece as opposed to a fight. NSBFR-X then overturns slightly in his attempt to keep the wedge facing, allowing Gravity to fly in towards the sign. Frank turns his machine around just in time to get Gravity on the wedge, but he flies almost straight off it, albeit not without a quick lick across his base plate with the bar which Frank is using today. Gravity runs away and with WJ at the controls seems baffled as to how to get underneath his opponent.

Frank seems relaxed in his control pod, seemingly just looking around for an opportunity, and its not long before one presents itself. Gravity spins around, and as is his tendency to do so, does a little wheely, which is all the invitation Frank needs to slip under the side and slam him onto his side against the fence. The bar then immediately makes itself useful as it goes straight into one of the pneumatic tyres, puncturing it in no time at all. Frank backs off allowing Gravity to get himself off the wall with his flipper, and he immediately drives off, the puncture not having too much effect so far seemingly. NSBFR-X is following him though, and as WJ moves his machine away slide straight under the raised rear of Gravity, sending him flying into the fence again once more with a hugely impressive burst of speed and acceleration from NSBFR-X. This time Gravity just bounces into the wall and back over NSBFR-X but its very evident whos on top of this fight right now.

Gravity moves away again but this time the effect of the puncture is beginning to show as he starts hopping around like a man with one leg shorter than the other. Give that robot a coaster! NSBFR-X this itme has no problems in getting underneath him, but this time the bar smashes into the polycarbonate instead, a large gash into the bulletproof plastic armour adding yet more discomfort to Gravitys present fall. NSBFR-X backs off, to get the bar up to speed, and charge in again, WJ turns his wedge to face but the spin ends up lifting him into wheelie position again and Frank delivers another blow to the base. He stays underneath him this time and slams him into the pit release button, causing Gravity to get stuck on his back against the wall. WJ fires the flipper and ends up doing a weird backwards Mute-esque jump straight over NSBFR-X, sending him onto the pit. The pit starts descending and Gravity manages to use all the ramining traction from his one good, and one punctured wheel to escape. He hobbles off limply again but NSBFR-X soon turns him around by getting under the side, and this time theres no escaping destiny for the Dutch real machine, as he falls into the pit, with just enough time to say goodbye as it finishes descending

CEASE

Gravity wishes hed never seen THAT. NSBFR-X falls into place in the heat final.

[matty_haka]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Heat 8 - Round 2 Battle 2 - Archangel of the Abyss (31) v Megalodon Maneater

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

And were off! With both of machines far more cumbersome than the 2 from our previous battle theres no wonder that we see a far slower start this time around, and its Archangel of the Abyss, nippy for a walker at 12mph, who immediately starts bobbling around the arena on its parsley cutter like legs, whilst Megalodon Maneater tries to catch it. The wedge gets to the lower ring before Alexs Machine has got up to speed too quickly, but he still finds himself being spun away with the 4mm Hardox taking a small swipe. Alex tries to turn away but with manouvreability being the main issue for this particular walker, its not long before Megalodon Maneater is hot on his tails again, again sliding underneath with the wedge, and again being knocked away with a couple of scratches to the wedge. Rich curses his luck as he cant get close enough to get a good grip, whilst Alex curses his luck that his top ring isnt low enough to take a good swipe at oncoming wedges.

Rich is persistent though and before long, once again hes driving Megalodon Maneater into Archangel of the Abyss again, and yet again hes sent spinning away by the half sped up shell. Whilst Archangel has been the better controlled and more damaging machine so far, Megalodon Maneater has been by far th emore aggressive, yet it seems at this point in time like it wont be easy for either machine to mount an overly meaningful attack on the other. Rich briefly spins around to show the back of his machine to Archangel of the Abyss, seemingly trying to provoke Archangel into making a charge but Alex isnt falling for it and so happily scuttles back on his way. This differing tactic has given Archangel of the Abyss the chance to get his bottom shell up to its full 2500 revolutions per minute speed though, and Rich curses his luck, knowing that his attempt to swing the fight in his favour has actually given Alex an opening.

Alex turns his machine to face his foe, and then stops, seemingly baiting Megalodon Maneater into making a move. Rich is just as hesitant though, and seems to be contemplating the best plan of action. He moves in closer, but this just inspires Alex to trun slightly, changing direction minimally, but throwing Rich off course. A similar manouvre, with Megalodon Maneater sheepishly edging closer, provokes exactly the same reaction with Alex just making slight adjustments to his bearings. Finally Rich makes a bolder move to come in, but Alex gets his machine going fowards and the change in angle becomes clear, as he manages to tear into the bottom side corner of the wedge, a small gouge and some bent metal on the edge of the 4mm hardox armour, showing just how much potential is in those rings. Richs robot has spun away, and is just regaining control, when a scuttlign Archangel catchs up with him and slams into him again, this time at the rear. A scratch to the paint and a couple of nuts and bolts follow but nothing more than superficial.

The previous attack has sent Megalodon Maneater spinning into a wall, and losing its bearings. Archangel sees his chance to try and grab total control of the fight and comes in again, slamming the other side panel. Again more paint flakes and a couple of bolts as Archangel of the Abyss manages to damage his foe, but not seriously. The last impact sends both machines spinning into the wall, but this actually aids Rich as his robot is stopped spinning by an angle grinder and he immediately charges at Archangel of the Abyss, pinning him on the wedge and blocking him in with another angle grinder. The crusher comes down for the first time in the fight and immediately crumples through the 25mm polycarbonate on the top, cracking straight through it as if it was nothing more than a sheet of tin foil. Megalodon Maneater then performs some Razer-esque showmanship, lifting the arm up and taking Archangel with it, displaying him to the crowd before pushing it back down again. He jams his back against the wide wall before lifting the arm again, this time releasing his prey, knowing that he was never going to be able to get him to the pit before the anti-pinning rule came into play.

He exploits the rules though by backing him into the sidewall meaning that the only route out is straight back onto the wedge. Archangel however realises that he can exploit that and revs up the shells before driving straight up the wedge, and smashing straight into the ram of the hydraulic crusher. Immediately hydraulic fluid or some such liquid seems to be dripping from somewhere as Archangel of The Abyss falls off the side of the wedge and onto his back through the impact. As he uses the arm to self-right, Megalodon Maneater manages to catch him again on the wedge but when he tries to move the crucher down, the hydraulics system just wont respond, seemingly leaving the Maneater as a vegetarian anarexic. Knowing that being a pushbot is now his only shot Megalodon Maneater tries to turn and edge the 150kg machine towards the pit but instead Archangel of the Abyss just revs up the shell again and drives back into the claw, again throwing himself off but this time onto his wheels.

With the crusher bust and a wedge his foes only weapon Archangel of the Abyss decides to go for broke and charges along the side of his sluggish opponent, shearing a gash into the 4mm hardox as the shell gets up to full speed. Megalodon Maneater barely has time to turn before hes coming back the other way and shearing at the same side panel again, this time an entire side panel coming off as Archangel manages to pull the main strengthening bolts away. With time running out Megalodon Maneater knows that hed rather brave a judges decision than need an entire rebuild and so just starts spinning away from Archangel, keepign the wedge facing under all circumstances, and point blank refusing to show him the now exposed mechanics down the left hand side. Archangel manages to get one more attack in, gently denting the wedge, but this is all the time there is in the right, as the Refbot counts down to the end and the fight comes to a climax.

CEASE

Over to the judges

Damage - Archangel caused vastly more superficial damage but a judges report shows that 1 of Archangels 4 drive motors was damaged by a crushing attack

AotA - 6/10 * 5 - 30
MM - 4/10 * 5 - 20

Aggression - Both machines seemed equally aggressive, Megalodon more at the start of the fight, Archangel more towards the end

AotA - 5/10 * 4 - 20
MM - 5/10 * 4 - 20

Style - Megalodons showmanry tips it slightly in his favour, though Archangels graceful self-righting swings it back to almost even

Aota - 4/10 * 3 - 12
MM - 6/10 * 3 - 18

Control - Megalodon Maneater was the better controlled for most of the fight, but the panic caused by Archngel towards the end swings it back a little.

AotA - 4/10 * 2 - 8
MM - 6/10 * 2 - 12

Dominance - Megalodon Maneater was never really on top of Archangel whereas Archangel was definitely on top at the end

AotA - 7/10 * 1 - 7
MM - 3/10 * 1 - 3

Totals -

AotA - 77
MM - 73

So there you have it, a much closer decision than people wouldve thought but it goes nonetheless to Archangel of the Abyss!

And so the heat final

Archangel of the Abyss (31) v NSBFR-X

Thoughts, Tactics, Predictions, semi-skimmed milk?

[kodster]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Completely wrong, oh well.

Archangel of the Abyss (31) vs. Never Seen Before Franks Red Xylophone

The xylophone to get booted out of the competition and replaced by the actual NSBFR-X, where it will be discombobulated into a series of increasingly smaller parts before being given the countout.

[joey_picus]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

I think NSBFR-X could actually have it here, with a bit of luck it could stop Archangel from reaching full power and get it to either break down or go down the pit.

[pcbore]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

If memory serves one of my attatchments is a nice solid scoop, so Ill use that and box-rush the hell out of the angel

[matty_haka]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Heat 8 - Heat Final - Archangel of the Abyss (31) v NSBFR-X

3...
2...
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Activate!

And the last heat final in this half of the draw is under way. Immediately its NSBFR-X using his solid hardox scoop that makes the quicker start who flies across into Archangel of the Abyss who has barely had time to move away and get his flywheel up to speed. Just like the last fight, Archangels top ring is absolutely no use whatsoever against a wedge shape, whilst the bottom ring has no time to get up to speed, meaning that Frank is able to get his machine to box rush the number 31 seeds straight into the wall, the impact managing to get him underneath the Tengu-style foam skirt on the Archangel. Frank tries to turn away to keep Alexs machine on the wedge, but soon realises hes not got room to turn himself and the walker around and so has to back off. Archangel uses the opportunity to rush out of the genereal side area of the arena and manages to get the shell slightly more up to speed before Frank comes at him again, this time contact with the hardox scoop making light sparks, but other than being spun away Frank emerges from the attack unscathed.

Alex uses the opportunity to start twirling aroundand getting the bottom shell up to speed, and this time when Frank tries to box rush him again, he has time to dodge the attack and go straight down the side, very reminiscent of his last fight, however this time the damage is far more evident as he immediately leaves a huge gash down almost the entire length of NSBFR-Xs side panel. Frank seems to immediately have been made a little sheepish by this attack and goes more defensive in his approach, running across the arena, first turning on the arena spinner, before running to the other side of the arena and slamming into the pit release button as well, seemingly believing hazards are his best chance of defeating the number 31 seeds. This has given Alex all the time he needs to get his 2 shells, with a combined mass of over 50kg up to full speed though, and he charges towards NSBFR-X as NSBFR-X charges back directly at him with the scoop facing. The 2 robots collide and after a loud smack, NSBFR-X is sent spinning off with a slight dent to the hardox scoops side.

However the impact seems to have done very little to slow the weapon down and before NSBFR-X has even regained its sense of direction Alex is back on his tail again, this time slamming into the the back corner, sending the vertex of the robot inwards. A gash has appeared but the damage is more indicative of a sledgehammer rather than a spinning ring. And immediately it seems in this single attack on the 5mm titanium, Archangel of the Abyss has wrecked any chances that Frank had of winning the fight as when Archangel backs off for a second, Frank tries to steer and it immediately appears that the slam has thrown off wheel alignment altogether as he can only go in circles. It turns out later that that sigle attack has bent the axle slighty upwards and so only one wheel is touching the floor.

Frank continues to try and drive on with only one wheel on his wagon, but Archangel of the Abyss just bides him time. Alex has an almost sadistic grin appearing on his face, as he edges ever closer to the uni-directional NSBFR-X, seemingly waiting for an opporunity to come in on the kill altogether. Realising that one attack on the back corner was enough to take out a wheel, hes aiming for the other, again trying to negate the skirts as its the angle that he can get to them from when theyre mounted to the rounded sides. One attack is all it takes though as timing his charge (cmon walkers dont charge :P) he makes contact with the rear edge and goes straight through the 5mm titanium once again, pushing part of the back and part of the rounded side in on itself. This time the damage is noticeable as the wheel jolts forward and digs into the metal around the edge of the slot in the top that makes it invertible. 2 good shots are all its taken for Archangel to dispose of Franks machine, however the house robots are yet to have their fun.

Dead Metal comes out and immediately starts digging the saw in, whilst Shunt hammers away with little effect on top of the wheels. Eventually they have enough of disembowlling the carcass and so instead decide to nudge him onto the arena flipper. The flipper fires and NSBFR-X goes sawing through the air. Dead Metal catches up with him and decides that eough is enough, that NSBFR-X is well and truly dead, and due for his burial, so as he closes him in the jaws, he gives him a nudge forwards and pushes once, twice, and into the pit of oblivion and out of the competition.

CEASE

NSBFR-X makes it obvious why theres ex in his name. Archangel of the Abyss rises into the series semi-finals.

And so were half way there! Lets remember our 8 semi-finalists to date as these are the 8 machines that will be fighting it out in the first semi-final

Shovearound 2 (1)
Whirligig (5)
GeForce (19)
SoR (25)
Back To Rock (27)
The Epidemic (29)
Archangel of the Abyss (31)
Kan Opener (Unseeded)

So will the precedent of the lower seeded robot going through from the ehat continue in the second half of the draw? Well next up we have round 2 of heat 9, so lets reminds ourselves of the draw.

Translator v Shadow Zone
Y4 v Nitro-gene

Thoughts, Tactics, Predictions, Kleenex?

[paulc]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Wow - you know a competitions been running along time when youve made it from Nitro-Gene to Nitro-Gene 5.0

Jsut simply get to the sides of Y4, push to the side and flip - nothing fancy, I just want to win quickly so I can face Shadow Zone in the heat final.

Good luck Chris, and great fights Matty.

[kodster]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

God, I feel old.

The Translator vs. Shadow Zone

The original Shadow Zone was meant to be one hell of a box-rusher, and thats what its gonna do. Bulldoze into it and shove all around the arena, but preferably into the pit if I can do that quickly.

Y4 vs. Nitro-Gene

4 redesigns in under a year...dear god, even Im not that bad.

Well we know Pauls seriously improved with the current NG, but the original is...not so good. Y4 to win, I think.

[joey_picus]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Keep it up Matty

The Translator and Nitro-Gene to meet in the heat final here? These are close.

[majinb]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

in my earlier (2 years ago or so? lol) predictions I said Shadow Zone might edge this heat and Im gonna stand by my words , epic battles Matty

[matty_haka]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Heat 9 - Round 2 Battle 1 - The Translator v Shadow Zone

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

And from the off its Shadow Zone who#s straight out of the blocks charging at the Translator who is immediately spinning around every which way but staright trying to avoid the impending box rush attack.Its not long before AJ has managed to get his machine to flail around enough that he#s up to a very reasonable speed however and he soon slams into the side of Shadow Zone. Tearing the skirt off in one hit. Kody looks panicked at the power of his foe, before spinning around, seemingly believing that the rear flipper may provide a more solid and sturdy opponent to the irresistible force of the translating... translator. AJ rubs his hands together with glee before realising hes supposed to be using them to drive the machine. He tries to swivel around again and manages to catch the same side again which was now exposed from the skirt being removed and crashes straight into it, a huge gash appearing in the side panel. Kody tries to spin again to get either his front or rear wedge into play but to no avail whatsoever as he he cannot keep tabs on the madly spinning Translator.

AJ knows that all he has to do is to get one decent attack on the internals and his opponents dead. He gets spinning and is almost at full speed when Shadow Zone charges at him staright first. Theres an almighty crash as the front wedge of Shadow Zone meets the teeth of The Translator and both robots fly away, Shadow Zone going airbound and landing on his feet in the middle of the arena, whilst The Translator... has just stopped... AJs machine has hit the wall and instantly stopped. Theres a brief flicker of life from one side, but soon it becomes stationary once more. Although it will later transpire that the force of the collision of the wall was enough to snap one of the drive chains, for now AJ has to settle for his extremely powerful machine being knocked out in round 2 when really it deserved much better... but thats robot wars and mechanical breakdowns for you...

CEASE

Me - The Translator? Je ne sais pas. Shadow Zone goes sonic speed into the heat final

[matty_haka]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Heat 9 - Round 2 Battle 2 - Y4 v Nitro-Gene

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

Straight from the off its a battle of 2 flippers, and it immedately becomes clear that both machines are just waiting for the right moment to use their precious flips as neither seems to want to make an early charge and expend any of the robotic golddust known as carbon dioxide gas. Itll be interesting to see which of these 2 unusually shaped box flippers will come out on top, though its Nitro-Gene who eventually comes out and makes the first meaningful attack as he slims under the 8mm ground clearance of Y4 and sends him actually flying through the air, nearly getting him out of the arena from nowhere near it whatsoever. Y4 does his best mute impression and self-rights on the 3rd attempt but Nitro-Gene is right back on his case though and manages to get himself right back on the tail of Y4. Y4 performs a quick about turn though and somehow manages to spin to the side of Nitro-Gene from where he gives him a nudge and attempts to turn him over and onto his back. This plan fails though and the fight continues as normal.

Nitro-Gene doesnt seem happy that Y4 has managed to exploit any kind of weakness in him and immediately starts going to try and rectify this, skidding around the arena with his vulcalon coated wheels, revving up the etek motors which are providing him with huge speed and acceleration around the ring. He makes another charge only for Y4 to dodge and send Nitro-Gene skidding straight into the wall. Y4 immediately uses the opportunity to try and get underneath the pointed rear end of Nitro-Gene and he fires the flipper, getting Nitro-Gene to stand up against the wall. He slides underneath again to try and throw him out of the arena properly this time, but gravity brings Nitro-Gene back down and he ends up falling over the side of Y4s flipper and back onto his wheels, albeit the wrong way up. He self-rights to get himself back on all 4 wheels and runs off again, Paul looking increasingly frustrated with how the fight is panning out.

Y4 chases Nitro-Gene, Chris clearly feeling hes got some momentum going and so looking to carry it on whilst he can. He charges across the arena, attempting to get under the back of Nitro-Gene once more but Paul spins his machine round and the last possible moment and Y4 ends up getting straight onto the wedge of his foe and promptly being rammed into the fence. Paul tries to flick the flipper to get him out at speed but it just results in Y$ going over sideways much like Nitro-Gene did earlier and onto his back. This time Chris manages to self-right his machine at the first attempt, but unlike previously where he managed to run off, he just gets himself in trouble by landing straight back on the wedge of Nitro-Gene, with Paul hammering away at the controls, seemingly thanking his lucky stars for the fact that another good opportunity didnt get away from his quite as far as it did last time.

Looking around the arena he decides to play it safe and rather than trying to open the pit or flick his foe out of the arena he decides to charge into one o fthe CPZs. He makes a beeline for the opposite corner of the arena where Matilda is waiting and slams him into the corner of her wall, flicking him onto his side. Matilda then flies in with her rear end and gives him a hard smack with the flywheel which sends him flying back out again, leaving Nitro-Gene trapped in the corner. Paul panics as he tries to manouvre out of the CPZ only to end up underneath Matilda and with a gracefully effortless flick of the flipper sends her straight over. He comes out of the CPZ to be greeted by a non-moving opponent. He flicks Y4 over and he immediately self-rights, but as soon as he does so, theres no drive. This later transpires to be a battery connection, however its unclear whether it was the slam into the wall or the attack from MAtilda that did it.

CEASE

Y4 Y3 Y2 Y1... Why! The countdowns over! Nitro-genes got the DNA. Dutifully Nasty Aggression! Hes through to the heat final

And so the heat final of heat 9

Shadow Zone v Nitro-Gene

Thoughts, Tactics, Predictions, nasal strips?

[kodster]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

lmfao @ both results Very entertaining, though, good fights Matty.

Shadow Zone vs. Nitro-Gene

Right. If Matilda is in the arena or the house robots, shove him into her so her flywheel can do damage. Otherwise stay in the middle of the arena until Nitro-Genes near, then ram it into the walls, pit, or anything else nasty, then return to the centre of the arena. Dont wanna get flipped out of the arena, and Ill conserve my own flipper for self-righting, if I have to. Be as aggressive and annoying as I can.

And YES, dear god, I would LOVE a nasal strip. My poor nose is running like hell (and I need to catch it, hardy har :P)

Good luck Paul.

[paulc]

The Fowler Fic War Series 5

Well, just ram into him, get under, and THIS time go straight for an OOTA. I have the greater power, so I can outpush him in a head-on clash, and I have the more powerful weapon so an OOTA shouldnt be too tricky.

Good luck Kody