Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

[joey_picus]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

w00t! good fight Lewis and thanks for the teamup Andy Unfortunately, rules dictate that we must fight each other now, so...erm...unfortunately there aren't any house robots to kill, so I shall start in reverse, spin up, try and stay on the defensive until I can get the opportunity to - hopefully - break or remove Axeon's axe, and then flip ---eon over by means of the disc or by the flipper, and hopefully that may gain a victory. It's not gonna turn out like that though, I can tell XD

Best of luck Andy, may the best machine and driver win ^^

[andrewj]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Woo! Nice battle, Lewis.

Still Hurting vs. Axeon 4.0

Hopefully the angled design will mean that Still Hurting will find it difficult to land any meaningful hits on me. Even if it does, it has got to damage the 8mm thick Ti/V alloy. So with a bit of luck, I should be able to avoid any serious damage. Still Hurting is absolutely huge, so I am confident that I will be able to outmanoeuvre it anyway and avoid the disc. If I can get around the sides or the back, the plan will be to try and grapple it with the axe and push it into the hazards. It might be a struggle to get it down the pit, but I'm going to try! I don't know how useful attacking it with the axe will be, as the armour's quite tough, but I won't know unless I try...

Good luck, Joey.

[joey_picus]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

I think the real question is not 'who will win?' but 'how much of Still Hurting will Andy get down the pit?' ;P

I'm betting on one front arm and the disc...

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Welcome back to Annihilation, where the final battle of the heats is about to commence!

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus, Still Hurting!

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, Axeon 4.0!

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team ???
Booth Blue: Team Picus

3...
2...
1...
ACTIVATE!

And they€™re off! It€™s taken a ridiculously long time to get here, but we€™re finally at the end of the heats. Still Hurting is taking a somewhat peculiar approach to this fight, starting backwards with the flipper end facing Axeon 4.0. Andy on the other hand is planning all out aggression it would seem and zooms in on the attack, racing across the arena with Still Hurting in its sights. Joey reverses at his opponent while the disc spins up and tries to get the flipper underneath Team ???€™s entry, but Axeon dodges Still Hurting€™s huge frame and spins quickly to get at the side, swinging the axe over and clanging it against the titanium armour of Still Hurting, but the armour strength of Joey€™s machine doesn€™t make it easy for the axebot and Team Picus quickly turn now, bringing the powerful disc into play on the front of Axeon! An explosion of titanium sparks and the bots bounce away from each other, but there wouldn€™t appear to be any significant damage.

Andy is quick to recover and drives back at Still Hurting, dodging to the left and getting the chisel underneath the side of the wedged wheel pod. The axe comes over again and hits the side of Still Hurting€™s disc, stopping it in its tracks. Joey grimaces and tries to pull out of this compromising situation by spinning around, but Andy pushes to keep him under control and slams Still Hurting into the pit release button, pinning Team Picus€™ bot in place as he brings the axe over again and repeatedly does so, denting the titanium armour of the Nightmare-esque machine and causing Joey some worry! The crowd cheer enthusiastically and suddenly Still Hurting is venting steam! Could it be that the pneumatic system has been ruptured? The thin frame didn€™t provide much protection from the axe despite the strong armouring and now Still Hurting is left not only without it€™s secondary weaponry, but also a srimech! Luckily for Joey though Andy€™s robot has no flipping weapon and now gives up trying to grapple Still Hurting€™s tall shape with the axe and reverses away as the pinning time as elapsed.

Team Picus may have lost their flipper, but their disc is still fully operational and now spun up back to full speed, and Joey now turns it into Still Hurting, catching a lucky attack on the side and throwing the Thor-ish bot onto its back! The axe quickly fires and rights Andy€™s bot, but Joey rams in underneath with the now immobile flipper end and pushes Axeon onto the killsaws! A spray of sparks throws Axeon up onto its side, where it teeters for a split second before crashing onto its back again. Andy swiftly rights himself, but meets Still Hurting€™s disc again and is flung up onto the barrier in a cloud of golden sparks! This could be the turn around of the century as Axeon sensationally teeters precariously on the edge of oblivion, its axe fired and no good to it whatsoever as it hangs uselessly over the edge! It wobbles... it wobbles... Could it be a perfect weight balance? Unfortunately not for Team ???, as Axeon eventually falls over the rails and lands on the camera tracks in a shocking end to the final annihilator. Still Hurting survives despite the worrying damage and advances to the finals!

CEASE!

Axeon is axed; Still Hurting goes through!

Battleboard
Back to Rock III [#16] vs. Venus Fly Trap II vs. Spring-BOK! vs. Still Hurting vs. Mobile Failure vs. Axeon 4.0

And so, next up is the moment you€™ve all been waiting for, the Annihilation grand final!

Battleboard
Traffic Warden [#8] vs. Nidhogg Cubed vs. Gehenna vs. Jinx vs. PsycloniZer vs. Still Hurting

Tactics, predictions, excitement (?)

[kodster]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

uhh....tactics...

seeing as Joey and AJ have TWO bots in the final :P I'll go after one of their bots first.

Actually screw that. Get under things with the FORKZ, hammer to hell/pit. Or both. I'm not fussed. :P

Smashing as ever, Lewis.

[andrewj]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Excitement!

Traffic Warden vs. N³ vs. Gehenna vs. Jinx vs. PsycloniZer vs. Still Hurting

Well, it's quite an honour to have two entries in the final - time will tell whether that works in my favour or against me... Obviously, I am going to try and use it to my advantage. I see Traffic Warden as a threat to PsycloniZer, so in this round Gehenna and PsycloniZer will work together to try and knock it out. Anyone else that wants to help out is more than welcome. :wink: Gehenna's role will be to protect PsycloniZer until it has spun up to full speed and is ready to inflict some damage on Traffic Warden. The 4mm thick Titanium isn't the greatest armour in the world, so hopefully PsycloniZer can cause some serious damage to that and knock Traffic Warden out fairly quickly. If anyone is foolish enough to get in the way of PsycloniZer, it's Gehenna's job to fend them off. :P

Good luck guys, it should be fun!

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Thanks for the tactics guys

Anymore tactics/predictions/comments/cheesecake? :P

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Welcome back to Annihilation, where the finals are just getting underway! We€™re going to introduce our six murderous finalists and then take a glance back over the heats to see how they got here.

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus, the winner of Annihilator 1, Nidhogg Cubed!
This deadly clamping machine from Pontefract saw off 5 dangerous machines in the opening annihilator, surpassing all expectations as it€™s predecessor Nidhogg Evo crashed out in the opening melee of Season 2.0. Here however we saw a different story, as Nidhogg pitted Orka RV in the first round, starting a bloodthirsty campaign through the heats. Despite remaining rather quiet in the second round it delivered the death blow to #4 ranked Wedga Triton, and in the third round things looked worrying as Wedginator 9.0 openly targeted the promising machine and fed it to the ring spinners, which left it damaged and without effective lifting forks. However, Mornington Crescent ended up in the pit and Nidhogg went through again. The fourth round was horribly close, with Wedginator€™s spike being driven through the base of Nidhogg and doing damage to the internals, but Nidhogg already had a hold of SOTAR and so came on top of the three when it went to a judges decision. This decision left Nidhogg to face Wedginator in the final fight, and it was a fast-paced cliffhanger of a match that quickly ended with Wedginator in the pit, allowing Team Picus and Nidhogg Cubed to advance to the finals.

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, the winner of Annihilator 2 Gehenna!
The scary multi-weaponed wedge from Team ??? caused mayhem in its heat from the word activate, causing a lot of damage to Bloody Frigid early on after Minesweep3r was eliminated via default, allowing Liar 2 to send Bloody Frigid up and over the barrier with ease. Round 3 saw an even stronger showing as Gehenna heavily benefited from its spinning blade weapon, which allowed it to dominate the judges decision and advance to the fourth around on very strong terms. It proved its strength again here, stacking OID against the arena wall to score another knockout and so again Team ??? advanced to the next round, where they would face Liar 2 one-on-one. It was a tough and very close match which saw Gehenna lose its spinning blade after a huge flip from Liar 2, but Gehenna€™s aggression and dominance of the match allowed it to advance on the judges decision, scraping through to the finals by just 0.225 points!

From Etobicoke in Canada, representing Team Zlayerz, the winner of Annihilator 3, Jinx!
This powerful axe robot started very strongly in its first bout, causing a lot of damage to its opponents and remaining out of the pit - one of only 2 robots to do so in its opening fight! Bandwagon 2 went out via default and CrOokEd EvO hit the pit, leaving 4 robots left for round 3. Jinx again performed very well, digging its axe into Sheer Heart Attack 2 and eventually dropping it into the pit, but Leprosy Infection went down first courtesy of Spin Dash Unleashed. The fourth around saw Jinx flaunt its dominance over the other machines, pinning and pitting Steven McGregor€™s powerful rammer to face Sheer Heart Attack 2 one-on-one in the final match. The crowd enjoyed another good match, albeit another one that ended in a pitting as Sheer Heart Attack 2 hit the chasm and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, the winner of Annihilator 4, PsycloniZer!
The second finalist from Team ??? proved its power in the heats, helping to desecrate another entry from Team Dinowarriors, the powerful Die-Reverta Tops, while ISRRNY lost via default. The third round saw the end of MM€™s first ever realie, the Roaming Robots champion Iron Awe 5. It couldn€™t stand up the constantly destructive attacks from PsycloniZer and Corona and eventually found itself immobilised before being counted down and out. Those two FBS€™ then formed a deadly alliance against Lime-y in the fourth round, battering the green robot until its removable link came loose, setting up a dangerous FBS vs. FBS final. It was a deadly battle that ended with neither robots having fully operational weapons, and resulted in everything being demoted to a pushing match. PsycloniZer came out on top here, edging the omni-drive of Corona across the arena and into the pit.

From Glasgow in Scotland, representing Team Braveheart, ranked #8, the winner of Annihilator 5, Traffic Warden!
The fifth annihilator saw Mark Elam finally bow out of the competition as his failure to apppear again saw Cyrilium 5 eliminated via default. Soon after in the second round Under Pressure and Macduff the 5th were thrown from the arena by the dangerous Magnitude, Under Pressure hitting the camera tracks first and being eliminated. However, Macduff the 5th didn€™t last long in the arena in the round to follow, again getting flipped over the fence by the ever-so-scary Magnitude. However in the fourth around it was Traffic Warden that shone, grappling and pitting Gravity in no time at all, and it was just in time for the ranked machine to brighten up too - here was the final. Magnitude had promised so much throughout the annihilator but struggled to live up to it all in the final as Traffic Warden managed to immobilise the lifting tusk early on and managed to control the fight from there, not managing to pit Team Picus€™ entry but dominating the fight enough to win the judges decision convincingly.

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus, the winner of Annihilator 6, Still Hurting!
Team Braveheart didn€™t do so well in the final heat as Venus Flytrap II made an early exit, endind up in the pit. Spring-BOK! didn€™t last much longer in the arena and was lifted over and out by the powerful Back to Rock III, signalling an end to Team Dinowarriors in Annihilation. Mobile Failure was the next to fall, as the promising Axeon dug its axe into the base armour and dragged Team Alt€™s final entry into the pit. In the fourth round a deadly team-up was formed against Team Varying Everyday as Still Hurting used the vertical flywheel to good effect and caused huge damage to the titanium machine along with the violent power of Axeon, eventually immobilising rank #16. In the final fight against Axeon Still Hurting struggled, being pushed around and dominated by Team ???€™s entry for the first half of the match. However, one hit from the flywheel later on turned the match around and after a few consecutive attacks Axeon found itself balancing precariously on the barrier before it fell onto the camera tracks and out of the competition, sending another entry from Team Picus to the finals.

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team ???, Team Braveheart
Booth Blue: Team Picus, Team Zlayerz

3...
2...
1...
ACTIVATE!

It€™s the final! All six of these machines battled hard to get here and no one wants to be the first to go home. The annihilation stadium is quickly filled with a dangerous sounding whir as PsycloniZer, Gehenna and Still Hurting all spin up their weapons and move towards the centre of the arena. Gehenna seems to be acting as a shield to PsycloniZer, moving it in front of it as the fight gets underway and turning menacingly to scare off Jinx, who seemed to want to attack it. Kody thinks better of taking on this maniacal team-up and instead turns to face Still Hurting, who is driving across the arena to attack Traffic Warden. However, Kody gets up to him first and intercepts, bringing the axe over quickly! Unfortunately the height of Jinx next to Still Hurting and the fact it€™s right up close mean the axe head misses Still Hurting€™s body frame, but Kody still has a decent hold and now forces Joey sideways across the arena and into the spike strip! Joey grimaces and tries to pull Still Hurting out of this compromising situation, but fails. Nidhogg Cubed however wants to get in on the action and drives in on the attack of Jinx, getting the forks underneath the rear end of the pink machine and lifts it up into the air, removing the traction! The crusher now comes into play, digging slightly into the titanium but not penetrating too deeply this time due to the thickness of the material.

Meanwhile Traffic Warden is under attack from Team ???, despite launching an attack of its own on Still Hurting. Steven has managed to grab hold of Joey where Jinx left off and the hydraulic clamps activate, holding the Nightmare-esque machine in place with a vice-like grip. The spinning ring of PsycloniZer moves in though and strikes Traffic Warden, spinning the huge machine around and leaving a huge crater in the side! The hit also jars its grip on Still Hurting somewhat, but Steven holds on and now drives Joey€™s machine into PsycloniZer, stopping the spinner from getting back up to speed and with the superior drive Team Braveheart begin to shove both their adversaries across the arena! However, PsycloniZer is not alone and Gehenna comes in with an onslaught, driving the blade backwards into Traffic Warden and ripping a gash in the titanium armour! The damage is clear and Steven looks worried, but still holds his grip on Still Hurting, although the time limit on this embrace is ticking down. PsycloniZer is quickly back up to speed though and as Andy drives on the attack of Steven€™s machine his reasons for capturing Still Hurting become clear! Using Joey€™s machine as short of shield Traffic Warden spins and lets Team Picus take the brunt of the hit! PsycloniZer is thrown backwards by the hit and Still Hurting is knocked out of the ranked machine€™s grip, but not without taking damage! Unfortunately for Joey Still Hurting took Psy€™s hammer directly to the wheel and that could prove worrying... The wheel remains on the robot, but Team Picus€™ entry can only move in circles! It would appear that the hit knocked out the motor housed inside the wheel and now the Nightmare-esque design is basically immobile! The rules are clear on this one, that thing is down and out. However, it has to be counted out by the crowd before it can be eliminated, and it may not be the first one to fall by the look of things on the other side of the arena!

Nidhogg has a firm grip on Jinx and manouevres over to the pit release button, reversing gently against it while the crowd counts slowly on Still Hurting€™s life in Annihilation... 9, 8, 7...
Nidhogg turns, aided by that hydrostatic drive and approaches the pit itself... 6.. 5... 4...
Not much time left! Meanwhile PsycloniZer and Gehenna haven€™t let up on Traffic Warden either, with Gehenna pinning it against the wall, having gotten well underneath with the front wedge and is now flipping Steven€™s bot up against the rails! Traffic Warden€™s lifespan also now looks like it might be cut short as the ranked machine is pushed up onto the barrier by the front-hinged flipper of Gehenna and wobble precariously! 3...2... 1... Nidhogg has reached the pit, but just can€™t rip it€™s crusher free of Jinx, and the crowd finishes their count on Still Hurting, just as Traffic Warden€™s wheels lose what little grip they had on the rails and the massive crusher robot falls back onto the camera tracks! Nidhogg finally prises its crusher free of Jinx soon after and the pink robot falls forward into the pit, disappearing in a puff of smoke, but Team Zlayerz looks to be safe as Jinx was pitted distinctly before Traffic Warden fell OOTA or Still Hurting was counted out... But who was eliminated first?

CEASE!

A heart-stopping battle, yes, as 3 robots lie eliminated. Jinx is safe, and as the judges watch a slowed-down replay of the final seconds of the match...... Still Hurting was counted out BEFORE Traffic Warden fell off the rails! It€™s so close the match has to be watched by milisecond but it€™s undeniable and Still Hurting is the first robot to fall! Still, it made it's mark on the annihilator as Traffic Warden and Jinx have both taken large amounts of damage that they will have to repair by the next round!

Battleboard
Traffic Warden [#8] vs. Nidhogg Cubed vs. Gehenna vs. Jinx vs. PsycloniZer vs. Still Hurting

Tactics & predictions!

[joey_picus]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

...wow...I totally hadn't expected Still Hurting to make it that far, w00t for that ;D but it's fallen at the first hurdle, as I'd expect it to really, it overachieved massively really. Ah well, it's still a brilliant thing to have two robots in the final, commiserations to Andy and well done to Lewis for some epic fights

BELATED TACTICS FOR N^3

It depends what everyone else does. If I look like getting ganged up on, I would like to propose a counter-team-up against whoever's attacking me, with whoever isn't, if that makes any sense at all ;P Failing that, I shall try and use the tactics that served me so well in the first round, largely staying out of danger.

Good luck all ^^

[andrewj]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Fantastic battle, I really enjoyed that.

Traffic Warden vs. N³ vs. Gehenna vs. Jinx vs. PsycloniZer

I will use the same tactics that I used in round one, only this time I am going to target Jinx. Get PsycloniZer spun up and attack those nice flat sides, with Gehenna defending PsycloniZer again. Anyone that wants to help us take Jinx out can do. :wink:

[joey_picus]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Ah, I'll join in Andy sorry Ko-D...you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

Although if I can avoid the axe's line of fire, I will ;P

[kodster]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

I got through, but...ugh, you bassa's. :P

My main aim HERE will be to stay out of trouble. With THREE bots after me, and seeing as it's likely Steve won't post tactics, I am going to target Traffic Warden. Get it beween me and the other three, get under it and hammer away. If I can, shove it into PsycloniZer. With any luck, PsycloniZer's 360 degree area of attack may hurt its allies anyway. Aim to pit TW or Psy, if it's undefended by Gehenna.

Smashing thus far Lewis.

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Got to keep things ticking over But I€™d like to thank everyone who posted tactics and now it€™s time for another round of Annihilation!

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus, the winner of Annihilator 1, Nidhogg Cubed!

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, the winner of Annihilator 2 Gehenna!

From Etobicoke in Canada, representing Team Zlayerz, the winner of Annihilator 3, Jinx!

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, the winner of Annihilator 4, PsycloniZer!

From Glasgow in Scotland, representing Team Braveheart, ranked #8, the winner of Annihilator 5, Traffic Warden!

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team ???, Team Braveheart
Booth Blue: Team Picus, Team Zlayerz

3...
2...
1...
ACTIVATE!

And so another round, and another robot must fall! The remaining combatants all get off the mark very quickly, with the pink shape of Jinx making the first movement across the arena towards Traffic Warden! Steven turns to meet Jinx head on, but Kody fearlessly ploughs head on into the centre of Traffic Warden, breaching the ground clearance and swinging the axe over with a crash onto the top of the ranked machine, sending a few pleasing sparks in all directions! The clamps activate and Steven holds Jinx in place, but the wheels are off the ground because the forks are underneath the U-shaped machine and there€™s nothing Team Braveheart can do! Every other machine in the arena is braying for blood though, and Jinx is the prey. Nidhogg is first on the attack and drives underneath the rear of Jinx like it did in the previous round. There€™s no escape for Jinx as Traffic Warden holds on until Joey€™s forks activate and remove Team Zlayer€™s traction on the arena floor, now bringing the crusher into play in the exact same area it hit in the last fight! Again the armour crumples under the hydraulic pressure of Nidhogg€™s weaponry, but like in round one Joey is unable to claw far enough into the robot to reach the internals and Jinx is only superficially damaged. It€™s also inconveniently joined onto Nidhogg though and Joey now makes great use of the hydrostatic drive to reverse across the arena and slam backwards into the pit release button! Fortunately for Kody the grip can€™t have been as strong as in the previous round, as Jinx is shaken free by a combination of the collision with the release button and Kody firing the axe with skillful timing. Jinx is quick to escape too, driving across the arena as the axe retracts and making a beeline for Traffic Warden!

Team ??? isn€™t doing nothing out there though, and Jinx is intercepted in its race across the arena by PsycloniZer at full speed! There€™s a huge crash and both robots are thrown by the impact, but the attack isn€™t over! Gehenna slams in backwards with the blade spinning and catches Jinx, ripping a large gash in the already buckled side armour as sparks fly across the arena! Kody looks dismayed at the huge damage caused to Jinx by these attacks, as the side panel is bent completely out of shape, inwards on itself, with the large gash made by Gehenna in the middle. It isn€™t moving easily either, as it would appear the armour is bent into the wheel itself, impairing Jinx€™s manoeuvrability and making it very difficult for Kody to attack Traffic Warden as he is trying to do so. He does manage to get close enough to slam Steven€™s robot with his powerful axe, and it digs into the thinner titanium of the ranked machine, not deep enough to really cause extreme damage, but giving Jinx some points should this match go to a judge€™s decision. Steven isn€™t going to it lying down though and turns, pushing against the side of Jinx and breaking free of the axe as it does so. Steven now activates the clamps and guns the E-Tek drive, overpowering Jinx and shoving it across the stadium with unprecedented power, aiming for the open it and succeeding effortlessly as the clamps recede and dump the pink robot into oblivion to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

CEASE!

A valiant display from Jinx against what essentially became a 4-bot team-up. A shame really, as it could have progressed further into the competition, but perhaps it€™ll be back next season. In any case, only 4 robots remain and another one must fall!

Battleboard
Traffic Warden [#8] vs. Nidhogg Cubed vs. Gehenna vs. Jinx vs. PsycloniZer vs. Still Hurting

[andrewj]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

Traffic Warden vs. N³ vs. Gehenna vs. PsycloniZer

I believe me and Joey have decided to team up again here. I will repeat my tactics from round one - Gehenna will defend PsycloniZer until it's up to speed, and then PsycloniZer will try to damage Traffic Warden. I assume that N³ will help to defend PsycloniZer and will clamp and pit Traffic Warden whenever possible.

[joey_picus]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom: Annihilation

We have indeed...sorry Steve ;P Good fights Lewis, genuinely enjoying reading them.