Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

[kodster]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

So the b*****d love child of The Disc 5 and Barberous 2 'n a Bit advanced, did it? :P I'll take note of that...seeing as I won my match (w00t!). :wink:

Magnificent writing as ever, Lewis. I'll have to resume my own stuff to have a chance of competing, dear oh dear...

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

*Opening music plays to various pictures of robots being destroyed in previous seasons*

They came to fight... They came to destroy... They came to win...
The Box Is Locked, The Lights Are On - Let The Wars Begin!

Welcome back robot fans! Last time we saw two seeded machines plummet out of the competition, as Nidhogg Cubed was knocked out of a judges decision by Delirium Tremors and Gehenna 2 was flipped out of the arena by Wedginator X.

Battleboard
Autoism 4.0 [#12] vs. Venus Fly Trap II vs. Pit-Bull vs. O.I.D
Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Sauron vs. Bio-Hazard vs. Intriguality

In this next episode of Mechanical Maelstrom we€™ll witness the return of another two seeds, ranked #12 Autoism 4.0 and ranked #10 Back to Rock III. Will they crash out of the competition like previous seeds or join the successful ones Gabriel V and Wedga Ennea in the next round? Also returning are Annihilation competitors Venus Fly Trap II and O.I.D, but everyone else is new. So with no further ado, let€™s get down to the Annihilation Stadium!

From Orpington in Kent, representing Team Insanity, ranked #12, Autoism 4.0!
Here€™s something you don€™t see everyday - a powered up Big Nipper with exo-skeleton! This unique machine features a hydraulic claw/lifter and complete invertibility with 4 wheels on both the top and the bottom. It caused uproar in the first round of last season, and could do the same again, but could the chassis take damage being placed on the outside of the robot?

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ Pitted Nidhogg Evo while Back to Rock III took care of Spin Dash Unleashed in round one, but was flipped out of the competition by Wedga Triton in round two.

Annihilation ~ N/A

From Glasgow in Scotland, representing Team Braveheart, Venus Fly Trap II!
Another mean green machine enters the contest, this one with a unique clamping design that utilises two side plates to lift up and trap the opposition! It also has a trusty srimech to deal with those pesky flippers, and decent armour and drivetrain. However, could the high ground clearance cost it?

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ Was pitted rather swiftly in the first round.

From Northampton in England, representing Team Bloodmage, Pit Bull!
Previously Dalmation, this innovative clamper machine features a pneumatic jaw at the front and also a pneumatic srimech at the rear. The armour is decent but not the best to save weight for a very powerful drive and weapon, and that could see this machine go far. However, it could be a little low to get some of the taller robots into its jaw.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

From Richmond Upon Thames, representing Team Orr, O.I.D!
This triangular shaped machine is a force to be reckoned with. Featuring a LEM powered disc at the front and a drive powered by the same motors, you€™d better watch your back. It€™s completely covered in hardox and has a hinged wedge at the rear to defend that vulnerable area, but it has been too easily stacked in the past.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ Reached the fourth round of the annihilator before eventual finalist Gehenna stacked it against the arena wall.

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Insanity, Team Orr
Booth Blue: Team Braveheart, Team Bloodmage

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

And we€™re off! Autoism 4.0 is the immediate aggressor in this match, driving across the arena at Pit Bull, who comes forward to meet it. Unfortunately for Lian and Team Bloodmage the claw of Autoism 4.0 is pushed down against the floor and Team Insanity breaches the front of it, hoisting it up into the air and slamming it against the spike strip! Not a great start for the ex-Dalmation, who tries to use it€™s pneumatic srimech to escape, but remains pinned by the ranked machine. Paul slowly reverses away from the wall now, dragging Pit Bull with him, and reverses all the way across the arena and gently bumps into the pit release button, but loses hold of Pit Bull in the impact! Nevetheless the pit descends and Autoism 4.0 remains the aggressor, driving at Pit Bull again, but this time Lian manages to dodge and drive at the rear corner of Paul€™s machine, easily fitting the jaw around it€™s 15cm low frame and biting down! The chassis is buckled slightly but remains mostly fine, and Pit Bull now tries to drive Autoism towards the pit! However, 3 wheels remain on the arena floor and makes it too difficult for Lian to push Paul into the pit, and to make matters more interesting Venus Fly Trap II comes in on the attack, driving in underneath the side of Pit Bull and firing its clamps! This causes Lian to lose his grip on Autoism 4.0, who escapes and promptly goes on the attack of O.I.D.

Venus Fly Trap II though still has a good grip on Pit Bull and immediately skirts over to the pit, quickly releasing Team Bloodmage€™s robot and letting it slide slowly into the pit to disappear in a puff of smoke! Lian grimaces in the control booth, but it€™s all over and Steven reverses triumphantly to rejoin the other two contestants. O.I.D has spun up its disc and brings it into play on Autoism 4.0, but hits the thick hardox chassis and merely bounces off, allowing Paul to ram in and get the claw underneath the ground clearance, hoisting it up and slamming it against the spike strip! Venus Fly Trap II now comes in from behind, driving in underneath Autoism 4.0 and activating the clamps, hiding the ranked machine from view, but not truly holding it in place due to its small size! Paul quickly guns in reverse and wriggles free before driving in underneath the back of Steven€™s robot, lifting it up and removing its traction! Autoism hastily reverses across the arena, dragging Venus Fly Trap II with it and carefully putting Team Braveheart€™s entry next to the pit of oblivion, edging it so that half of the green machine is over the abyss, allowing it to fall into the chasm for a final farewell in this season!

With two robots in the pit already and not much room left in there for another contender, Autoism 4.0 sizes up O.I.D. Team Orr€™s triangle has its disc back to top speed and drives in again, but Paul darts in underneath it and lifts the claw up again, taking O.I.D€™s wheels off the ground and rushing forward, slamming O.I.D against the spike strip and hanging it up there against the arena wall! Oh the irony... Eliminated in the exact same way it bit the dust in Annihilation, Team Orr€™s bot is stacked up against the arena wall with the crowd enthusiastically counting it down and out!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Another melee draws to an end as O.I.D sits against the arena wall, and Autoism 4.0 spins triumphantly with its claw raised in victory!

CEASE!

Pit-Bull and Venus Fly Trap II hit the pit; O.I.D is stacked against the arena wall! Autoism 4.0 [#12] advances to the second round!

Battleboard
Autoism 4.0 [#12] vs. Venus Fly Trap II vs. Pit-Bull vs. O.I.D
Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Sauron vs. Bio-Hazard vs. Intriguality

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, ranked #10, Back to Rock III!
The titanium lifter is back for another wars! Unchanged from Annihilation, this big powerful bot still has the thick titanium armour and gutsy lynch motor drive. Six wheels provide plenty of grip and makes sure that all the power gets down to the ground, but could hinder the manoeuvrability in a closely fought match.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ Flipped Spin Dash Unleashed [#3] out of the arena while Autoism 3.0 dealt with Nidhogg Evo in round one, but was ripped up by The Zodiac in round two.

Annihilation ~ Got past Venus Flytrap II, Spring-BOK! and Mobile Failure, but was teamed upon by Axeon 4.0 and Still Hurting in the fourth round.

From Northampton in England, representing Team Bloodmage, Sauron!
This rammer with interchangeable weaponry has seven setups to choose from! For this match it has fitted skirts all around the body and has a Hazard-style spinning blade on top. This weapon is very powerful and the robot€™s drive is strong, but the armour is thin as a result and the robot perhaps a little high for this sort of weapon.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

From the USA, representing Team Battlebots, Bio-Hazard!
This low robot with skirts all around and 4-bar lifter was the heavyweight champion at Battlebots 4 times out of 7. It has titanium armour and controlled magmotor drive, but could be outdated by today€™s standards and still has no srimech.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

From Toronto in Canada, representing Team Zlayerz, Intriguality!
This green and black axe robot can run inverted, unusual due to its choice of weaponry. It can still self-right though and also features two long hinged wedges at the front of the machine for getting in under other robots. Like Autoism 4.0 in the last battle it features a chassis on the outside of the machine to protect the internal workings, although this one isn€™t as strong.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Varying Everyday, Team Zlayerz
Booth Blue: Team Bloodmage, Team Battlebots

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

An immediately aggressive start to this fight as Sauron€™s blade immediately gets up to speed and races across the arena with Intriguality in Lian€™s sights! Kody responds to this onslaught by driving forward rather confidently himself, easily breaching the front skirt of Sauron with his wedges while the blade misses completely - Sauron is ever so slightly too tall to hit Intriguality! Kody rams Sauron back against the spike strip in order to stall the blade before bringing the axe crashing over onto the top of Sauron, putting a large crater in the armour! Back to Rock isn€™t keen to stand on the sidelines though and rams in underneath Intriguality, pushing it away from Sauron and lifting it steadily up against the arena wall in the corner! The pneumatic spike pops up and flips Kody against the arena wall, putting Intriguality over on its side, and Martijn moves in again with the saw, but only really scratches the paintwork.

Meanwhile Bio-Hazard has sensed that Sauron is damaged and the moment BTR sidelined Intriguality it moves in for an onslaught, ramming against the front of Sauron and managing to breach the front skirt with its own! The lifter fires and slams Sauron against the arena wall, but Lian€™s robot falls to the ground the right way up and escapes quickly to spin up the blade before reversing back in on the attack and getting under the side of Bio-Hazard with its skirt! Although Bio is generally too low to be hit by the blade, now Sauron is underneath the American champion finds itself being fed to the blade, and Carlos€™ machine is flung away across the arena in a shower of sparks, losing a skirt while Sauron itself is sent slamming into the spike strip from the huge force in the impact! However, it€™s unclear who came off worse from that... Bio-Hazard now has a side exposed and is moving very slowly and sluggishly compared to before the attack, but the huge 156Kj impact from the blade appears to have done even more damage to Sauron itself! The robot is only moving in tentative circles - has the drive been half immobilised? If it has then the robot is out, but it doesn€™t really matter because Bio-Hazard crawls over to Sauron and pushes underneath again, firing its lifter to quickly turn Sauron up and over! Lian€™s machine is turned turtle and with no srimech it€™s out of the match - if only it€™s drive had been working properly for it to escape!

Down the other end of the arena Back to Rock III is still tussling with Intriguality. After Martijn was ordered by the judges to stop pinning the green machine he backed off, allowing Kody to fall to the floor, upside down. Upon Intriguality driving away and self-righting as it did so, so as not to self-right onto BTR€™s lifter Martijn followed and attacked again, but this time Kody surges forward and gets his hinged wedges under the front lifter of BTR! Pushing the ranked machine backwards across the arena and swinging its powerful pneumatic axe over to clang onto the titanium and send sparks in every direction, Kody grins and pushes the blue machine onto the spike! It pops up and flips Back to Rock III over, but Martijn is quick to self-right. As he does so Bio-Hazard drives slowly over and attacks Intriguality, getting under the front corner of the machine and lifting it up just as Kody turned to face it. Intriguality fires the axe but misses and so as Carlos pushes forward and stacks Intriguality against the arena wall the axe hangs limply over the side wall, no use at all! BTR quickly senses the opportunity to attack and drives in underneath Intriguality as the lifter resets, then quickly fires it again and pushes forward to lether Team Zlayerz up over the barrier and out!

Two machines down, only Bio-Hazard and the tenth seeds remaining. Bio is quick to attack BTR from behind after it flips Intriguality out, lifting it up and slamming it against the barrier, but not managing to get it out. Team Varying Everyday stumble down onto their side and then fall onto their back, self-righting quickly only to find Bio-Hazard underneath them again and pushing them back across the arena and into the spike strip, firing the lifter to flip them up against it! However, this time BTR falls back onto its wheels as Bio retreats and Martijn rushes forward, getting the front lifting plates underneath Bio€™s front skirts, quickly lifting the titanium robot up and pushing forward at full speed to get it over the rear skirt and over! Bio-Hazard lands on its back and attempts to self-right rather lamely, using the lifter €œelbow€ to push against the ground, but that back skirt is in the way and it instead performs a kind of hop across the arena floor. It isn€™t controlled manouevrability though and the crowd count it down and out of the competition, allowing Back to Rock III through to the second round again!

CEASE!

Sauron flipped and immobilised and Intriguality on the camera tracks; Bio-Hazard is turned on it€™s head! Back to Rock III [#10] goes through to round two!

Battleboard
Autoism 4.0 [#12] vs. Venus Fly Trap II vs. Pit-Bull vs. O.I.D
Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Sauron vs. Bio-Hazard vs. Intriguality

Next up....

Battleboard
Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Nitro-Gene 5.0 vs. SOTAR vs. FrenZy
Heliosphere [#6] vs. Eye of Ran II vs. Lime-y vs. I.A.N

[kodster]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

And that, my friends, is why I hate Biohazard :P congrats to Paul and Marti on their victories, though

[pmc1993]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

And that is how Autoism does it: HELL YES! First time any of my machines have survived a battle like this, it has made me a happy chappy Nice one tho to all the competitors in that round, and also to Martijn for winning.

Now, let me see if I can get another machine through: Look at the previous tactics whilst also keeping clear of the pit, all the usual stuff. Good luck to others.

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

*Opening music plays to various pictures of robots being destroyed in previous seasons*

They came to fight... They came to destroy... They came to win...
The Box Is Locked, The Lights Are On - Let The Wars Begin!

Welcome back robot fans! Last time we saw two seeded machines dominate the competition in sharp contrast the previous episode. Instead of being narrowly beaten or thrown over the fence the seeds battled to convincing victories, with Autoism 4.0 pitting and stacking everybody and Back to Rock III lifting all-comers out of the contest. Will this episode follow suit or are we back to our old seed-bashing ways?

Battleboard
Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Nitro-Gene 5.0 vs. SOTAR vs. FrenZy
Heliosphere [#6] vs. Eye of Ran II vs. Lime-y vs. I.A.N

This time around we have two of the most experienced Mechanical Maelstrom contestants in Spin Dash Unleashed and Heliosphere, who is an updated Corona, which itself was previously The Zodiac. Both these bots competed in Seasons 1.0, 2.0 and Annihilation, while also returning this episode are Nitro-Gene 5.0, a Season 2.0 veteran, and Annihilation competitors SOTAR and Lime-y, both of Team Alt. So with no further ado, let€™s get down to the Annihilation Stadium!

From Glasgow in Scotland, representing Team Braveheart, ranked #8, Spin Dash Unleashed!
This low blue box is experienced in the ways of Mechanical Maelstrom, having competed in every season thus far. It remains unchanged from Season 1.0, featuring 4mm hardox armour and lynch motor drive with which to batter opponents around. The main feature is still the front sawblade weapon that chews up skirts and tyres, but it€™s less effective when inverted.

MM1.0 ~ Was KO€™ed by eventual champion Sheer Heart Attack 2 in the semi-finals after a strong opening against The Zodiac in round one, but still managed to beat Leprosy Infection in the play-off to come third.

MM2.0 [Ranked#3] ~ Performed disappointingly and was flipped out of the arena by Back to Rock III in round one.

Annihilation ~ Reached the fourth round over the heads of Bandwagon 2, CrOokEd EvO and previous rival Leprosy Infection, but lost again to Sheer Heart Attack 2 (assisted by Jinx).

From Orpington in Kent, representing Team Insanity, Nitro-Gene 5.0
Another low box that is also a veteran, but this one packs an extremely powerful nitrogen flipper! Capable of throwing opposition robots over the fence with ease, Nitro-Gene can run inverted as well as stylishly self-right and has tough hardox armour with shockproofing to fight spinners. However, the overvolted magmotors could burn out quickly.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ Given a taste of it€™s own medicine by Hypertension MK3 and flipped out of the arena in the first round.

Annihilation ~ N/A

From Patricia in Canada, representing Team Alt, SOTAR!
Another ring spinner you say? Well this one has a ring made from 15mm titanium/vanadium alloy and puts out over 70Kj of energy per hit. It also runs when inverted and has PERM motors to jet it around the place, but the top and bottom armour is just aluminium and that could mean trouble from axes or crushers.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ Got to the fourth round over Orka RV, Wedga Triton and Mornington Crescent, but couldn€™t stand up to Nidhogg Cubed and Wedginator 9.0.

From the USA, representing Team Battlebots, FrenZy!
This yellow dome shaped machine is one of just five robots that competed in all seven original Battlebots tournaments. The pioneer of the overhead electric pick axe weapon, this bot made it far into the competition on more than one occasion, making it as far as the semi-finals. However, this design has not aged well and the high ground clearance could make FrenZy flipper fodder.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Braveheart, Team Insanity
Booth Blue: Team Alt, Team Battlebots

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

All four machines off to a swift start as this match begins, but with Nitro-Gene 5.0 being the obvious aggressor as Paul heads in the direction of SOTAR while Tracy spins up in amazing time. The bot may only be at 1000rpm, but it does plenty of damage at that speed and it takes almost no time to get there! Nitro-Gene slams into the ring spinner and takes the full brunt of the hit, but SOTAR is thrown against the spike strip while Nitro-Gene is spun around. Paul is quick to go back on the attack, but SOTAR is up to speed again and more damage to the front of Nitro-Gene with several small gashes down the armour! Still Paul is able to ram SOTAR against the spikes this time and fire its flipper, throwing the ring spinner high into the air, and Tracy€™s machine flips over as it soars, but it comes to land inside the arena and quickly drives off to get back up to speed.

Meanwhile Spin Dash Unleashed goes on the attack of FrenZy, pushing it across the arena and into the spike strip while taking numerous hits from the pick axe weapon. They don€™t really seem to be doing much damage to the tough hardox armour though and FrenZy is missing more often than actually hitting, while the sawblade of SDU doesn€™t cause FrenZy€™s outer shell too much hassle yet either. It has scratched the paint, but the main focus for Steven at the moment has to be on ramming, and he dominates the yellow machine across the arena, actually getting underneath it as FrenZy brings its axe down onto SDU and lifts itself up slightly, letting the ranked machine attack the underbelly and actually push it over! Steven continues to ram FrenZy even as it is overturned and slams it into the pit release button before it rolls away, self-righting and going back on the attack as it does so, swinging the axe over noisily, managing to hit SDU squarely in the centre and denting the armour before Steven drives back on the attack and actually rips through part of the armour with the Pussycat-style blade! It isn€™t much damage, but all the same SDU rams FrenZy back across the arena and onto the spike, which fires and flips it onto its side! Patrick Campbell at the controls frantically fires the axe to shake FrenZy back onto its wheels and does so successfully before driving back on the attack yet again and bring the pick axe down onto SDU one final time before Steven pushes the yellow dome back into the pit! It fought valiantly against the 8th seeds, but FrenZy is in the pit and out of the contest, so now SDU can turn it€™s attention to Nitro-Gene 5.0 and SOTAR, who are still tussling in the corner of the arena.

While SDU disposed of FrenZy SOTAR has managed to launch another attack on Nitro-Gene and has managed to cause significant damage this time, ripping off a side skirt, but not completely, leaving it instead to trail along the arena floor after Nitro-Gene. One of the front panels is also buckled and looking to come loose on one side of the flipper, and Paul is worried here. All the same he remains aggressive and charges into SOTAR again, taking the full force of another hit but refusing to relent and barging SOTAR into the spike strip, pushing in underneath and firing the hugely powerful flipper to send the ring spinner up and out! Tracy looks downcast, but her machine has already caused lasting damage in this match so she shouldn€™t be disappointed.

With Nitro-Gene 5.0 against the arena wall SDU comes flying in and slams into the rear skirt, mangling it somewhat with the blade. Paul pushes backwards, but is overpowered and pinned by SDU for the full thirty seconds, giving Steven a big advantage! All that time Paul tried to wriggle free, but it€™s a lot of work for nothing and the blue machine is successful in the pin until it is forced to back off and allow Nitro-Gene 5.0 some breathing space. The moment he€™s free Paul reverses backwards and turns to face SDU, ramming in as Steven replies by doing the same. The two collide and the blade of Spin Dash catches the panel weakened by SOTAR on the front of NG5.0, tearing it completely off! This leaves Nitro-Gene with some exposed internals, or rather exposed shock proofing, but nevertheless Paul powers forward and gets his flipper underneath SDU, firing it to throw Steven€™s machine head over heels across the arena to come crashing down on the spinning blade, bouncing in the air before it lands upside down!

Steven doesn€™t stay still for long though and quickly drives back on the attack, ramming into Nitro-Gene while the flipper is fired and pushing the black machine back across the arena and into the spike strip again! Another pin it would seem, but Steven reverses back and slams into Nitro-Gene 5.0 a good few times to show good aggression and damage! An excellent showing from the Scottish team here and Team Insanity are certainly in a lot of trouble. When SDU backs away Nitro-Gene is having troublr getting away from the wall as well, perhaps the magmotors have burnt out as a result of being dangerously overvolted? It may seem so, and the Season 2.0 veteran is looking seriously sluggish now. Steven follows up attack after attack, not really doing anything with the sawblade overturned, but showing aggression and dominance as he bullies Nitro-Gene around the arena, pushing Paul€™s machine into the pneumatic spike to be flipped up and over one last time as the match ends.

CEASE!

With Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] and Nitro-Gene 5.0 still mobile we€™ll have to go the judges.

Judge€™s Decision:

Damage ~ Spin Dash Unleashed ripped some armour off FrenZy, as well as worsening the damage SOTAR did to Nitro-Gene, so it scores some points as well as not really taking much damage as itself. Nitro-Gene scores points for flipping SOTAR out of the arena, but failed to cause any real damage against SDU despite flipping it high.
24/6 in favour of Spin Dash Unleashed

Aggression ~ Spin Dash Unleashed was highly aggressive, homing in at FrenZy and then Nitro-Gene afterwards. Nitro-Gene 5.0 was even more aggressive, having clearly planned who it was going to attack and so targeting SOTAR and then SDU the moment the former was eliminated.
13/7 in favour of Nitro-Gene 5.0

Control ~ Both robots exhibited good driving skill, but SDU did very well to maintain constant control over FrenZy, something Nitro-Gene didn€™t quite achieve with SOTAR, although it does score points for the OOTA, as does SDU for the pitting. Later on in the match SDU was the clear dominator, pinning Nitro-Gene 5.0 for the full thirty seconds and later on in the match pushing it around when it looked horribly sluggish.
8/2 in favour of Spin Dash Unleashed

Overall ~ 39/21 in favour of Spin Dash Unleashed

FrenZy is in the pit and SOTAR on the camera tracks; Nitro-Gene 5.0 fights valiantly to the end but loses out! Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] advances to the second round!

Battleboard
Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Nitro-Gene 5.0 vs. SOTAR vs. FrenZy
Heliosphere [#6] vs. Eye of Ran II vs. Lime-y vs. I.A.N

From Toronto in Canada, representing Team Zlayerz, ranked #6, Heliosphere!
Back for another wars, this full body spinner is updated again with another new name! This was The Zodiac in Seasons 1.0 and 2.0, but then became Corona in Annihilation, and now it€™s Heliosphere. This thing puts out 122Kj at 1500rpm and gets there in 2 seconds - good luck trying to slow it down! However, the omni-drive means pinball could be a problem here.

MM1.0 [as The Zodiac] ~ Started well against Spin Dash Unleashed, but was controversially pitted.

MM2.0 [as The Zodiac] ~ Cruised past Mega Masher 2, Binary Hell and Back to Rock III to reach the quarter-finals but was rather easily disposed of by Hypertension MK3.

Annihilation [as Corona] ~ Teamed up with eventual champions PsycloniZer to get past ISRRNY, Die-Reverta Tops, Iron Awe 5 and Lime-y, but was beaten by its teammate in the heat final.

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus, Eye of Ran II!
Another spinner, but this one a newcomer to MM. Featuring a large spinning blade positioned on the underside of the robot like that of SDU€™s saw, this one is here to rip up the opposition! It doesn€™t put out as much energy as Heliosphere, but that could be safer in the long run, and it has tough hardox armour over polycarbonate and a titanium chassis. Very well designed, but it€™s width could make it difficult to control in tight situations.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

From Patricia in Canada, representing Team Alt, Lime-y!
This long green wedge design has a decent flipper that is capable of throwing the other robots out of the arena, thick hardox armour and also lynch motor drive to provide plenty of power. It€™s a very good all rounder as we€™ve seen in the past, but could lack of damaging weaponry see it fall out of the contest?

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ Reached the fourth round of the annihilator past ISRRNY, Die-Reverta Tops and Iron Awe 5, but fell to the deadly team-up of Corona and PsycloniZer at that stage.

From Richmond-Upon-Thames in England, representing Team Orr, I.A.N!
A low green wedge with hazard tape and the Bio-Hazard sign, this bot is sure colourful! It also has a front hinged flipper that comprises of the whole front panel that€™s easily capable of flipping opponents clean out of the arena, and it has tough hardox armour all round. However, with just one battery pack in the whole robot can it last 3 minutes?

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Picus, Team Orr
Booth Blue: Team Zlayerz, Team Alt

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

The arena is filled with a deadly whir as this match gets underway, with the spinning shell of Heliosphere getting up to top speed very quickly and the blade at the front of Eye of Ran quickly becoming a blur. I.A.N attempts to move into the centre of the arena, but this exposes it€™s rear to Eye of Ran, who immediately moves in and catches it, ripping off the back panel in one hit! Jack€™s face falls but the punishment is ongoing as Heliosphere moves in, catching the side panel and ripping at the end where the rear missing, tearing off the armour and leaving I.A.N horribly exposed! It€™s almost naked, oh dear. Lime-y now moves in for her turn and drives underneath I.A.N, quickly turning it up and over with a flick of the flipper! Jack is quick to self-right, but Heliosphere is back to top speed and moves in, driving the shell straight into the heavily exposed workings and ripping out all the internals, scattering them over the Annihilation Stadium and leaving I.A.N somewhat ... dead. However, the match doesn€™t stop for a single second and Eye of Ran isn€™t going miss an opportunity to get a hit on Heliosphere, racing in even before Kody is in contact with I.A.N and so getting there before the FBS can spin up! It is jarred and bounced away, but the thick titanium shell is undamaged and Kody quickly spins up again before going back on the attack.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
The crowd count I.A.N and Team Orr down and out of the contest while the ranked machine drives on the attack of Eye of Ran II, who backs away across the arena but is intercepted by Lime-y, who drives underneath and flips it up and over! However, it€™s not the only robot flipped as while pursuing Eye of Ran Heliosphere passed over the pnuematic floor spike, which came up and flipped it over as well as denting the thin baseplate!

Kody quickly self-rights, but now it€™s very difficult for Heliosphere to move across the arena floor as the base is uneven and the blade is touching the floor! As Kody tries to spin the shell it whacks the steel floor and bounces around like a crazed pinball, richocheting uncontrollably into the spike strip and flipping over! There€™s a grimace on Kody€™s face as he rights the robot again, but now Eye of Ran comes flying in on the attack and slams into Heliosphere, again not causing any damage, especially with the overturned blade, but creating a shower of titanium sparks and throwing the omni-drive machine across the arena floor! Lime-y drives in to attack Eye of Ran II again now, slamming underneath and firing the flipper im an attempt to toss it over the barrier, but instead it€™s thrown sideways and lands on its wheels. It reverses away from danger as it spins up again before driving back on the attack and slamming into the side of Lime-y, throwing itself and Team Alt€™s machine away from each other but not causing much damage to the thick hardox armour.

Heliosphere, despite the minute damage that is preventing it from functioning properly drives in on the attack again, spinning up the shell and almost flipping over, but careering towards Eye of Ran II! Joey€™s blade is at full speed and Team Picus€™ machine surges forward to meet Heliosphere, and it has the advantage as Heliosphere flips up with the blades hitting the floor. Eye of Ran€™s blade smacks against the aluminium base of the ranked machine and slices through it like a knife through butter, but Heliosphere€™s blade also comes around and slams into the front of Eye of Ran II, ripping a huge gash in the centre of it! Joey grimaces as Kody€™s machine lands on its back, rights itself, but can€™t move anywhere - the base plate is bent and ripped to shreds, buckled in a way that keeps Heliosphere€™s wheels off the ground. The crowd count the ranked machine down and out of the match in a shock turn of events!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Now with just Lime-y and Eye of Ran remaining Tracy makes haste towards her damaged adversary, getting underneath the side skirt and flipping Eye of Ran II up into the air, but not managing to get it over due to the width of the machine. This allows Joey to turn to the side and slam into the back of Lime-y with the blade, buckling the side panel at the bolts to the rear, but it holds on. Tracy now pushes back against Eye of Ran II, driving it backwards across the arena and onto the pneumatic spike, which bumps up the left wheel pod but isn€™t able to flip the robot right over. It does however dent the polycarbonate, scoring damage points for Lime-y. Eye of Ran turns again now though with the blade spinning at top speed again and drives into the side of the green machine with a huge slam! Both robots are left reeling from the hit, with Lime-y spinning right around and Eye of Ran II rolling back into the spike strip! Joey however is able to slowly drive away from this predicament, while Lime-y attempts to go back on the attack - but moves lamely in circles! One of the lynch motors must have been disconnected from the batteries, and the bot is effectively immobilised!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

CEASE!

A very evenly matched battle ends in KOs for I.A.N and Heliosphere [#6]; Lime-y is also knocked out! Eye of Ran II moves on through to round two!

Battleboard
Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Nitro-Gene 5.0 vs. SOTAR vs. FrenZy
Heliosphere [#6] vs. Eye of Ran II vs. Lime-y vs. I.A.N

Next up....

Battleboard
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Merry Hampton Evo vs. Liar 2 vs. Storm II
Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Axeon 4.0 vs. No Consequences vs. Tough as Nails

[Zarte]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Great battles Lewis! Delighted with how it's all gone so far, let's make it 2 out of 4 for the semis, eh?

Believe my tactics were posted before.

[pmc1993]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Oh yh, maybe you forgot that my tactics included 'remove skirts to avoid damage points socred against me' Nah, I'm joking, totally slipped my mind. And at least I've got one robot through to the next round, would've liked 2...or 3...or even all 4, but I'm happy, good match Steven

For the next fights, I believe Liar and Hypertension to join all of us in the next round...and it is quite cool that only 2 of the current semi-finalist are spinners (Delirium Tremors and Eye Of Ran II), will make it a bit easier for not getting ripped apart

[kodster]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Ouch...extremely ODD outcomes but still well written.

Will have to turn a few heads myself... *goes back to MToD4*

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Hmmm yes, I must apologise for the obscurity of that last match in particular :P I was tired and it was a very evenly matched bout.... If anyone feels it was unfair I will rewrite it though.

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

*Opening music plays to various pictures of robots being destroyed in previous seasons*

They came to fight... They came to destroy... They came to win...
The Box Is Locked, The Lights Are On - Let The Wars Begin!

Welcome back robot fans! Last time we saw sixth seeds Heliosphere shockingly crash out of the competition while 8th seed Spin Dash Unleashed shot through to round two. Eye of Ran II went through in place of Heliosphere, ripping up I.A.N and Lime-y as well as the seed in order to do so, while SDU had to get past FrenZy, SOTAR, and Nitro-Gene 5.0. It was an interesting episode indeed, will this one be just as so?

Battleboard
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Merry Hampton Evo vs. Liar 2 vs. Storm II
Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Axeon 4.0 vs. No Consequences vs. Tough as Nails

This episode will play host to the last two round one battles, and we€™ll see the return of 4th seeds Traffic Warden and 2nd seeds Hypertension MK3.5. They were quarter-finalists and semi-finalists respectively last time around, so beware newcomers! Traffic Warden remaisn unchanged from its third place finish in Annihilation, while Hypertension has had a slight refreshening. Also returning are Annihilation heat finalists Axeon 4.0 and Liar 2, so this is certainly an episode with pedigree! With no further ado, let€™s get down to the Annihilation Stadium!

From Glasgow in Scotland, representing Team Braveheart, ranked #4, Traffic Warden!
Back for another wars the massive hydraulic clamper returns unchanged, still sporting the powerful clamps and hulking E-Tek motors to slam other robots around the arena. However, the titanium armour is still thin, the robot still potentially too large to manouevre easily and the ground clearance still worringly exposed. Despite all this it has always performed very strongly in the past.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ Surpassed all expectations, pitting Roo 2, Death Sentence and Dendroaspis to reach the quarter-finals, but there it was flipped out of the arena by Wedga Triton.

Annihilation ~ Got past Cyrilium 5, Under Pressure, Macduff the 5th, Gravity and Magnitude to win the heat in magnificent style, and also outlasted Still Hurting, Jinx and Gehenna in the final to come third!

From Northampton in England, representing Team Bloodmage, Merry Hampton Evo!
A simple design, and those often do well! This invertible Tornado-style robot has two scoops, one at the front and an inverted one at the rear. 4 magmotors give the drive plenty of power and control, and the titanium armour is thick enough to withstand most attacks. However, the inverted wedge provides a very high ground clearance at the back and lack of damaging weaponry could see this newcomer down and out early on.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

From Enschede in the Netherlands, representing Team Varying Everyday, Liar 2!
We€™ve seen this one before! The powerful WBC-style flipper tossed all comers out of the arena in Annihilation, but was eventually defeated before it could reach the finals. It returns unchanged, with strong lynch motor drive and tough hardox armour all over. However, the area of attack is very narrow and that cost it last time around.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ Defeated Minesweep3r, Bloody Frigid, Gabriel V and O.I.D to get to the heat final, but was bested on a judge€™s decision by Gehenna.

From Ipswich in England, representing Team Robot Wars, Storm II!
The robbed RW7 runner-up now enters Mechanical Maelstrom, featuring fast lynch motor drive and a nifty 4 bar lifter! It has strong titanium armour and rear spikes, but could be outdated by today€™s vapourbot standards and doesn€™t have 0 ground clearance at the front, which could cause problems.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Varying Everyday, Team Braveheart
Booth Blue: Team Robot Wars, Team Bloodmage

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

A strong start here from Liar 2, who swivels quickly as the match begins to target the seeded machine, who drives forward to meet the onslaught. Martijn€™s robot has the lower ground clearance and gets straight underneath Traffic Warden, flipping it up into the air in a massive attack! The ranked machine flies over backwards and crashes down to land on the steel floor before rolling disorientatedly in reverse. It€™s undamaged though and is now behind Liar 2, so rushes forward and activates its clamps! Unfortunately for Martijn Steven is now in a very good position and drags the WBC-style machine backwards across the arena and gently knocks against the pit release button! Liar 2 times its flipper fire with the impact to try and wriggle free, but the hydraulic clamps are very strong and hold on tihgtly to the wheels of Liar 2 now before Team Braveheart drive forward and turn, dumping Liar 2 in the pit just seconds into the match! Martijn pushes down his aerial in dismay at such a swift elimination, but he has Back to Rock III in the next round anyway.

Meanwhile Team Bloodmage has taken on Storm II, getting under the front of the black wedge with its own and Lian slams the realie into the spike strip! It activates its lifter at thin air, but can€™t escape and Lian now shunts it across the arena and onto the pneumatic spike! The spike turns Storm II over so that the wedge is now inverted and useless, and Merry Hampton rams in again, getting underneath the inverted wedge and slamming Team Robot Wars€™ penultimate machine into the spike strip so hard that it flies up and over, back onto its wheels! Ed Hoppitt at the controls of Storm II immediately reacts and darts around to the rear of Merry Hampton Evo, driving underneath the rear wedge and lifting it up! This takes away Lian€™s traction and the tables appear to have turned horribly suddenly, now with Storm II powering across the arena and retracting the lifter in time to deposit Merry Hampton into the chasm mere seconds after Liar 2! It€™s all happening so fast!

After what have to be the quickest two eliminations yet, only Traffic Warden and Storm II remain in the arena. Storm II is the immediate aggressor, slamming straight into the centre of the ranked machine and breaching the ground clearance, pushing it backwards across the arena and slamming it into the spike strip! Traffic Warden bounces away but quickly goes back on the attack and catches Storm II side on in its reversal from the wall, quickly activating the clamps and catching Storm II in place! The realie world champion writhes and fires its lifter in earnest, but its all in vain as the clamps are too tough yet again and the E-Tek drive of Traffic Warden dwarfs the lynch motors of the Storm II, now easily allowing Steven to drag the small machine backwards across the arena before turning and driving forward, dropping Storm II into the pit on top of the two already fallen competitors!

CEASE!

Liar 2 and Merry Hampton Evo are quickly pitted; Storm II joins them in the chasm! Traffic Warden [#4] progresses to round two after under a minute of battling!

Battleboard
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Merry Hampton Evo vs. Liar 2 vs. Storm II
Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Axeon 4.0 vs. No Consequences vs. Tough as Nails

From King€™s Cross in London, representing Team Devil€™s Incarnate, ranked #2, Hypertension MK3.5!
After wowing everyone with its quick and easy immobilisations in Season 2.0, Hypertension is back! It€™s also been rebuilt for this wars as MK3.5, so watch out newbies! It still has the thick hardox armour, the immensely powerful rear hinged flipper and the classic wedge design, but it also still has a limited co2 supply.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ With Eternia flipped out Nitro-Gene 5.0 and Drilla Killa VII in round one, but then dispatched Visioned without use of the flipper in round two. Scored another swift OOTA in the quarters against The Zodiac, but was pitted in the semi-finals by Holepunch 2.0. Did well to toss Wedga Triton over the fence in the play-off to come third though.

Annihilation ~ N/A

From Lincolnshire in England, representing Team ???, Axeon 4.0
This was very impressive in Annihilation, and was unfortunate in its only loss. It returns unchanged, still packing the very powerful pneumatic axe and thick titanium armour into an innovating body shape. The magmotor drive is efficient and the ground clearance low, but could the low height hinder its weaponry?

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ Got past Venus Fly Trap II, Spring-BOK!, Mobile Failure and Back to Rock III to reach the heat final, but was spun out of the arena by Still Hurting.

From Pontefract in West Yorkshire, representing Team Picus, No Consequences!
Quite possibly the largest contender we€™ve ever had in Mechanical Maelstrom, this huge yellow dome is a translational full body spinner capable of huge damage. It also has a lifter should the spinner fail that is capable righting the robot, but the top armour is very thin.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

From the Netherlands, representing Team Robot Wars, Tough as Nails!
This Dutch pair of scissors was one of the pioneers of hardox armour, and also one of the first to utilise a pneumatic crusher weapon. It€™s more for grabbing and pitting than damaging, but like Traffic Warden it€™s capable of very quick pittings. However, it€™s not as powerful as that machine.

MM1.0 ~ N/A

MM2.0 ~ N/A

Annihilation ~ N/A

Roboteers, standby!

Booth Red: Team Picus, Team Robot Wars
Booth Blue: Team Devil€™s Incarnate, Team ???

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

The ranked machine is the immediate aggressor as this match gets underway, turning to attack Axeon 4.0 the moment the match begins! Zarte is fast too, getting under the rear of Axeon 4.0 as it tries to escape and firing the flipper to throw it up and over! Andy quickly rights himself and turns to dodge another onslaught from Hypertension, now catching the ranked machine side on and Andy rains down the blows onto the hardox shell! Not much damage caused though and Zarte pushes underneath the front corner of Axeon, driving at full speed towards the arena wall and firing the flipper! Andy is fortunate on this occasion though as Axeon slams into the top rail of the barrier and falls back down to the floor, swiftly righting itself and finding itself in an excellent position to attack No Consequences, who is spun up to top speed! Andy jolts forward and takes the hit, Joey€™s blades spinning Axeon around and creating an explosion of sparks, but hits into the spike strip, dissipating some of the energy into itself! Team ??? continues the onslaught, driving in underneath the ground clearance and now bringing its axe over to play on top of No Consequences, battering the titanium armour with multiple hits! In a matter of seconds No Consequences is looking rather cratered and then with one last blow Andy buries his axe into NC before dragging Joey€™s rather battered machine across the arena!

Meanwhile TAN attempts a sneak attack at the ranked machine, driving in behind it just as it flipped Axeon a second time. The dutch machine activates the claws and has a hold, but Hypertension has the stronger drive and slams TAN again the spike strip! Still the blue robot holds on though and now manages to wrestle Hypertension across the arena and into the pit release button! At this point however Zarte takes back control and drives the final realie back across the Stadium and onto one of the pneumatic flipping spikes, which raises and loosens its grip! Zarte then spins and gets underneath, powering forward and slamming TAN across the arena, firing the flipper as they near the side wall and throwing it up on the barrier! It teeters for a moment before the weight on one side pulls it over and out, landing on the camera tracks.

Andy still has No Consequences at his mercy and now pulls the dome shaped machine up in line with the pit, retracting his axe and driving underneath with the chisels to try and fit Team Picus€™ entry in the chasm! It€™s difficult, but it fits lengthways and so the wheels are over thin air and the robot is out! A shame really as it never got to show its immense power.

And so left in the arena are the ranked Hypertension MK3.5 and Axeon 4.0. Zarte looks menacing and races towards the axe machine. Andy comes forward in reply and gets under the front of Hypertension with his chisels this time, immediately activating the axe and bringing it slamming down on the front of Hypertension repeatedly while pushing the white (or is it red?) wedge back across the arena! Hit, hit, hit... There may be some internal damage, but the hardox armour is holding up infallibly well and eventually with a pop from the floor spike Hypertension is toppled onto its back, away from Axeon€™s chisels! It stylishly self-rights, but it€™s still open to attack and Andy pushes under the side this time, but with the flipper raised Hypertension is far too tall to be hit with the axe and Zarte is able to wriggle free, now turning and getting under the front of Axeon, pushing it back against the arena wall as the axe hammers down repeatedly, denting but not really getting through! Team Devil€™s Incarnate feel more confident now that they have gained the advantage and smugly fire their flipper, throwing Axeon high into the air to come crashing down - on the wrong side of the fence! Andy looks disappointed, but shouldn€™t be really after this fantastic display and it€™s another unfortunate loss for Axeon.

CEASE!

Tough as Nails is out of the arena and No Consequences is (sort of) in the pit; Axeon 4.0 flies out of the competition! Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] advances to round two!

Battleboard
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Merry Hampton Evo vs. Liar 2 vs. Storm II
Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Axeon 4.0 vs. No Consequences vs. Tough as Nails

And so, twelve plucky contestants have now reached round two - 7 seeds and 5 unranked machines! They€™ve all done immensely well to win through such a tough melee round, and here they are:
Hypertension MK3.5 [#2]
Gabriel V [#3]
Traffic Warden [#4]
Wedga Ennea [#5]
Spin Dash Unleashed [#8]
Back to Rock III [#10]
Autoism 4.0 [#12]
Mobile Failure 2.5
The Servant€™s Assistant
Delirium Tremors
Wedginator X
Eye of Ran II

And so with no further ado, we have... the draw for Round 2! Remember that the losers in this round are not out - they€™ll have another chance to prove themselves in the loser€™s melees, but who will get through them to reach the quarter-finals?

Battleboard
Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors
Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II
Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5
Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X
Wedga Ennea [#5] vs. The Servant€™s Assistant
Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Autoism 4.0 [#12]

Round One was completed four weeks ahead of schedule so we're speeding down the road to armageddon chaps!

And beware the new arena hazards... the spikes did well, contributing to some shocking victories and losses throughout round one, but now a new weapon will enter the arena ~ The floor flippers. Each powered by a 120mm low pressure pneumatic ram, these are made of 12mm hardox and are fast acting. They won't be powerful enough to throw anyone out of the arena, but will turn bots over neatly. The corners ones are facing away from the walls, so they will flip robots into the arena rather than out - but a warning to anyone feeling cocky, each arena floor flipper houses a flame thrower beneath it, so watch out flammable bots!

Tactics and Predictions for round 2 if you please!

[kodster]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Oh, no no no no no no, no rewrites, the results were surprising is all.

Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors

I...am really not seeing much Gabriel can do here. Because Gabriel's nose cone ends at a point, he will hardly be able to push around DT at all (if he manages to stop the drum, anyhow), and flipping him...will be hard to do, but do nothing regardless. Sorry Joey, but Zarte gets my vote here. Even though Delirium Tremors is as annoying as hell. :P

Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II

I question how Traffic Warden was able to grab Storm II's sloped sides with its flat clamps last time, but whatev :P Here I think it has a better chance...unless EoR manages to eviscerate it. And that won't happen quickly enough to avoid a pitting. Steve ftw? Yes plz

Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5

That saw will work wonders at the sides, but those tires of Spin Dash are really exposed. Still, I think Tracy will lose wheels before Steve. Steve ftw again (sorry XD)

Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X

You again? :P Urgh.

Back to Rock has one thing going for it and that's the saw, as it can cause damage. Not a lot, but that counts for it in a JD. I intend to make sure it doesn't go that far. ...anyway, a very gutsy thing to do would be to try go onto his lifter really fast and slam the saw to jam it, but it would also be very stupid, and who says he'll get under me every time? :P Regardless, I have 2WD, he has 6WD, and I'm damn well taking advantage of that. Sneak around to his sides, get under, and drive to pit or OOTA (if he looks like he's going to drive off, quickly flip to score judges points, I guess :P ). If we're deadlocked and he's trying to push me, j-hook backwards (aka drive backwards on one wheel for you folks not in the know ) and he'll go by me, then wedge and pit or OOTA. The only real way he can control me is if he totally gets me on the lifter, and due to its steepness and my body shape it doesn't look like he'll have an easy time controlling me even then. I'm a slippery customer, let's prove that fact.

Wedga Ennea [#5] vs. The Servant€™s Assistant

Good to see Lian doing so well. I think this match depends on who gets under who more, so I really can't say.

Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Autoism 4.0 [#12]

Tricky, tricky. If Autoism can keep lifting Hypo over and make him waste gas self-righting, I sense a win for Paul here. That I see happening, so Paul ftw

----

That's what I'm sayin' :P good luck you lot

[pmc1993]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Say wha?? The first round is over...and what a round it was. Here are tactics and predictions, because I am pleased to give both of them

Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors
Delirium Tremors...deffo...no doubt at all. Seriously, as Kody's just said, what can Gabriel actually do to it??

Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II
This looks more close than the other one: Steven has the speed and obvious power advantage. However, one major point is that the armour is thinned down to only 4mm Titanium to make way for the large motors and weapon. If Steve can stop the bar - the more likely outcome - then the Scotman will be flying on (yep, they REALLY are this bad :wink: ) If Joey can get the bar producing the 100+kj of energy, and slam in on the sides repeatedly, then I think Traffic Warden will get ripped a new one.

Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5
I would have said Spin Dash had it been a majority of the other robots in this round. The nice low frame, and the fact that he may be slightly less controllable than the Canadian lead me to believe that Spin Dash will get turned into a pancake. The Canadian hammer ftw

Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X
When I say I think Wedginator will win, I mean that I think and HOPE it'll win Back To Rock is one of the most powerful robots within this round, but I think that Wedginator is a brilliant adaptation from an existing design, and it is quite refreshing to see Kody design something that wasn't overly complicated I think that Wedginator will use the wedge to great use, and pit the Dutch Behemoth clone

Wedga Ennea [#5] vs. The Servant€™s Assistant
It would be unfair to knock Lian, because for a new robot it is extremely good - hell, it threw Psychosis + two random other robots from the ring in it's first fight: that's nothing to be scoffed at. However, it's like one of the reigning vapourbot designs it's going against here. I think that Lian will put up a great fight, but this will end with Wega Ennea ejecting him from the ring.

Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Autoism 4.0 [#12]
Hey, I'm through but this is one of the worst match-ups I possibly could've got: the flipper is extremely powerful, and literally Matt could win with one flip. In this fight, I have a couple of small strategies, and one big one. The first is to open the pit (REMEMBER TO REVERSE ONTO THE BUTTON SO I CAN STILL USE THE CLAWS) and the minor ones are:
Because of the way his flipper works, it will possibly freeze when at the top of it's range. If he misses a flip on me, try and get the claws inside the machine. The 7mm Hardox will be way too hard for 5 tonnes of crush, but the insides will take it much worse than the armour. If I hit something that immobilises him, then celebrate
Also, because he has 15 flips, I only need to turn him over a few times for the flipper to lose some power. His shape will help this this plan; looking at the picture with flat sides and a back angling out, this means he is easier to stack on this side, and easier to flip from the front (be aware that the latter is only in desperation :wink: ) So yh, constantly flip him, maybe if I'm getting lucky, flip him and back him up against the arena wall, and hope he does a Kronic style self-OOTA

Basically, lower my claws as low as they can go - scrapping the floor if necessary - and constant attacking will occur. Even if he gets to my sides, my skirts will hold him off. Stay in the arena centre as often as possible, and try to carry out at least one of those plans lol

Good luck Matty, everyone else, and also Lewis who is writing this wicked tourney

[Zarte]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

Gabriel V [#3] vs. Delirium Tremors

OK, so I feel this is a good draw for me. I believe Joey may be planning to remove the ears and the skirts. If he doesn't through a change of tactic, or through forgetting to post them at all, then attack those repeatedly, flip him over and then lay into the base. If he does remove them, he still has the tool spikes to go after. Attack these constantly and belligerently and hope it throws him over, if it does, badger the base still and attempt to damage, if not doing much, just get the drum into his self-righting angle so he falls straight back onto the drum. Stay away from the pit at all times and try and draw him onto a floor flipper. If I get caught out by it then who cares, I'm fully invertible.

Good luck Joey.

Traffic Warden [#4] vs. Eye of Ran II

I've gotta go with Eye of Ran II win :P

Spin Dash Unleashed [#8] vs. Mobile Failure 2.5

Spin Dash to be the one who gets signal and make mobile fail.

Back to Rock III [#10] vs. Wedginator X

I'm going with a Wedginator X-rated performance

Wedga Ennea [#5] vs. The Servant€™s Assistant

I'd put a wodge on Wedga.

Hypertension MK3.5 [#2] vs. Autoism 4.0 [#12]

Drive straight at the claws. And I mean at them not in them. If they grab us, they won't be able to pierce so we should be able to reverse, or at least turn so they can't push us in a straight line. If we get the shove right, our plate will meet their claw and either nothing'll happen, or we'll get underneath. If that happens, shove towards the wall and straight out, let's go for a MM fastest battle record :P

In response to Paul's 2 tactical moves of note, when he goes for the pit, slam into his side, the impact against the wall might throw him off balance and we could get underneath, or we might be able to push enough to stop him doing it. And with crushing the internals, make sure we only flip if we get a clear go. If it fucks up, rotate the machine to achieve the greatest difference between us and his claws. The retraction is near imminent but just in case.

Good luck Paul.

[joey_picus]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

right, after a discussion with Kody in which the phrase 'wedge point' was used an inordinate amount of times, hehe, my tactics are thus:

Gabriel V vs. Delirium Tremors

The ears will be detached as, good as they are aesthetically, they will probably be battered quite badly by the drum. The same goes for the skirts as this isn't really going to be a fight that involves a great deal of getting under things, hehe ;P My tactics will be largely/entirely to ram and push with the back end - this should actually give me better control (which with a 16mph top speed helps, although I won't be using much more than two thirds of that unless I have DT well and truly under my control) as the wheels are nearer that end and a wide, angled wedgy plate of Hardox is not to be sniffed at - and use it to basically go Storm II on Delirium Tremors' behind and don't let it spin up, keep on top of it and shove it into the nearest pit with haste. Use the flipper where necessary but only where necessary, like self righting, throwing DT into house robots, or pitting, and try to use it where DT won't have the chance to come back and hit it.
Gabriel I think - looking at it from a neutral standpoint and how drums tend to perform against low wedges - could have a significant advantage in that, sans ears and skirts, pretty much everything slopes away from you, and is wearplate steel, which a drum will have trouble dealing with (it also can't rip panels off a welded bodyshell). Getting flipped would present a possible issue but even inverted the base would be angled away from the drum, and it'd more likely catch the lower edge of the Hardox body due to how the base is recessed and possibly help flip me back over.
I have to doubt whether DT can really survive its own hits for too long given the lack of internal shockproofing and 60kj in the weapon too, and its speed is quite a potential liability as Gabriel's considerably faster and has a big wedge to push and deflect with.

...wow...those were long tactics XD best of luck Zarte ^^

[Guest]

Re: Mechanical Maelstrom Season 3.0

*points Joey has two fights and both are due in the next post* :P