Post by Matt Fowler on Jan 28, 2005 18:14:31 GMT
Welcome to the Fowler Fic War Series 3, and today we open up with Heat 1, and it’s a series 2 heat, meaning that the gauntlet’s here!
The first robot of FFW3 is Darth Dread. Kody Kunz’s robot is armed with a lethal 25lb hammer capable of putting nice holes in titanium. The armour’s no laughing matter either, with nice Lexan over titanium meaning that only strong weapons will be able to make much of an impression. It’s extremely hard to flip as well with skirts and spikes shaving the floor all the way round. However, the drive isn’t the strongest and spinning weapons can flip it. Could Darth Dread be Darth Mauled?
FFW History
In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Did Not Enter
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Straight from the offset it appears that Kody and his machine are going to take on the House Robot route. He cruises down the route, which has been left completely unchanged from Series 2. He charges straight at Dynamite Tee-Hee, and slams the hammer down. The Lexan armourment on the house robot is immediately dented, but he carries on anyway, sending out a blast of flame that does absolutely nothing but looks good anyway. He then gives him a good slam with the axe, which dents the top Lexan panel, before Darth Dread finally outmanouvres him. Next in his sight is the joint attack of Ringlets and the Sentinel. He chooses to take on the sentinel first, pushing back against the force. It has the better of him however and almost puts him down the pit, but he backs off just in time. This however puts him in a sandwich between Ringlets and Dynamite Tee-Hee. Whilst Ringlets revs up the discs, Dynamite Tee-Hee hammers down with the axe, denting the Lexan again. Ringlets then slams into the sides with the discs, ripping into the side, cutting through the Lexan and buckling the titanium underneath. He pushes them back very slightly, but as they do, the klaxon sounds and their run is over.
CEASE
TOTAL- 5.3m
That’s not a particularly good run from Darth Dread; we’ll have to see if it’s enough later.
The second robot to take a run is John Woss. The number 12 seeds are one of the most dangerous machines out there this series and are looking to take the 2 off their seeding this year. Armed with a deadly 20kg, 3000rpm flywheel, which managed to put dents in thick hardox last year, this machine, is more than capable of winning on damage alone. Add a shape that’s hard to hurt and makes it almost impossible for them not to self-right if flipped and you have a potent combination. However, if a flipper can get near them before the flywheel is spin up, then the ground clearance makes them easy to flip. Is Wossy a Wussy over flippers then?
FFW History
In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Beat Tough as Nails comfortably in Round 1, before having almost as comfortable a win against Odysseus 2 in round 2. The final was a long and hard encounter against Monsoon’s back, but he won that one as well. Having made it through to the semi-final’s Dave had high hopes, but in the end he went out in the first couple of rounds, and now he has an excellent seeding of number 12.
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Immediately John Woss moves out of the blocks and goes after the same route as Darth Dread. He spins the flywheel up as he goes, taking his time so that it’s up to speed by the time he faces up to Dynamite Tee-Hee. He smashes in the side Lexan as he sprints past, denting it into the wheel, meaning that he can now only move in circles. Knowing that, he makes a beeline for Ringlets, knowing he can’t be sandwiched. Ringlets discs are up to speed, but because of the odd shape, only the bottom ring makes contact, and that just bounces him off to one side. He shunts his way past, scraping the wall in the process, but is soon back on track to face the enormity of Father of Rotatovator. He bides his time, waiting for him to make a move, as he knows that he can out accelerate him easily when it comes to it. He holds his moment, waits until the Daddy of the house bots makes his move before charging past him into the End Zone and into almost certain safety.
CEASE
TOTAL- Completed
That will be almost certainly enough to get them through to the next round, and it also puts Darth Dread in even more danger.
Next into the arena is Chris Cooper’s Going Going Gone.
This deadly 3-way clusterbot is Mr. Cooper’s first ever entry into the Fowler Fic War. Each machine weighs between 30 and 40kg an each is armed with a pneumatic flipper, capable of flipping most things in the arena over. They’re also very quick and are designed to work in pincer attacks. The main issues with this machine is the obvious lack in weight, meaning that machines may make light work of flipping and ramming, whilst the 5mm titanium will be fodder to nasty weapons. Will anyone want to bid on this machine?
FFW History
In FFW1- Did not Enter
In FFW2- Did not Enter
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Clusterbots are at a great disadvantage in the gauntlet, as it’s the average of the 3 distances that is taken. Chris decides to send all 3 parts down the middle route. He knocks the cans out of the way with no problem, but has more problems with the concrete blocks, as Going 1 goes through with no problem, but Going 2 and Gone cannot make their way through. While Going 1 continues his rampage, charging up to the maze and trying to waltz through it, the other 2 cannot make any more ground and are trying to turn around in order to get back on the straight and narrow. They can’t seem to negotiate the fallen cans though, and so both Gone and Going 2 are caught between a rock and a hearth place. Going on the other hand has got to the house robots part of the route, and has now got the almighty forces of Buzz Flight-Gear and Smack the Flipper about to murder him slowly and painfully. He charges at Smack the Flipper thinking that he’ll be the less dangerous of the 2. He’s proved wrong though, as he flies up the flipper, which throws him through the air and over the fence. Knowing that he cannot continue in a new route, he focuses on trying to get the other 2 back through the blocks, however time runs out and he knows that he may be struggling.
CEASE
TOTAL- G1- 10.7m, G2- 2.9m G- 2.6m
TOTAL TOTAL- 5.4m
Very, very shaky, we’ll see how he gets on
The 4th robot entering the arena for the gauntlet is Odysseus 2. After its minimal success last time, this latest creation from Team Technowizard has got itself the number 25 seeding. Armed with a bizarre harpoon on an arm, this shape, not seen in robotic combat as far as I’m aware since Eye of Newt, is more than capable of causing a shock. It’s been designed to be invertible as well, so flippers shouldn’t cause too much of a problem. However it is quite sluggish, and is unlikely to win should it get involved in a shoving match. Let’s see if it can Grecian Urn its place in round 2.
FFW History
In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Pulled off an excellent upset in round 1, beating AJ’s SOR. Was comfortably beaten in round 2 however by John Woss. Could there be a grudge match here?
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Straight away it appears obvious that Alex is about to take on Route 1, the first machine in this series to try it out. He raises the arm, and immediately rocks back onto his back end, with the front wedge pointing into the air in order to make ramp negotiation easy. What he doesn’t bargain on is that he’s going to run into trouble even before he gets that far, as the ram rig traps him on his attempt to get through, pinning him against the wall. It comes back, but it’s wedged itself underneath Alex and he has absolutely no escape whatsoever.
CEASE
Total- 5.3m
That’s practically booked him a one-way flight out of the competition, unless 1 of the last 4 get worse distances as this will force a re-run between him and Darth Dread. On the other hand it does put Going Going Gone through.
The first robot of FFW3 is Darth Dread. Kody Kunz’s robot is armed with a lethal 25lb hammer capable of putting nice holes in titanium. The armour’s no laughing matter either, with nice Lexan over titanium meaning that only strong weapons will be able to make much of an impression. It’s extremely hard to flip as well with skirts and spikes shaving the floor all the way round. However, the drive isn’t the strongest and spinning weapons can flip it. Could Darth Dread be Darth Mauled?
FFW History
In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Did Not Enter
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Straight from the offset it appears that Kody and his machine are going to take on the House Robot route. He cruises down the route, which has been left completely unchanged from Series 2. He charges straight at Dynamite Tee-Hee, and slams the hammer down. The Lexan armourment on the house robot is immediately dented, but he carries on anyway, sending out a blast of flame that does absolutely nothing but looks good anyway. He then gives him a good slam with the axe, which dents the top Lexan panel, before Darth Dread finally outmanouvres him. Next in his sight is the joint attack of Ringlets and the Sentinel. He chooses to take on the sentinel first, pushing back against the force. It has the better of him however and almost puts him down the pit, but he backs off just in time. This however puts him in a sandwich between Ringlets and Dynamite Tee-Hee. Whilst Ringlets revs up the discs, Dynamite Tee-Hee hammers down with the axe, denting the Lexan again. Ringlets then slams into the sides with the discs, ripping into the side, cutting through the Lexan and buckling the titanium underneath. He pushes them back very slightly, but as they do, the klaxon sounds and their run is over.
CEASE
TOTAL- 5.3m
That’s not a particularly good run from Darth Dread; we’ll have to see if it’s enough later.
The second robot to take a run is John Woss. The number 12 seeds are one of the most dangerous machines out there this series and are looking to take the 2 off their seeding this year. Armed with a deadly 20kg, 3000rpm flywheel, which managed to put dents in thick hardox last year, this machine, is more than capable of winning on damage alone. Add a shape that’s hard to hurt and makes it almost impossible for them not to self-right if flipped and you have a potent combination. However, if a flipper can get near them before the flywheel is spin up, then the ground clearance makes them easy to flip. Is Wossy a Wussy over flippers then?
FFW History
In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Beat Tough as Nails comfortably in Round 1, before having almost as comfortable a win against Odysseus 2 in round 2. The final was a long and hard encounter against Monsoon’s back, but he won that one as well. Having made it through to the semi-final’s Dave had high hopes, but in the end he went out in the first couple of rounds, and now he has an excellent seeding of number 12.
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Immediately John Woss moves out of the blocks and goes after the same route as Darth Dread. He spins the flywheel up as he goes, taking his time so that it’s up to speed by the time he faces up to Dynamite Tee-Hee. He smashes in the side Lexan as he sprints past, denting it into the wheel, meaning that he can now only move in circles. Knowing that, he makes a beeline for Ringlets, knowing he can’t be sandwiched. Ringlets discs are up to speed, but because of the odd shape, only the bottom ring makes contact, and that just bounces him off to one side. He shunts his way past, scraping the wall in the process, but is soon back on track to face the enormity of Father of Rotatovator. He bides his time, waiting for him to make a move, as he knows that he can out accelerate him easily when it comes to it. He holds his moment, waits until the Daddy of the house bots makes his move before charging past him into the End Zone and into almost certain safety.
CEASE
TOTAL- Completed
That will be almost certainly enough to get them through to the next round, and it also puts Darth Dread in even more danger.
Next into the arena is Chris Cooper’s Going Going Gone.
This deadly 3-way clusterbot is Mr. Cooper’s first ever entry into the Fowler Fic War. Each machine weighs between 30 and 40kg an each is armed with a pneumatic flipper, capable of flipping most things in the arena over. They’re also very quick and are designed to work in pincer attacks. The main issues with this machine is the obvious lack in weight, meaning that machines may make light work of flipping and ramming, whilst the 5mm titanium will be fodder to nasty weapons. Will anyone want to bid on this machine?
FFW History
In FFW1- Did not Enter
In FFW2- Did not Enter
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Clusterbots are at a great disadvantage in the gauntlet, as it’s the average of the 3 distances that is taken. Chris decides to send all 3 parts down the middle route. He knocks the cans out of the way with no problem, but has more problems with the concrete blocks, as Going 1 goes through with no problem, but Going 2 and Gone cannot make their way through. While Going 1 continues his rampage, charging up to the maze and trying to waltz through it, the other 2 cannot make any more ground and are trying to turn around in order to get back on the straight and narrow. They can’t seem to negotiate the fallen cans though, and so both Gone and Going 2 are caught between a rock and a hearth place. Going on the other hand has got to the house robots part of the route, and has now got the almighty forces of Buzz Flight-Gear and Smack the Flipper about to murder him slowly and painfully. He charges at Smack the Flipper thinking that he’ll be the less dangerous of the 2. He’s proved wrong though, as he flies up the flipper, which throws him through the air and over the fence. Knowing that he cannot continue in a new route, he focuses on trying to get the other 2 back through the blocks, however time runs out and he knows that he may be struggling.
CEASE
TOTAL- G1- 10.7m, G2- 2.9m G- 2.6m
TOTAL TOTAL- 5.4m
Very, very shaky, we’ll see how he gets on
The 4th robot entering the arena for the gauntlet is Odysseus 2. After its minimal success last time, this latest creation from Team Technowizard has got itself the number 25 seeding. Armed with a bizarre harpoon on an arm, this shape, not seen in robotic combat as far as I’m aware since Eye of Newt, is more than capable of causing a shock. It’s been designed to be invertible as well, so flippers shouldn’t cause too much of a problem. However it is quite sluggish, and is unlikely to win should it get involved in a shoving match. Let’s see if it can Grecian Urn its place in round 2.
FFW History
In FFW1- Did Not Enter
In FFW2- Pulled off an excellent upset in round 1, beating AJ’s SOR. Was comfortably beaten in round 2 however by John Woss. Could there be a grudge match here?
3…<br>2…<br>1…<br>Activate!
Straight away it appears obvious that Alex is about to take on Route 1, the first machine in this series to try it out. He raises the arm, and immediately rocks back onto his back end, with the front wedge pointing into the air in order to make ramp negotiation easy. What he doesn’t bargain on is that he’s going to run into trouble even before he gets that far, as the ram rig traps him on his attempt to get through, pinning him against the wall. It comes back, but it’s wedged itself underneath Alex and he has absolutely no escape whatsoever.
CEASE
Total- 5.3m
That’s practically booked him a one-way flight out of the competition, unless 1 of the last 4 get worse distances as this will force a re-run between him and Darth Dread. On the other hand it does put Going Going Gone through.