Quarter-Finals

Quarter-Finals Oct 4, 2009 9:05:00 GMT -5

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Post by lewis on Oct 4, 2009 9:05:00 GMT -5

Mechanical Maelstrom Season 2.0
Quarter-Final 1

Sheer Heart Attack 2 (1) vs. Holepunch 2.0

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Both machines head out of their starting squares at the beginning of the fight, with the vertical drum weapon of Sheer Heart Attack 2 getting up to speed as Holepunch 2.0 trundles along the arena courtesy of those wheelchair motors, pneumatic crusher poised to do some serious damage to the other robot.

The reigning champion has to be the favourite to win this first quarter-final, and Martijn certainly seems to have retained an extremely powerful weapon as he smacks into the front of Holepunch 2.0 with the spinning drum, flipping the HDPE armoured machine up and over as well as leaving a scar in the front wedge.

However due to the low centre of gravity Holepunch 2.0 rolls over sideways and rams under the side track of Sheer Heart Attack 2 and swiftly bites down with the pneumatic crusher weapon, digging into Sheer Heart Attack 2’s locomotion and now dragging the reigning champion across the arena!

Martijn spins up the drum again, but Sheer Heart Attack 2 is still in Holepunch’s grip and Leo bumps against the pit release button, activating both the siren and descent of the pit. The crowd roar with delight as an upset in this round seems almost certain, while Leo concentrates on delivering Sheer Heart Attack 2 to the pit of oblivion.

He drives side on to the pit and turns before retracting the crusher, but it’s dug very deeply into the track of Sheer Heart Attack 2, who is lifted into the air with the pneumatic weaponry as it retracts! Leo curses silently and edges over the side of the pit, now slightly tipping with the weight of Sheer Heart Attack 2 on the end of the crusher!

Leo tries to reverse to stop both robots landing in the pit, unsure of who will go in first, but it’s too late and the wheels of Holepunch 2.0 spin in the air as the weight of Sheer Heart Attack 2 on the crusher pulls the robot forwards and into the pit on top of Sheer Heart Attack 2!

CEASE!

The judges watch the replay footage of the match, and they give us the thumbs up now, as it is clear that Sheer Heart Attack 2 entered the pit before Holepunch 2.0, so Team RCC and Holepunch 2.0 advance to the semi-finals!

Quarter-Final 2

The Zodiac vs. Hypertension MK3

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Our second quarter-final gets underway quickly as The Zodiac spins up to speed and heads towards the arena at the heavily armoured Hypertension MK3. Will’s robot powers forward to meet Kody and slides his wedge under the full body spinner, tilting it up enough for one of the blades to strike the steel arena floor and provide a smattering of sparks.

The Zodiac however manages to drive off the flipper before Will makes any more trouble and speeds away from Hypertension MK3 as the shell rapidly gets up to speed! Hypertension MK3 tails the full body spinning maniac closely, and Kody quickly drives back in on the attack, slamming into the side of the hardox wedge and putting a small dent in the armour as well as spinning Hypertension MK3 around.

Will drives forward to attack The Zodiac again, but thanks to a total of 4 magmotors powering the weapon The Zodiac is already spinning like a bloodthirsty spinning top again and drives into Hypertension MK3 again and knocking it away, but not really managing to damage the thick hardox armour that protects Hypertension MK3.

But this time Will is fast on the attack, ramming into The Zodiac’s shell before it quite reaches full speed, but 1000rpm is still quick enough to knock Hypertension slightly away and we see another dent in the armour of Hypertension MK3.

But Will is resilient this time and powers in again, getting the wedge fully underneath and firing the strong flipper, sending The Zodiac high into the air! The shell spins up while The Zodiac is in flight, but it then crashes to the floor, sending sparks in all directions and causing The Zodiac to perform a crazy Mauler-esque dance across the Annihilation Stadium, slamming against the wall before it finally comes to a halt on its back.

Kody tries to self-right, but the Zodiac is stuck in the corner and the pneumatic srimech merely pushes The Zodiac up against the barrier before it falls down onto its back again. Kody spins to try and turn the srimech the other way, and this also gets The Zodiac away from the wall as it spins madly and bounces on its blades crazily.

However, this has given time for Will to rush along from across the arena and Hypertension MK3 rams in underneath the already overturned robot, ramming into the corner and firing the powerful gas flipper to send The Zodiac high into the air before it comes crashing down on the camera tracks!

CEASE!

The Zodiac is flipped up and out; Hypertension MK3 progresses to the semi-finals!

Quarter-Final 3

Gabriel IV (2) vs. Dantu

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The other seeded robot that made the quarters this season is Gabriel IV, and it’s down to Joey now to carry on the name of the experienced machines, and clearly he intends to do just that as the elongated pyramid shape of Gabriel IV shoots across the arena swiftly, driving at Dantu, who drives slightly up the front nose before falling off the side and turning the spinning disc into the side of Gabriel IV, knocking the seeded robot up and over!

Joey self-rights, but it seems Gabriel IV is having trouble getting a proper attack in on Dantu, as the front area of attack is very narrow and the axlebot nature of Dantu is problematic enough for front hinged flippers already. This allows Alex to spin Dantu’s disc up to speed once again and the deadly dance of robots begins a second time as the opposing machines both try and attack at once, but they both want to avoid an attack on themselves and so neither makes a foolish kamikaze-style break for violence.

It’s Joey that breaks the stalemate, pushing forward and getting under the side of Dantu, firing the full pressure flipper and flipping Dantu sideways up onto its own wheel, where it spins crazily before landing back down the wrong way up, but Alex drives straight into the side of Gabriel IV again, making a small scar on the armour and flipping Dantu back the right way up.

But flipping itself leaves the rear of Dantu open to attack from Gabriel IV, who immediately obliges by turning and ramming underneath the back of Alex’s machine, reaching the spike strip before the 2400psi flipper slams Dantu into the hazard, stopping the spinning disc in its tracks and putting some points on the board for the seeded machine should this go to a judge’s decision.

And this seems quite likely, as Dantu is nowhere near finished yet and swiftly recovers from Gabriel’s spike strip attack by driving away from both damaging objects while the disc spins up before wheeling around and ramming into the already damaged side of Gabriel IV, this time buffeting the seeded robot up into the air and leaving some more small scars on the side armour!

Gabriel IV topples over onto its back as a result of the attack, but is once again quick to self-right, turning on the spot quickly and whacking the side of Dantu with the front nose, also putting itself in position for another attack as it rams in underneath Alex’s axlebot and flips again, this time sending Dantu in a full three hundred and sixty degree spin over its head!

CEASE!

The judge’s call time on the match and both robots look pretty worn out after 3 minutes of robot carnage. Gabriel IV’s shell is full of scars and scratches, while Dantu seems to have suffered some damage at the front.

Judge’s Decision:
Damage:
Gabriel IV ~ 1.2 x 1 = 1.2pts
Dantu ~ 4.4 x 1 = 4.4pts
Aggression:
Gabriel IV ~ 3.6 x 0.75 = 2.7pts
Dantu ~ 3.3 x 0.75 = 2.475pts
Control:
Gabriel IV ~ 3.5 x 0.5 = 1.75pts
Dantu ~ 3.2 x 0.5 = 1.6pts
Dominance:
Gabriel IV ~ 4.1 x 0.25 = 1.025pts
Dantu ~ 3.8 x 0.25 = 0.95pts
Overall:
Gabriel IV: 6.675 – 9.425: Dantu

Gabriel IV (2) is down and out; Dantu advances to the semi-finals!

Quarter-Final 4

Traffic Warden vs. Wedga Triton

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The match begins and the two machines ram towards each other, meeting in the centre of the arena with Wedga Triton immediately running underneath the ground clearance of Traffic Warden and flipping the huge machine up into the air with that powerful pneumatic flipper, throwing Steven’s machine over sideways, but the rigid U-shaped bot is invertible and rapidly turns back on the attack, pushing forward and swallowing up Wedga Triton as the clamps come into play!

However Traffic Warden drives up the side skirt of Wedga, who flips Traffic Warden up and over backwards, reversing now to ram the huge machine across the arena and into the pit release button! Steven spins away and tries to grab Wedga from behind now, with the clamps coming in, but failing to get a really good grip on the sloped sides of Wedga Triton. Steven tries to manoeuvre his machine so that Andy will fall into the pit, but Traffic Warden’s two wheel drive struggles to turn the huge chassis of Traffic Warden this time because they’re so close to the arena wall that the left side of Traffic Warden hits the arena wall if it tries to turn towards the pit, and it would seem that the extraordinary wideness of the machine is costing it here, and all this deliberation gives Wedga Triton the chance to utilise the four wheel drive and manages to turn ever so slightly and get the flipper under the right clamp of Traffic Warden, firing the flipper, and sending the clamping machine up and over onto the arena side wall!

With Traffic Warden beached on the wall, Wedga Triton takes its time to turn and slide the flipper arm slowly and carefully under the side of the machine before with a snort of carbon dioxide gas Traffic Warden is flipped over the barrier in the arena and onto the camera tracks, only just fitting into the space between the arena wall and the outer wall because it lands on its side and balances!

CEASE!

Traffic Warden gets stuck in more than just traffic; Wedga Triton advances to the semi-finals!

Post by lewis on Nov 16, 2008 15:54:49 GMT -5

Post by lewis on Oct 4, 2009 9:05:00 GMT -5