BattleBots

Funnily enough, perennial Butt-Monkey Diotor (previously Nemesis) on Robot Wars had that issue - they came over from Ireland and almost missed their match one year because the robot got taken to bits by customs. They weren't able to add the weapon back on in time, and were destroyed easily.

Then again, since this robot was covered in fur and actually seemingly deliberately got itself set on fire if it didn't happen accidentally, just for the sheer Hell of it, that was always going to happen. They were good sports about it though, and won the series's Most Sporting Team award at least once.

I'm pretty sure the "Hit the robot once, thought it had won, ran around and got pitted" thing was from Robot Wars too. Killerhertz was a British team who competed on both shows, and after Battle Bots forgot that RW had pits, so accidentally suicided early in a fight.

edited 23rd Jun '15 12:50:36 PM by EruditeEsotericist

So, I mentioned to my co-workers that I saw the premiere. Here's the gist of the conversation.

...Awkward...

It's because you forgot to say "TO THE DEATH!"

There's nothing wrong with being a fan of both.

ABC's page for the next episode is up. This episode will feature eight fights, and the selection of the wild cards. Here's who will be fighting in the next episode:

Bronco: Team Captains – Alexander Rose and Reason Bradley (Hometown: Marin County, CA / Currently Resides in Sausalito, CA)

Witch Doctor: Team Captain – Andrea Suarez (Hometown and Currently Resides in: Miami, FL)

Captain Shrederator: Team Captain – Brian Nave (Hometown: Deland, FL / Currently Resides in Ormond Beach, FL)

Overhaul: Team Captain – Charles Gaun (Hometown: Atlanta, GA / Currently Resides in Cambridge, MA)

Overdrive: Team Captain – Christian Carlberg (Hometown: Tolland, CT / Currently Resides in San Luis Obispo, CA)

Ghost Raptor: Team Captain – Chuck Pitzer (Hometown: Sarasota, FL / Currently Resides in: San Francisco, CA)

Counter Revolution: Team Captain – Curt Meyers (Hometown: Newburgh, IN / Currently Resides in San Jose, CA)

Complete Control MkV: Team Captain – Derek Young (Hometown: Georgetown Ontario Canada / Currently Resides San Francisco, CA)

Lock-Jaw: Team Captain- Donald Hutson (Hometown and Currently Resides in: San Diego, CA)

Radioactive: Team Captain- Kane Aston (Hometown and Currently Resides in: Hemel Hempstead, England)

Mohawk: Team Captain – Korey Kline (Hometown: Granada Hill, CA / Currently Resides in: Miami, FL)

Stinger: Team Captain – Matt Maxham (Hometown: Santa Rose, CA / Currently Resides in: Sacramento, CA)

Sweet Revenge: Team Captain – Nola Garcia (Hometown: Miami, FL/ Currently Resides in: Coral Gables, FL)

Tombstone: Team Captain- Ray Billings (Hometown: Chico, CA/ Currently Resides in: Placerville, CA)

HyperShock: Team Captain – Will Bales (Hometown: Miami, FL / Currently Resides in: Cambridge, MA)

Chomp: Team Captain – Zoe Stephenson (Hometown: Seattle, WA / Currently Resides in: Los Angeles, CA)

Battlebots also has a main site in addition to the ABC one. It includes profiles of the bots and teams. I'll post them, and see if I can dig up and old footage of the returning teams, after dinner.

EDIT: I've added links to the bots' profile pages in the above list. Here's the profiles for last week's competitors:

• Icewave
• Razorback
• Plan X
• Wrecks
• Bite Force
• Warhead
• Nightmare
• Warrior Clan

edited 26th Jun '15 3:46:29 PM by Lightblade

Looks like they're really planning on stepping it up from Episode 1, which is good considering how fun Episode 1 was.

Looking through those profiles, I'm starting to feel real giddy about this Sunday.

Well, tonight was definitely an eye opener

• Lock-Jaw vs. Overhaul: Lock-Jaw wins by split decision
• Bronco vs. Witch Doctor: Bronco wins by knock out. Flipped the main over the while while the minibot continued to roast him
• Tombstone vs. Counter Revolution: Tombstone demolished him within 40 seconds. Robot was completely shut down after 2 hits, yet tombstone continued to kill until Revolution's team tapped out.
• Complete Control vs Ghost Raptor: NET TRAP! I can see why Complete Control is the villain of the series. Had a net trap right in the box for Ghost raptor to step into. The judges couldn't let that fly though, so a rematch was made. After a close battle with both bots crippled, Ghost Raptor advances

edited 28th Jun '15 7:17:58 PM by CountofBleck

I'm currently wishing we'd gotten another week of preliminaries. Would have been a lot more entertaining to watch the entirety of those other fights rather than just getting recaps. I'm hoping the full fights will be up on the website to see them in full.

OTHER THAN THAT, I'd say yeah, things definitely went as I could have hoped for. That opening fight was intense, and I have to wonder if there's anything that can stop the obvious frontrunner.

Also, I'm disappointed that Nightmare didn't get a wildcard slot.

edited 28th Jun '15 7:27:03 PM by TheSpaceJawa

Complete Control vs Ghostraptor was one of the funniest things I've seen in any of these series. Not just the first fight, but the second one as well.

We're all set to have a huge grudge match after a devious trick and possible illegal move, and then both fighters basically dismantle themselves almost immediately and spend the rest of the match trying to feebly push each other into hazards. The perfect capper to a hilarious start.

I know that one. It's the first one I ran into while searching for the one I'm thinking of, but I'm not sure it was that one - mostly because I remember the fight being a lengthy Curb-Stomp Battle before the one who was winning dove into the pit while the other was dismantled. Killerhertz got a few hits in, but I dunno...

Granted, it's been years, so it's easily possible my memory is playing tricks on me.

edited 28th Jun '15 7:32:50 PM by KnownUnknown

Well, this episode certainly had some strange things going on. I thought that Lock-Jaw continuing to attack its opponent after the buzzer and Complete Control's net shenanigans were very unsporting. Ghost Raptor's team was more generous than I would've been, to allow Complete Control a rematch without the net. I'd have just demanded they be disqualified.

I was also a bit disappointed that four of the fights were summarized rather then shown in their entirety. I'm having trouble remembering who won them.

As for the wild cards, I'm surprised Warhead got a spot, seeing how it got completely dominated in its match.

It's probably at least in part an entertainment/crowd pleaser thing. After a dick move like that, the audience is hyped and ready to see them face off against each other for real. The show must go on and all that.

edited 28th Jun '15 7:44:52 PM by KnownUnknown

Yep. Ghost Raptor's team said as much when asked about it. But although the immediate problem was resolved, it was resolved in a way that still leaves the underlying question unanswered. Are nets legal or not?

Also, I find it so strange that a question on the legality of nets has come up in a competition that allows things like flamethrowers.

Anyway, ABC has posted videos of three of last night's battles.

Overhaul vs Lockjaw

Bronco vs Witch Doctor

Counter Revolution vs Tombstone

edited 29th Jun '15 4:11:18 PM by Lightblade

Speaking of which, do flamethrowers ever work? Granted I haven't seen all of either Battlebots or Robot Wars, but I've never seen fire accomplish anything more than a distraction.

Well, flamethrowers were actually a banned weapon in the Comedy Central era of Battlebots, and I think in Robot Wars, actual contestants were banned from using them (at least, I don't remember anyone doing so. It's been a long time) and they were limited to arena hazards and the house robot Sgt. Bash.

As for their effectiveness, the only time on Robot Wars I saw it be useful on anything that wasn't already disabled was against Nemesis. And as mentioned above, that robot was covered in fur and often went out of its way to get itself lit on fire. Any other time flames just added insult to injury.

... And now I find myself saying that fire isn't dangerous. Man, this show is a bad influence .

When the opponents are made of metal fire is mostly going to be for show. Looks scary but that's about it.

edited 29th Jun '15 7:39:58 PM by tricksterson

I think if you can get some fire on the innards though you can do damage. The metal shell may not melt but that sweet sweet electrical wiring might.

Also I can't find specific restrictions for the competition but there are some for other robot battle stuff floating around the internet. Seems to boil down to, no explosives, no invisible weapons (jamming, EM Ps and such) no lasers, no weapons that don't stay attached (bullets and such), no explosives, no entanglement, and nothing that's gonna that a lot of clean up (including sutff that damages the arena).

edited 30th Jun '15 3:20:21 AM by Silasw

Video of the fights we saw is good, but what I find myself really wanting right now are full videos of the fights that were merely summarized.

Ditto although I got the impression that the reason why they were given short shrift was that none of them lasted long.

They couldn't have possibly been that much shorter than the Bronco and Tombstone fights, and we got those in full.

The episode 3 preview page is up. This Sunday's fights will be:

• Stinger vs Warhead
• Bronco vs Plan X
• Warrior Clan vs Ghost Raptor
• Icewave vs Chomp

edited 3rd Jul '15 12:47:09 PM by Lightblade

I'm favoring Bronco and Icewave for their fights.

Warhead vs Stinger I've got no idea in large part due to not getting a good look at how Stinger can actually perform.

Warrior Clan vs Ghost Raptor I also have no idea since on the one hand, Warrior Clan 'survived' Nightmare more than beat them outright while Ghost Raptor may largely depend on if they have their spinner break on them again.

Well, this episode had a few interesting fights.

Icewave vs. Chomp: Before the fight, they talked about Icewave's troubles before the fight. It was apparently a "lithium" fire, which required much cleaning to get back in working order. But they did so, and its spinning blade just tore Chomp apart. Icewave wins by KO.

Stinger vs. Warhead: Warhead's team was very grateful to have gotten a wild card spot despite spending their entire previous match being pushed around with impunity. This fight against Stinger went about the same. There were a few times where Warhead got flipped over and Stinger could've left it to get counted out for the KO, but Stinger helped it back on its wheels so the fight could continue. It was still another curb-stomping against Warhead, but by the end of the match, both teams were having too much fun to care. Stinger wins by Unanimous Decision.

Warrior Clan vs. Ghost Raptor: Ghost Raptor apparently didn't have a spare spinner arm, so it had to go into this fight without its main weapon. They re-configured it into a lifter bot for the fight. I was worried about how well it would fight without the spinner, but it did surprisingly well. It seemed to be faster than I remembered it without the arm, and was able to push Warrior Clan around and into the arena hazards, which did enough damage to take it out. Ghost Raptor wins by KO.

Bronco vs. Plan X: Apparently, Plan X's outer frame was made to be flimsy on purpose to absorb blows and protect the main body. But that doesn't really help when up against a machine that fights by tossing you around rather than cutting you apart. Bronco got under it and with a single flip, sent it flying into the screws, where it got caught. Bronco wins by KO.

Icewave seems invincible with those horizontal spinning blades. Thus, I'm quite interested in its weaknesses.

So far I've identified two potential weaknesses.

• Sufficiently low profile
  • If one's bot is sufficiently short in height, the blades can be avoid almost entirely.

• Sufficiently hard defense
  • Those blades can cut through most of the stuff that the bots are made out of. But I wonder if rebar or towing chains are allowed in the construction of a bot (and hopefully won't exceed weight limits). I don't think those blades cut through those materials and if they can... well Dell Conagher would be proud.

I'm also interested in Bronco's weaknesses in terms of resist against being flipped. Not avoid being flipped, but resist being forcefully made head over heels.

edited 5th Jul '15 11:16:11 PM by Worlder

Chain might run into the no entanglement rule. I'm thinking a distance weapon could work against the spinning blades. An over arm that goes above the bot and is long enough to maintain distance could work. Such an arm could either be equipped with a drop weapon that hoists back up, or a flamethrower so you can burn the bot from above.

Fire is more than just pretty, you melt a bots inwards and the electrics might go.

edited 6th Jul '15 11:26:04 AM by Silasw

Still skeptical. Haven't seen a flamebot yet that didn't get crunched.