Robot Wars Series 3 Grand Final

After five long weeks, we have finally reached our grand final.  And boy, wasn't it a thrilling final? We saw some great driving, clever tactics and some major shocks, and of course we crowned our champion of the Third Wars of the new series.

LET THE WARS BEGIN

Ten-Way Robot Rumble

Our five finalists are Behemoth, Carbide, Rapid, Nuts 2 and Magnetar.

The sixth finalist was chosen from a ten-way, last-man standing free for all between the robots that placed 2nd and third in the heats.  Let's run through them all quickly.

1. Apollo - champions of the first wars who are armed with a mighty flipper
2.  Sabretooth - armed with a vicious spinning drum
3. Eruption - runners-up in the second wars who also have a powerful flipper
4. Big Nipper - a very flat robot with two interchangeable weapons - a spinning drum and a lifting claw
5. Concussion - finalists in the second wars who have a brutal spinning drum
6. Tracktion - a group of school children whose robot ran on caterpillar tracks and have a crushing arm
7. Thor - finalist in the first wars who had a smashing hammer
8. Iron Awe 6 - veteran of the original wars who were armed with a flipper
9. Terrorhurtz - another veteran of the original wars with a powerful axe
10. Expulsion - another group of school children armed with a vertical spinning disc

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

This fight was absolute chaos.  It was a free-for-all with no rules or time limit.  The winner was the last robot standing.

Thor went straight onto the attack, charging across the arena, while Concussion hit Tracktion's vulnerable tracks leading to them becoming dislodged.  Thor then hit the pit release button.  This was smart, tactical thinking.  Thor wanted to take advantage of the mayhem happening in the arena in the hopes that a robot would become careless and drive into the pit.

Expulsion were the first robots to fall victim to this, while Thor was hammering down on Concussion.  Sabretooth bashed into the former champions, Apollo, knocking them over, while Concussion escaped from Terrorhurtz and start to whack into Big Nipper.  Then in the chaos, the Fog of War was released.  Terrorhurtz took advantage of this to push Tracktion down the pit.

After this Apollo flipped over Iron Awe who have been beyond useless within this series.  While they were armed with a flipper, I've never seen it work and this fight was no exception.  Luckily for them, the Fog of War went of again, before Apollo could finish them off.  Apollo then turned their attention to Sabretooth, flipping them against the arena wall.

Meanwhile, Terrorhurtz started attacking to Eruption, which hitherto had been hanging back. Eruption sneaked in behind Thor and gave them a mighty flip, while Iron Awe then hit the Dial of Doom, sensing they were in trouble.  This released the house robots and Sir Killalot came out of his lair and just missed Iron Awe.  And then again, Iron Awe hit the Dial of Doom, one again releasing the Fog of War.  But this backfired for the Iron Awe team, as they drove onto the floor flipper and were flipped over and couldn't self-right.

Big Nipper managed to get underneath Apollo and almost lifted them over, before Concussion pushed Iron Awe into the pit, but were soon after pushed in by Thor.

6 robots left.  Sabretooth got their spinning drum into play against Eruption's flipper, while Terrorhurtz began to lose the CO2 gas for their axe.  This meant that their weapon was losing power.  Apollo sensed this weakness and flipped Terrorhurtz over who were just able to self-right.  Terrorhurtz was able to escape and they hit into Sabretooth.  The house robots went rogue and Killalot went after Eruption, while Shunt attacked Apollo.  In this confusion, Sabretooth drove onto the pit.

Thor hit the Dial of Doom again, before driving into the pit, while trying to pit Big Nipper.  Killalot went after Terrorhurtz and almost threw them from the arena, but spared them.  Meanwhile, in the background, Big Nipper were finally pitted.  And then there were three robots left.

There was Terrorhurtz whose axe was failing them, the former champions - Apollo who were also becoming tired and the tactical thinkers Eruption.

The flippers could tell Terrorhurtz was slowly dying, so they began ganging up on it.  Eruption shunted it into the side wall and flipped it so that it couldn't self-right.  And then they turned their attention to the former champion.  They got in a mighty flip on Apollo and then another and another.  Apollo just couldn't recover and with their CO2 gas spent, they couldn't self-right.

Eruption were the last machine standing and thus claimed the sixth spot in the grand final.  I have to say that the Eruption team played this fight well.  They went in with the clear tactic of hanging back early on and letting the other robots take each other out, before they went on the attack.

Group Battle 1 Carbide vs Behemoth vs Nuts 2

Time for the first group battle between the first group of our finalists.

For starters we have current champions Carbide armed with a mighty spinning bar.  Then there was Behemoth armed with a lifting scoop.  The Behemoth team have been competing in Robot Wars since 1998, where they reached the semi-finals of Series 2 of the original wars.  Reaching the grand final today is the best they have ever competed since.

Finally, we have Nuts 2, regarded by many as a "joke robot." However, they've proved their worth with their flail spinner doing some real damage, taking out former finalists Concussion.  They also have little clusterbots designed to annoy and pester.

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

While Nuts 2 spans up to top speed, Behemoth and Carbide had their own private war.  Behemoth used a specially-made scoop designed to deflect spinner blows, but this didn't stop Carbide from getting some stunners in.  While Behemoth were going back on their attack, they drove over the pit, just as one of the Nuts clusterbots hit the pit release.  And Behemoth sank out of sight.

This was great tactics by the Nuts team and it wasn't the first surprise of the episode.  With one opponent down, Carbide went to attack Nuts 2, but the flailing arms of the Nuts machine ripped into Carbide and tore out their weapon chain, leaving the champions defenceless.

After this happened, it was Nuts on the attack and Carbide on the defence.  The champions were running away.  You could tell Carbide was scared as they hit the Dial of Doom twice, releasing both the house robots and the Fog of War, but to no great effect.  At times, they were almost counted out, but they just managed to take it to a judge's decision who awarded it to Nuts.

The Nuts team were in disbelief, which is something I really love about their team.  They're so humble and are such great sports, but their machine is good.  They took out the champions Carbide.  And to put this into perspective, Carbide were runners-up in Series 1 only beaten by Apollo and they were champions in series 2.  This means that they have been practically unbeaten thus far.  But Nuts 2 were able to do what only one other robot has done so far.  This deserves real respect.

Group Battle 2 Magnetar vs Eruption Vs Rapid

The three robots in this second group battle are Magnetar who were finalists in series 1.  They were armed with a mighty spinning drum.  Then we have Rapid, a flipper, whose team captain wanted to recruit anybody who could beat them.  Finally, we have Eruption, the flipper-bot who fought their way through the ten-way robot rumble.

3...2...1...Activate

This battle began slowly with Eruption and Rapid sizing each other up, while Magnetar span to top speed.  And bloody hell, they were awesome once they reached their max speed.  They bashed into Rapid, sending it flying through the air and crashing down.  Rapid self-righted and tried to flip over Eruption, but instead flipped themselves over and couldn't self-right.  That was until they were knocked back into life by Magnetar, but then they were flipped over by Eruption and this time they couldn't recover.

Meanwhile, Magnetar hit Eruption, but the flipper machine was well-armoured.  They managed to fight back, but as the fight progressed, their flipper was losing power, as they their CO2 dwindled.  However, Magnetar's spinning drum also lost power and this then became a tactical battle of attrition.

Magnetar slammed Eruption into the CPZ, which backfired spectacularly, as Magnetar was then flipped over by Matilda.  Their self-righter failed and they were counted out.  Another major upset of this final.  Eruption were through to the next round.

Robot Redemption 1 Behemoth vs Magnetar

Time for the first loser's melee and to see which robot could claw their way back into the main competition.

Behemoth started the aggressor charging into Magnetar and flipping them over.  However, Magnetar were able to self-right and they got their own back, hitting Behemoth - the force of which flipped Behemoth over.  Just when it looked like they were down for the count, they self-righted.

Behemoth went back onto the attack, but overextended themselves and crashed into the arena wall.  Magnetar's spinning drum them lost radio signal, while Behemoth lost drive on one side.  With both robots badly wounded, this became a battle of attrition.  But then Magnetar became cocky and got too close to Behemoth allowing them to be flipped over.  They couldn't self-right and were immobilised.

Robot Redemption 2 Carbide vs Rapid

Time for the most explosive battle of the series - quite literally.

To stop Carbide's spinning bar, the Rapid team attached entanglement weapons, which didn't work at all.  However, Rapid's flipper did work, as they were able to flip Carbide, but the champions recovered and then got a massive hit on Rapid, tearing off a side panel.

Rapid managed to get one last flip in, before Carbide slammed into them with such force that their machine began smoking.  And when I say smoking, I mean smoking.  A cloud of smoke filled the arena and then Rapid caught fire.  It was safe to say they were out and Carbide was back in.  Looks like the Rapid team should be hiring both the Magnetar and the Carbide teams.

Semi-final 1 Behemoth vs Eruption

When you get two flippers against each other, it's always a matter of who's closest to the ground and who can get underneath the other robot first.

In this case it was Behemoth who managed to flip Eruption over and push them into the CPZ.  But Eruption recovered and they were angry.  They flipped Behemoth over from the side, leaving them struggling to self-right.

They finally recovered only to be flipped again and again.  And while they self-righted, they just couldn't recover.  They couldn't get under Eruption who then flipped them into Matilda and, well, basically, all over the arena.  Behemoth managed to take it to the judges who unsurprisingly awarded it to Eruption, but all credit to the Behemoth boys.  They didn't give up and this was their best performance ever.  Hopefully they'll come back even stronger next year.

Semi-final 2 Carbide vs Nuts 2

Could Nuts 2 do it again? Could they beat the reigning champions for a second time running? Carbide were worried they could, which is why they put armour around their weapon chain.  And it worked.  Nuts 2 spun up to speed and clobbered Carbide, but didn't inflict any major damage.

Carbide then went on the attack and ripped off one of Nuts 2's flailing arms.  Sensing they were in trouble, Nuts 2 hit the Dial of Doom, unleashing the Fog of War.  Carbide waited for it to clear, before they smashed into Nuts 2 who just couldn't recover and were soon immobilised.

If you had counted out the champions, you would have been wrong to do so.  But all credit to the Nuts boys for getting this far.  A great team with a great machine.  You're no laughing matter anymore.

Final - Carbide vs Eruption

And we have reached it.  The grand final of series 3 - a grudge match of last year's final, where Carbide beat Eruption to become series 2 champion.

Carbide started the stronger by unleashing an onslaught onto Eruption who managed to sustain the damage.  They tried to recover, but their flipper was failing them.  However, Carbide were having problems of their own when they began smoking and just when it looked like Eruption were down and out, they came back into it.  They flipped Carbide over and then the tables had turned.  Carbide lost their bar spinner and sensing they were on top, Eruption unleashed the Fog of War.

In the confusion, Carbide were flipped by the floor flipper and Eruption were able to flip them around the arena.  Carbide's spinning bar began working again and they smashed into Eruption, but the flipper machine was still working.  They flipped Carbide once and then twice and then a third and fourth time.  Carbide ended the fight on the run.  This was a great fight, which went back and forth a lot.

 And overall, this has been a fantastic final, probably some of the best Robot Wars I have ever watched.  Awesome destruction, great driving, smart tactics and of course, the 10-way Robot Rumble.  Although, I was slightly disappointed that they didn't have a play-off for third and fourth place between Behemoth and Nuts 2.

But onto the champion of Robot Wars Series 3.  The judges awarded it to...Eruption! They had beaten reigning champions Carbide to become winners of series 3.  Well done, Eruption! You deserve it for your powerful flipper and smart tactics.

Dim the lights
cue the applause
Eruption is our new champion
on Robot Wars