Gripping weapons

Gripping Weapons (or Crushing Weapons) can be used in combat to cause damage by piercing the opponent's armour. They often also facilitate pushing attacks, with several machines equipped with such weapons choosing to quickly trap and dump opponents in the pit of oblivion. There are generally three classes of crushing weapons: Verical Crushers, Horizontal Crushers and weapons that act as Jaws or Claws.

Vertical Crushers
Vertical crushers were designed to crumple the top armour of opponents with a curved arm. To maximize attacking potential, these were almost always hydraulically powered, often allowing the crushing arm to deliver several tonnes of pressure. The pioneer of this type of weapon was double world champion Razer, however Tiberius 3 managed to win Robot Wars Events with similar weaponary. The strengths of these machines are that they are effective at trapping opponents, and are even capable of lifting robots off the ground (without the need for dedicated lifting weapons), which Razer and Tiberius have managed on several occasions.

The weaknesses of vertical crushing weapons were that they often had slow, inefficient, or non-existant self-righting mechanisms. This is coupled with the fact that it is difficult to implement a vertical crushing arm on an invertible machine without leaving a high ground clearance after being flipped.

List of Robots with Vertical Crushers
Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots that are not heavyweight are listed with a green background.

Horizontal Crushers
Horizontal Crushers would have the ability to pierce or crumple side panels of other machines. The strengths of horizontal pincers or crushers are that they can, like vertical crushers trap other robots and making pushing easier. They are also easier to implement into an invertible design than their vertical counterparts. Following the example of house robot Dead Metal or competitor Big Nipper, the horizontal pincers allow ample opportunity for a good weapon synergy.

The weaknesses of horizontal crushers are that they can simply provide leverage for flippers and lifters, with Kan-Opener's battle with Atomic being an example.

List of Robots with Horizontal Crushers
Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots that are not heavyweight are listed with a green background.

Jaws/Claws
Jaws or Claws were a pair of crushing weapons mounted vertically. The idea was similar to that of the horizontal crusher, except the goal was instead to crush the top and bottom of an opponent. The best true jaw-wielding robot would most likely be Iron Maiden champion Chompalot, whilst the best claw robot would most likely be World Championship Semi-Finalist, Crushtacean.

The strengths of this design are that it has the ability to restrict an opponent's movement more effectively than the other two types of gripping weaponry, and that it can easily get at the underside, which is often the most vulnerable part a robot.

The weakness of jaws is that they are no use unless they can be slipped underneath an opponent, a task that is difficult to do with such an awkward and narrow weapon.

List of Robots with Jaws/Claws
Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots that are not heavyweight are listed with a green background.