Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars/Heat A

Heat A of Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars was the first of twelve heats which determined the Semi-Finalists of Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars. The episode featuring Heat A was originally broadcast on May 6, 2002 on BBC Choice and repeated on May 24, 2002 on BBC Two.


 * The heat that began the Fifth Wars featured a series high of five newcoming teams to Robot Wars, although only 8645T made it past Round 1.
 * The Steel Avenger was one of three unseeded Series 4 heat finalists that competed in the Fifth Wars, and suffered as a consequence; crashing out to the number one seed Chaos 2 in only the second round.
 * This episode contained the first broadcast of a battle being restarted in Robot Wars history.
 * In addition, Heat A of the Fifth Wars was the first heat in which a robot achieved Out of the Arena flips in two consecutive battles.
 * It was also the first episode to have more than one battle containing an Out of the Arena.
 * This heat marked the first televised appearance of Team Roaming Robots, a team that would later become very successful in other FRA competitions, including their own brand name. The team now own the Robot Wars LLC brand.

Chaos 2 (1) vs Storm Force
Storm Force kept back, but when finally faced with the reigning champion, its flipper activated without being underneath it. In return, Chaos 2 unleashed a a flip and hurled Storm Force onto its back. "Storm Force, the first to test the powerful flipper - even more powerful they tell us these days"

- Jonathan Pearce

Storm Force's barrel shape allowed it to roll back onto its wheels. Chaos 2 quickly followed up by hurling Storm Force through the air once more and causing it to land heavily, before rolling it once more. The two-pronged attack resulted in something exploding in side Storm Force, and it began to emit smoke. Storm Force was flipped several more times, and ended up in Matilda's CPZ. However, just as the house robot closed in with its flywheel, Chaos 2 flipped Storm Force up and out of the way, taking a direct hit from the flywheel instead, causing the first seed to beat a hasty retreat. Although Storm Force was able to escape Matilda's CPZ, its drive motors burnt out and it was unable to move, despite its weapons still working to good capabilities. Chaos 2 was able to flip Storm Force broadside until it landed on the pit, which Chaos 2 then activated, leaving Storm Force to sink into oblivion.

Winner: Chaos 2

S.M.I.D.S.Y. (24) vs Obsidian
Obsidian struck with its axe, jumping off the mark quicker than S.M.I.D.S.Y., but the Cyberspace seed was too durable and quick to sustain serious damage. Obsidian continued to strike with its axe, whilst S.M.I.D.S.Y. positioned itself beside Obsidian and shunted it over a CO2 geyser. S.M.I.D.S.Y. ran into Obsidian with its disc, pushing it into Sergeant Bash. There were now gouges in Obsidian's armour, and it was seemingly unable to drive anywhere but in large circles. S.M.I.D.S.Y. pushed Obsidian away from Matilda and Bash, opening its jaws in an attempt to tip over its foe and end the battle, but was unsuccessful. S.M.I.D.S.Y. managed to wedge Obsidian under the angle grinder, where Refbot counted it out. "Custom-designed, is Obsidian, but all the design-work in the world will not save you from the Refbot's count...the jaws of S.M.I.D.S.Y. open in a victory grin."

- Jonathan Pearce

Refbot finished his count, and Bash pulled Obsidian free of the wall. Matilda demonstrated her new flywheel by carving through Obsidian's armour effortlessly. It was finally positioned on the floor flipper and thrown, finalising its defeat.

Winner: S.M.I.D.S.Y.

T-Bone vs 8645T
The battle was slow to start, with T-Bone avoiding 8645T's axe blows. T-Bone then ran into 8645T's wheel, but was unable to cause terminal damage as the disc was not working. "The disc has stopped spinning. That is a major worry for Paul Gibbs...T-Bone has been somewhat filleted"

- Jonathan Pearce

8645T landed a series of flips, none of which were able to tip T-Bone onto its back. T-Bone trundled across the arena and activated the pit as its only option. 8645T rushed across and attacked, piercing its axe weapon on T-Bone's top. Both robots attempted to push the other into the pit, but were both unsuccessful in this and the match went to the judges.

Winner: 8645T

The Steel Avenger vs The Tartan Terror
For some reason, The Tartan Terror started the battle up against the arena wall. It managed to struggle free and drive towards The Steel Avenger, who struck twice with its axe and rammed it aside. It was then caught against Sir Killalot, and took punishment from the axe of The Steel Avenger. The Steel Avenger rammed hard with its battering ram head, and The Tartan Terror was knocked out by the impact. The Steel Avenger then used its lifter twice, bouncing the Scottish robot up and down, unable to flip it. The Steel Avenger rammed The Tartan Terror into Shunt, where the barrel was punctured by the two machines' axes. "The Tartan Terror? Who's it terrorising then? Not The Steel Avenger..."

- Jonathan Pearce

Shunt then slammed The Tartan Terror against the side wall, propping it up at an awkward angle, where it sat until Killalot freed it. Refbot then performed his countout duties. The Tartan Terror was set on fire and hurled by the floor flipper. Sir Killalot then repositioned it on the floor flipper twice more, before the battle was ended.

Winner: The Steel Avenger

Chaos 2 (1) vs The Steel Avenger
The two robots swerved around each other, and attacked head-on. The Steel Avenger's axe did not land before Chaos 2 managed to flip it. Before it could self-right, Chaos 2 attacked and hurled it across the floor again. Chaos 2 and The Steel Avenger attacked each other head-on again, with the same results. The Steel Avenger self-righted, but Chaos 2 flipped it at the same time, resulting in The Steel Avenger flying several feet into the air and across the arena floor again. More flips followed, with The Steel Avenger unable to bring its weapons into play, but succeeding in self-righting each time. Finally, The Steel Avenger landed an axe blow, but Chaos 2 flipped it, pulling the axe out of Chaos 2's body and causing it to once more land on its back. Chaos 2 continued its onslaught against The Steel Avenger, repeatedly getting beneath The Steel Avenger's clearance. "That 2cm ground clearance is the Achilles heel..."

- Jonathan Pearce

Chaos 2 and The Steel Avenger's battle moved into an unoccupied CPZ. The Steel Avenger charged Chaos 2, who flicked it up and onto its side. The Steel Avenger self-righted, but landed straight back on Chaos 2's flipper. Chaos 2 then charged into the side wall and flicked The Steel Avenger onto it. The Steel Avenger teetered, and then fell out of the arena, landing on one of the studio lights.

Winner: Chaos 2

After the battle, Team Chaos was presented with the wrecked light which bore the following jovial message from the crew.

S.M.I.D.S.Y. (24) vs 8645T
8645T was quick to clamp its axe weapon down onto S.M.I.D.S.Y., but was out-pushed by the smaller machine, despite repeatedly using its axe. S.M.I.D.S.Y. pushed 8645T into the side wall, where Shunt axed and lifted it, allowing S.M.I.D.S.Y. to get beneath its ground clearance. S.M.I.D.S.Y. used its jaws as a lifter in order to keep 8645T from landing on its wheels. 8645T was attacked by Shunt and Killalot, eventually freed when Killalot plucked it out and dropped it. S.M.I.D.S.Y. leaped back onto the offensive, using its jaws as a lifter to push 8645T onto its side. Unable to self-right, 8645T flailed on the flame pit and was counted out. Sir Killalot carried it to the floor flipper, but allowed 8645T to land on its wheels and flee. However, the battle was already decided, and S.M.I.D.S.Y. went through to the heat final.

Winner: S.M.I.D.S.Y.

Original battle
"We put off fighting Chaos 2 as long as possible, and here we are"

- Mike Reed on how things go "exactly to plan"

Both robots charged in and Chaos 2 got its first flip on S.M.I.D.S.Y. throwing it into the air twice. However, after the second flip, Chaos 2's flipper stopped working, and although S.M.I.D.S.Y. sat on top of it, the flipper did not activate. Chaos 2 charged towards the arena and its flipper exploded back into life, hurling S.M.I.D.S.Y. up against the wall and throwing Chaos 2 itself into the air. Chaos 2 positioned itself for a second Out of the Arena flip, but threw itself over in the process. Chaos 2 attempted to right itself twice, but it couldn't self-right due to damage caused by S.M.I.D.S.Y. . Chaos 2 only vented gas without landing on its wheels. Both robots were unable to move, and cease was called early.

According to Andy Pugh of the S.M.I.D.S.Y. team, S.M.I.D.S.Y. fell down from the wall after 30 seconds had elapsed, and proceeded to pit Chaos 2. As this had occurred after 30 seconds, however, this was ignored, and so the battle was restarted. Also, Team Chaos was permitted to repair the damage S.M.I.D.S.Y. had done to the flipper before the rematch.

Rematch
"Well, what a turn-up! Both robots obviously immobilised at the same time - the judges have instantly called for a rematch!"

- Craig Charles

A more cautious S.M.I.D.S.Y. sped around Chaos 2 rather than making frontal assaults. It got beneath Chaos 2's ground clearance, but did not press home its advantage. Chaos 2 flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y., but the invertible machine could merely continue its attack. Chaos 2 flipped S.M.I.D.S.Y. into Sir Killalot, who sliced S.M.I.D.S.Y. with its large pincer. S.M.I.D.S.Y. was showing no signs of life, and Chaos 2 positioned it against the side wall once again. "Killalot gets out of the way, wisely, with Chaos 2 in this sort of mood! Is it inevitable?"

- Jonathan Pearce

S.M.I.D.S.Y. was finally hurled out of the arena and Chaos 2 claimed the heat.

Heat Winner: Chaos 2

"Forget imitations from foreign shores, we're the first, we're the best, we're Robot Wars!"

- Craig Charles' sign-off