User:Vendetta19

"Leighbot! Pepper pot! You could pour pepper out of that Leighbot machine!"

Howdy!

I'm Vendetta91, also know as Jon. I hail from the South West of England in a mighty fine part of the country called Somerset. So yes, that means that my 'local' bots are Wheely Big Cheese, Iron Awe and Cobra (it's a real shame about the last one).

My love of Robot Wars probably started from when Series 1 was on the television. I missed the launch of the show as a boy and it was only by chance that I was watching TV on Sunday, and they showed a repeat of the last heat of series 1 (with TRACIE and the rather terrible Prince of Darkness) and of course, the Grand Final, where I got to see the awesome Roadblock in all its glory. Back then, that sort of machine was mindblowing and a wedge shape in itself was enough to win a whole championship title. How quickly things would change.

From then on, I was hooked. I caught up on all of the other heats in the first series, but for me, Robot Wars is all about Craig Charles. I can barely remember Jeremy Clarkson anyway! Series 2 passed me by, although I expressly remember a few robots, some for reasons I can't explain. Cassius of course made history by having the sheer audacity to self-right, creating a whole new roboteering invention right there and then. Panic Attack wasn't the best but it got to where it was due to Kim Davies' exceptional driving. However, I also remember Piece de Resistance, for looking more like an art project than a robot and having next to no robotic ability, and also Pain, for failing to move and looking like it had been stuck together with tape. And RON, too, for looking like my infantile radio control cars. I also giggle when I think back to how cocky the team were about the sumo and the 'immense pushing power' that their robot had, only for it to be dumped out by Shunt almost immediately.

Series 3 made a real mark on me. It was the first time that we found ourselves with what I would call truly destructive competing robots. Hypnodisc was just...awesome. Robogeddon, Stealth, poor old Steg-a-saw-us...it didn't hold back when it came to spinning to win. And Chaos 2, of course, the only RW competitor to successfully defend the title (although Razer came close- more on that later). I think series 3 was when people started to properly take Robot Wars seriously. And who can forget Firestorm vs Chaos 2? The first ever OOTA...and so unexpected that George Francis thought he would be disqualified for it.

After that, Robot Wars just got more and more spectacular, reaching it's peak (in my humble opinion, of course) in Series 5. Series 6 was still good, and Series 7 introduced lots of brilliant new robots, but it was on the decline once it moved to Channel Five and so many of the old school competitors dropped out. And even then, Behemoth STILL failed miserably to get into the semi finals (more on that later, too).

I see that most RW wikia users are listing their top ten robots, so I suppose it's only right that I do the same. They are in no particular order, apart from my top three, which I can categorically say will probably remain that way.

1) Firestorm- For me, Firestorm is the most consistently good performer that has ever been. All of the greats had their time and then faded, but not Firestorm. From its first appearance in the Third Wars through to its final appearance in the Seventh Wars, it never failed to make it into the semi finals (at least). When I think back to how battered the machine was in the Fifth Wars and how it still managed to finish third, defeating a very destructive Hypnodisc machine with that epic suicide pit charge, I actually smile. That's the only time I've ever actively fist pumped at a robot victory. Graham Bone is one of the best, if not the definitive best, drivers on Robot Wars, as well as being a humble roboteer. He truly packed a punch with his ability to dodge and weave and to come in when a robot was unaware. Winning the Commonwealth Carnage at least got the team a trophy, but I don't think it'll ever make up for them not winning the UK Championship. Although I'm sure Firestorm has still won itself a lot of fans.

2) Chaos 2- So yes, it's rather clear that I'm a big fan of flippers by now! But if it wasn't for Chaos 2, I don't think flippers would have ever been as popular as they became. Cassius was good, but did it ever flip a robot from the arena? Did it ever create some of the most memorable moments in RW history? Did it ever successfully defend a Championship title? No. But George Francis' machine did. From series 3, when I saw it bully its way out of its heat, I knew it was a brilliant machine. And then when it went and flipped Firestorm clean out of the arena, something previously unseen in the competition, it blew my pre-pubescent mind. After that, I was a Chaos 2 fan, through all of the controversy, the close calls (Wild Thing in the Series 5 semis, anyone?) and the outright dominant victories (Storm Force, anyone?).

3) Cassius- Not only was Rex Garrod a legend on the RW circuit and a thoroughly nice man, his robots weren't half bad either. Cassius was a robot ahead of its time that I believe could have held its own even in later series (although possibly not series 6 and 7). When Cassius was flipped, I truly thought we were in for another upset, but then something amazing happened...Cassius nonchalantly flipped itself back onto its wheels. And so the SRIMECH was born. Like Chaos 2 after it, Cassius created something in that moment that became part of Robot Wars history. In later series, a robot couldn't expect to compete without having a self righting mechanism, or a weapon that could self-right it. That was all due to Cassisus. And not many robots can claim to have a legacy like that. It was a shame that Rex Garrod's time on Robot Wars, and his robots' undying attraction to the pit of oblivion, came to an abrupt end after series 3.

4) Razer- Love it or hate it, and I can understand the hatred that surrounds it, I don't think anybody could deny that Razer was robotic perfection. Okay, so to begin with, it was far from perfect and it was about as reliable as a first generation SKODA, but when the team got everything right, it was unbeatable. I must admit that I found their tactics questionable, their egos at time a little annoying, but I couldn't help but love their machine. The battles it took part in weren't always the most entertaining, admittedly, but sometimes it was simply a case of doing what it took in order to secure victory. Regardless of a person's love or hatred for the machine, they have to admit that it was a well crafted, well engineered and beautifully looking machine. Very destructive, too.

5) Storm II- Another robot here that tends to polarise opinion, but yet another machine that I love. Storm II took everything that Tornado did so well, melted it down and recreated it into something even better. Six wheeled, compact, nippy and a blur across the arena floor, it was also well driven and immensely powerful. Some people dislike rambots, and again, I can understand the dislike of such tactics, but nobody can deny that Storm II wasn't an impressive machine. I'm sure the Tornado team, after helping the Storm II team with equipments and advice, must feel a little like Victor Frankenstein. They well and truly created a monster here, and it couldn't be stopped. Watching the two robots go head to head was like watching the father handing the baton onto the younger, youthful and more effective son. So no Storm II hatred from me here. I think it showed just how successful a simple design can be.

6) Behemoth- For me, Behemoth was the great under-achiever of Robot Wars. Other than it's one largely successful early showing, it always promised so much but flattered to deceive. And every year the team would go away and work on it, and it would come back apparently bigger and better than ever, but then something else would fail on it, or it would just get unlucky. Of course there were times when it was simply beaten by the better robot, but there was always that feeling that Team Behemoth were the cause of their own demise. In series 7, when I felt it had the best chance of renewed success due to its experience and improvements, it got stuck in forward gear, all steering went, and it bounced off some walls before being counted out. That was a real disappointment for me as a big fan of the machine. But then, I feel that if Behemoth had lived up to the potential that it had, it likely wouldn't have been so popular with me. I think what makes the team and the robot so endearing is that unpredictable nature and the fact that even if the robot was as its best, it would always be a little bit of a underdog.

7) Revenge of Trouble & Strife- This robot never had any success, not even in its original, green reptilian like form from the Fifth Wars. But it always struck me as a robot with a lot of potential and a really good design behind it. Flippers were the dominant form of robotic weaponry by the time this robot came to the wars, so it made sense to equip a flipper, but doubling that up with a full-body spinner was borderline genius. On paper, it actually made an awful lot of sense. If the robot could self-right, the spinner would finish it off, and if the robot was resilient, the flipper would pick up enough style and aggression points instead. The robot was let down by having a petrol engine, which hardly ever works that well for roboteers, and also because it simply didn't seem that effective or reliable. But I love the design and I would love to see the robot come back with lots of improvements to see if it could ever live up to its potential in the arena.

To be continued...