Tomahawk

"They sent a warning by fax, we'll cleave you with our axe!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Tomahawk was a box wedge shaped robot that competed in Series 7 of Robot Wars. It was similar in design to earlier Robot Wars competitor Mortis with its low profile and tracked design, although the latter was largely untested. Its armour was made from aluminium and polycarbonate and its weaponry was a double-bladed pneumatic axe (said to double as a flipper) with fast self-righting capabilities. It was defeated early in its only fight, when it was knocked out by IG-88, before being smashed open by an ocean buoy.

Paul Kendrick's wife was heavily pregnant during the filming, and since Tomahawk's controls required a second team member to operate the axe, Kendrick asked his friend Stuart Barnwell, the captain of the Pussycat and Kitty team, to assist him in the main competition. Stuart Barnwell had agreed to operate the axe, but ended up driving instead, as Barnwell had experience driving the robot at some live events.

Tomahawk previously failed to qualify for Series 6 of Robot Wars under the name Lazerus. For Series 7, the team fitted a heavier axe and stronger armour.

Series 7
The Tomahawk team had bolted extra armour onto the side panels for its first round fight against IG-88, The Stag and Scorpion, due to a fear of damage from spinning weapons. Tomahawk charged into the center of the arena, but missed The Stag and Scorpion with its axe. The extra armour did not help since IG-88 came in and slammed into the rear of Tomahawk and rendered it immobile almost immediately. "Tomahawk is more statuesque"

- No life left in Tomahawk

Tomahawk spent some time being pushed around the arena by the three remaining competitors before eventually being counted out by the Refbot, just as The Stag reversed into the pit. Cassius Chrome used his fists to push Tomahawk around the arena, causing minimal damage. However the house robot then pushed it onto the drop zone, where the object was a metal ocean buoy. "The aluminium, on polycarbonate body - popped, and the innards revealed"

- The terrible damage caused by the drop zone

After the audience counted down, the buoy fell onto Tomahawk ripping off a top panel and causing damage to the side armour as well.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 0
 * Losses: 1

Series Record

 * Series 1-5: Did not enter
 * Series 6: Failed to qualify as Lazerus
 * Series 7: Heat, Round 1

Outside Robot Wars
Tomahawk was an upgrade of a robot the team used at live events called Lazerus, which had tracked drive with a lighter axe. Tomahawk continued to fight in certain live events after Robot Wars finished, with a good degree of success.

A few years after Robot Wars, Marco Van Hek (who now also owns Hades AKA Gravity 3) purchased Tomahawk. In August 2012, he and a few other roboteers from Belgium and the Netherlands began restoring Tomahawk to fighting form. It came out of retirement and competed in the 2012 Winter Tour held by Roaming Robots. Tomahawk lost in the heat, but is continuing to be run today.

Trivia

 * Tomahawk's statistics board misspelled the robot's name as Tomohawk.
 * Tomahawk was one of only two competitor robots in Series 7 to run on tracks, with the other being Trax.
 * The robot's name was based on the Tomahawk, a type of hatchet-like axe known for its origin and use by Native Americans.