The General

The General was a Welsh robot which competed in the Robotic Soccer Tournament of Series 3 of Robot Wars, and later the main competition of the 2016 series. It reached the Robotic Soccer final after beating Spectre, but lost to fellow Welsh robot Evil Weevil on a Judges' decision. In the 2016 series, it lost its Group Battle after Carbide ripped one of its wheels off and Behemoth left it on the Flame Pit.

The team also entered with Spartacus in the lightweight competition of Series 2 and had planned to enter Hazzard into Series 3's Lightweight Competition, but this competition was cancelled due to a behind the scenes accident.

Before building robots, team member Haydn James originally built tractors for his own farm, with The General being built in the milking parlour.

The General (Series 3)
The Series 3 version of The General weighed 79kg, and was armed with a static scoop for weaponry. The robot was invertible, driven by four huge wheels, to fit with the robot's army theme. Although its lack of a weapon provides some disadvantages, its pushing power was theoretically among the strongest in the Third Wars. The General brandished the Welsh flag to represent the team's home country.

The General (2016)
In 2016, The General made a surprise return to Robot Wars. Now powered by a lead acid 24V battery, the robot is a 2-wheel drive rammer, equipped with two huge spinning discs, spinning at 500rpm. The robot is armed in 2.5mm aluminium, although the team were more concerned about their exposed tyres, which Jonathan Pearce agreed with.

Qualification
For Series 4, the team had added a larger blade and claw at the front of The General, and placed a toy cannon on top for decoration. However, it failed to qualify, despite beating their other hopeful qualifier Slicer in its battle.

Series 3
In its first match against Spectre, The General managed to get to the ball, but its scoop didn't help it very much to begin with. Spectre came in and spun around a few times and with Matilda, kept taking the ball away from the The General. However The General managed to regain control and attempt to shoot. It was blocked, but then the ball went in off the rebound from Matilda. In the final, The General went up against Evil Weevil, Velocirippa and Gnasher. The General was slightly too slow to get to the ball. However it finally managed to tackle Matilda and gain the ball, but lost it soon afterwards to Gnasher. The General then appeared to break down, as its batteries ran out of charge. It came back to life towards the end, but it was too little, too late and the Judges' decision went against it, going in favour of Evil Weevil.

2016 Series
The General competed in Episode 1 fighting Carbide, Behemoth and Bonk in its first round melee. The team flew the Welsh flag as they entered the arena. At the start of the battle, The General's discs clashed with Behemoth's scoop, sending sparks flying, and The General was flipped over in response. The General's exposed wheels sustained a blow from Carbide.

"Tyres in Robot Wars, no no no no no! Not a good idea!"

- Jonathan Pearce, on The General's exposed tyres

The General fled, damaged by Carbide, but clashed with Behemoth's scoop to create more sparks, while Behemoth flipped itself over, missing The General, although Carbide launched another attack. The General attacked the side of Behemoth with its discs, and then went to attack Bonk, but this left The General unassuming of a back attack from Carbide. Hit at full strength, one of The General's tyres was ripped away, and rolled across the arena. An immobile General hobbled onto the flame pit, and sustained another blow from Carbide, which knocked The General out cold, eliminating it from the competition.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 0
 * Losses: 1

Trivia

 * With a 17 year gap, The General holds the record for the longest time between its Robot Wars debut and its first appearance in the main competition.

Series Record

 * Series 1: Did not enter
 * Series 2: Lightweight Championship with Spartacus
 * Series 3: Robotic Soccer only, and entered with Hazzard (event cancelled)
 * Series 4: Failed to qualify and also Failed to qualify with Slicer
 * Series 5-7: Did not enter
 * 2016 Series: Heat, Round 1
 * 2017 Series: Did not enter