General Chompsalot


 * Not to be confused with Chompalot.

"The General Chompsalot name started out as a joke - but after saying it a few times, we decided it had a catchy sound to it."

- General Chompsalot website

General Chompsalot was a series of competitor robots from New Berlin, Wisconsin that fought in both Seasons of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors.

The original General Chompsalot came second in the Tag Team Terror, and the team made it to the Heat Final of Season 2 with General Chompsalot 2, defeating their ex-Tag Team partner Run Away in the second round, but was knocked out by Destructive Criticism after one hit, before being taken apart by Sir Killalot. General Chompsalot also fought in both US vs UK competitions in Extreme Warriors, and made the final both times, managing to defeat UK Grand Finalist Stinger on its first attempt, and World Championship semi-finalist Manta on its second. This meant that General Chompsalot finished as runners-up in three different tournaments.

Design
Both versions of General Chompsalot were axlebots armed with a pair of crushing jaws, with exceptionally high pushing power for a two-wheel driven machine. General Chompsalot 2 was larger, and featured a different bodyshape. The jaws of both robots could open very wide, capable of fitting the tall Joker and Pussycat inside its mouth. The wheels, decorated with eyes, were exposed on both models and could easily be hit by overhead weapons and spinners. The robots were both patriotic, with the first robot bearing the US flag, and the second wearing a star from said flag. The inspiration for General Chompsalot's design came from the Snapjaw enemies from the arcade game Donkey Kong Jr., which were small robots with large jaws and eyes.

Season 1
General Chompsalot participated in the US Championship against Spartacus, Cyclone, Run Away, Panzer Mk 2 and Drillzilla. At the start of this battle General Chompsalot grabbed hold of Cyclone's spinning disc, before being pushed by Drillzilla and attacking Run Away. General Chompsalot was then pushed by Drillzilla and Spartacus, and lifted Panzer Mk 2. Afterwards General Chompsalot was pushed into Spartacus by Drillzilla, and nearly threw Spartacus OotA during the attack. General Chompsalot was then flipped by Panzer Mk 2 and pushed by Drillzilla into the arena wall. The judges' decision was given to Panzer Mk 2. General Chompsalot also fought in the War of Independence, representing the US. It faced the UK representative Stinger in round one. At the start General Chompsalot dodged Stinger's blows, trying to bite down on the axlebot. It then had its wheel panels ripped off, before bringing its jaws down onto Stinger's wheels. General Chompsalot drove onto the flames, before attempting to avoid Stinger's axe.

The judges gave General Chompsalot the win, and it faced fellow American Joker in the second round. General Chompsalot was flipped over, but damaged Joker's maces on impact, before forcing it onto the flames. It then shoved Joker into the pit button, grabbing the tall robot within its jaws, but failed to push it down. However, the judges again favoured General Chompsalot, so it went through to the Final.

"The General loves cats...dead ones!"

- Tim Berghoefer before the battle with Pussycat

In the final, it fought UK representative Pussycat. The two robots dodged each other, before General Chompsalot flipped Pussycat, and pushed it into Shunt's CPZ. Shunt overturned both robots, separating them. Pussycat and General Chompsalot tried to damage each other, before Pussycat tore off both General Chompsalot's wheel panels. Matilda then tore into General Chompsalot's teeth with her flywheel.

"Looks as though he's been demoted from General to Buck Private!"

- Stefan Frank after Pussycat damaged General Chompsalot's teeth

The battle finished with both robots still mobile, but Pussycat won the judges' decision, to the disagreement of Team Jawbreaker.

General Chompsalot also participated in the Tag Team, alongside Run Away, where they faced Falcon and Joker.

"We'll make a real joke out of the Joker."

- Team Jawbreaker prior to the first round Tag Team battle

General Chompsalot and Falcon started this battle. General Chompsalot grabbed hold of Falcon, but Falcon tipped it over. Run Away and General Chompsalot then pushed Joker onto the flames. Run Away was then attacked by the house robots, but because this was against the rules, Run Away and General Chompsalot were given the win and a place in the final. Run Away and Drillzilla started this battle, and Run Away was pushed around the arena. General Chompsalot was tagged, but Drillzilla pushed it onto the flame pit before pitting it. Run Away was then tipped on its side and beaten.

Season 2
In the first round of its heat, General Chompsalot fought Marauder and G-Force. General Chompsalot drove over the top of Marauder and then got stuck on Refbot's bulldozer blade. Amidst the battle, G-Force broke down, so General Chompsalot drove on top of it, and qualified despite getting stuck. In the second round, General Chompsalot faced its former tag team partner, Run Away. It did not hold back, and grabbed onto Run Away, causing damage as it pushed the Robotica champion around. General Chompsalot used its pushing power to tip Run Away onto its side, and then rammed into its exposed internals, having already won the match. To add insult to injury, General Chompsalot disposed of Run Away down the pit. In the Heat Final, General Chompsalot 2 faced Destructive Criticism. At the beginning of the match, both bots hit each other, and then broke down. Eventually Destructive Criticism came back to life, but General Chompsalot 2 didn't and was considered immobilized. The house bots placed General Chompsalot on the arena flipper, where it lost a wheel, and was eventually pitted. General Chompsalot also participated in the Tag Team alongside The Termite. The two machines faced Hyperactive and Mechadroid in Round 1. General Chompsalot and Mechadroid started this bout, and General Chompsalot tried to grab Mechadroid with its jaw, and bit down on its wheels. General Chompsalot then pushed Hyperactive into Sir Killalot, before pushing it into the pit button. It pitted its opponent, but fell in itself.

"Oh, two birds with one stone."

- Stefan Frank as General Chompsalot falls into the pit.

Mechadroid was also pitted, meaning General Chompsalot and the Termite went through to Round 2, and faced Black Widow and Rocky-Bot-Boa. General Chompsalot and Black Widow fought each other, and General Chompsalot bit down on Black Widow, and pushed it into Sir Killalot. The Termite pressed the pit release. General Chompsalot then grabbed hold of Rocky-Bot-Boa, but Rocky pushed both General Chompsalot and itself into the pit. The Termite and Black Widow fought each other alone, but the Termite was lifted repeatedly and so it and General Chompsalot were eliminated from the competition. General Chompsalot also competed in the International Championship where it first faced Brawler. The match was short as General Chompsalot managed to bite down into Brawler, drag it into the pit release button, and then into the pit. In the second round, General Chompsalot faced Manta. Manta tried to damage General Chompsalot with its blade but General Chompsalot managed to get its jaws into Manta and shoved it around. Manta was almost pitted by General Chompsalot, but only narrowly failed to go down. After a long battle, General Chompsalot 2 was awarded the win by Judges' decision. In the final against UK representative Tornado, General Chompsalot was at a huge disadvantage, as a robot that relied on pushing power could not get underneath the scoop of Tornado, or outpush it in any way. The British machine did not hesitate to push the US representative down the pit, putting General Chompsalot out of the final of a competition for a third time.

Results

 * }


 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 8
 * Losses: 6

Outside Robot Wars
An altered version of General Chompsalot was entered in Robotica as Jawbreaker, from which the team got its name. The team returned in the third season with Jawbreaker's Revenge. Jawbreaker reached the finals of both series in which it competed, losing to Ram Force in the first of these and to eventual champion Panzer Mk 3 in the second. The team also competed solely in BattleBots Season 3.0 with Nasty Overbite, which was the original Jawbreaker with a green paint job, beating Total Chaos and losing to B.O.B.

Trivia

 * General Chompsalot had a Team Toad sticker behind the lower jaw, a team whose stickers appeared all over the world and on nearly every robot in Season 3.0 and 4.0 of BattleBots.
 * In both seasons of Extreme Warriors, General Chompsalot competed in the same three events - the US Championship, the Tag Team Terror, and the US vs. UK competition.

Reference
The team's website