Robot Wars Magazine/Issue 2

"Sad, bored, depressed? No wonder, since Series 3 has finished but what a brilliant series it was. Now you'll need a way of keeping yourself busy until Series 4. That's what we're here for!"

- Message from The Editors, Page 3

Issue 2 of Robot Wars Magazine was released 24th March 2000, and was current until 24th May 2000. It contained interviews with the Hypno-Disc team, and a close look at Sergeant Bash.

Features

 * Robot Report - The latest Robot Wars news, along with other stories about robots. This month’s top stories; rumours about a new female presenter, plans for the filming of Series 4, and the Grim Reaper team building a new robot. Also included was Fantasy Fight: Dalek v Cyberman - A battle between two Doctor Who cyborgs, as opposed to future instalments containing Robot Wars competitors.
 * Birth of the Beast: Scars & Stripes – The second of the Birth of the Beast features, looking at Sergeant Bash, with an interview with operator Chris Reynolds.
 * Team Profile: Spin Doctors – An interview with the Hypno-Disc teaam, containing pictures of the prototype and CAD designs used during the robot's construction.
 * Robot Wars Club - News for club members, including the Total Chaos League Table, which was a game on the CD included with the first issue. Readers were asked to post their high scores online. Also included A to Z of Contestant Robots, Lucky Numbers, Caption Competition and information on how to join with form.
 * Classic Clash: Panic Stations - An illustrated summary of the Heat Final between Panic Attack and X-Terminator from Heat K of Series 3, with photo highlights.
 * The Third Wars - Summary of the results of The Third Wars, including the side competitions.
 * The Rise of Razer - An interview with Team Razer's Vinnie Blood about the team's progress in The First World Championship.
 * Brain Scan: Paul Kirrage – Paul Kirrage, the Robot Wars directors, is interviewed.
 * Static - Letters and online messages from fans, puzzles and another rant from Hugh Manoid - The Man Who Loves To Hate Robot Wars.

Comic
The Origin of Matilda – The comic begins in Atlantis in the year 1000 BC. Atlantis was a highly advanced city, with intelligent and civilised people, served by robots, including guard robots, which destroyed invaders. However, the city's central computer crashed and reprogrammed all the robots to destroy each other. A 3000-year long robot war began, and in the chaos, Atlantis sank into the ocean. In 1988 TARPA employee Adam searches for the source of a signal TARPA believe to be coming from a robot under the sea. Adam enters an underwater cavern, where he sees something amazing, but loses contact with Professor Welles on the surface.

In part 2, the amazing sight Adam saw at the end of part 1 is revealed to be the ruins of Atlantis. Exploring the caves, he sees the final battle of the great robot war, where Matilda knocks another similarly designed robot off a cliff. With the air pocket collapsing, Adam rescues the robot and takes it in the sub. He escapes, but loses control of the submarine due to the extra weight. He abandons the sub and brings the robot to the surface, naming the robot Matilda, after the submarine he lost.

Competitions

 * Lego Robotic Systems - A competition for Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention Kit, with the three runners-up recieving Lego Mindstorms Droid Developers Kit, and 50 more runners-up winning a Lego Technic Roborider. The question was "Which is the name of R2-D2's robot buddy in the Star Wars films?"
 * Caption Competition As part of the Robot Wars Club section, readers were asked to suggest what Phillipa Forrester might have been saying in the photo. The winner receiving a baseball cap and record bag.

Subscription Offer
A free Climb-A-Tron robot was offered to readers who subscribed.

Posters

 * Dead Metal (2 pages)
 * Razer's Edge (1 page)

Free Gift
Hologram stickers were included with the magazine.

Adverts

 * Maplin Electronics Catalogue (Page 13)
 * Lucy Skyboarder - Royal Mail (Page 13)
 * FBX Magazine (Page 21)

Credits

 * Editor: Mike Collier
 * Art: Peter Fickling
 * Sub-Editor/Writer - David Hayles
 * Designer: Simon Oliver
 * Picture Researcher: Emma Peel
 * Editorial Assistant: Kelly Austin
 * Advertising: David Gibson
 * Marketing Executive: Marion Slaughter
 * Marketing Manager: Helen Northard
 * Marketing Assistant: Mike Riddell
 * Production: Morag Gillet, Jo Beattie, Sarah Howell
 * Circulation Manager: Simon Young
 * Associate Publisher: Alfie Lewis
 * Publisher: Lindsaye Vox
 * Editor, Boys' Magazines: Jason Loborik
 * Editorial Director, Family Group: Nicky Smith
 * Director, Family Group [UK Region]: Gillian Lasker
 * Managing Director, BBC Worldwide [UK Region]: Peter Teague
 * Contributors: Sam Bailey, Ben Lewis, Jaques Gauthier, Bill Hobbins, John Ross, Alan Craddock
 * Photography: Chris Capstick, Sharron Price, Richard Open, Mike Collier, David Hayles
 * Thanks: Chris Reynolds, Team Hypno-Disc, Vinny Blood, Institute of Neuroinfomatics in Switzerland, University of Compinas in Brazil, the bods at MBC
 * Cover: Chris Capstick

Errors and Ommisions

 * In the section The Third Wars: The Heats, the heats are listed out of order.
 * Dreadnaut is misspelt Dreadnought on page 19.