Firestorm

Firestorm was a long time competitor on the British show Robot Wars. In total there were five Firestorm robots, but they were all essentially upgraded versions of the same basic machine. The rough design of the robot, which was reused for each one, was a wedge driven by two wheels in the base of the rear, minimizing ground clearance on the front. On the front surface of the robot was a flipper mechanism, a slow bar on the first robot which was superseded by a quicker panel flipper on the later four, which served as the main weapon. The Firestorm series of robots competed through Series 3 to 7. The team also entered with the less successful Groundhog in Series 2.

The Firestorm team was one of the most successful in Robot Wars history, holding the record for the most battles ever competed in across the show's history. They reached the Grand Final in Series 3, 5 and 6, finishing in third place on each occasion. They also reached the Semi-Finals on two other occasions in Series 4 and 7. It was also the only robot that was able to flip over Mr. Psycho. However, despite this huge amount of success, the team only won one official honour in its history; the Commonwealth Carnage Championship in Extreme Series 2.

Series 3
The original Firestorm had a very narrow lifting arm and four conveyor belts on the body. Up against Crash Gnasha it smacked it into the wall, turning it over. It was flipped over once by Facet, before self-righting and flipping Facet over, from which it couldn't self-right. Up against Diotoir it flipped it over once before pushing it onto the flame pit, where it caught fire.

In the Semi-Finals it didn't have to do much against Pitbull as it was turned over by an Arena Spike. Firestorm caused a surprise by defeating the reigning champions Panic Attack in round 2 by repeatedly flipping its opponent and getting Panic Attack stuck up against the wall.

In the Grand Final Firestorm made history by being the first Robot flipped out of the arena. Firestorm and Chaos 2 circled each other before Chaos 2 flipped it over and then pushed rushed it up against the wall, from which Chaos 2 flipped it out of the arena, causing an immediate cease. Firestorm won the play-off and third place by default due to the damage sustained by Steg-O-Saw-Us in its previous fight against Hypno-Disc.

Series 4
The 5th seeded Firestorm 2 easily dispatched of The Morgue, in the heat eliminator to qualify with Scar. Firestorm flipped The Morgue against the arena wall, where the barrel-shaped machine could not self-right. After a long and extremely uneventful fight in round two, Firestorm beat Bolt From The Blue on a close judges decision after Firestorm was unable to trouble BFTB's low ground clearance. Firestorm faced a reinstated Morgue in the heat final, who beat Ming 2 after Scar suffered mechanical problems after round one. Firestorm attempted a couple of times to softly flip The Morgue so its shape would not help it self-right, but without success. Firestorm flipped The Morgue into Matilda, and flipped it again, however the Welsh machine self-righted both times time due to its shape. Firestorm pushed Morgue into the wall, but again did not successfully turn it over. The Morgue came onto the attack, pushing Firestorm around and getting underneath the Durham competitor. As the pit descended, Firestorm pushed Morgue across it, getting it wedged on the open pit, however Firestorm drove in. The team of the Morgue celebrated, thinking that they were victorious, however the judges awarded the win to Firestorm 2 based on the battle up until that point.

After a fast and furious semi-final battle against the unseeded Dominator 2, where Firestorm 2 flipped its opponent over several times, Firestorm was eliminated on its third judges decision of the competition.

Series 5
Seeded 7th this time around, Firestorm 3 sustained major damage to its flipper from Matilda's flywheel in its very first fight. It had already disposed of Bee Capitator, so it moved through. The team repaired the flipper for the next round and had immobilised Sir Chromalot within five seconds of the bout. It progressed to the Heat Final where it toppled Reactor 2 out of the arena.

Its opening semi final battle against Hypno-Disc was over after just one attack from the destructive weapon. Sir Killalot then pitted Firestom, who had promised so much. It came back to win the Losers melee, outmatching Wheely Big Cheese and Panic Attack making it to the second round. There it met Pussycat where its wedge shape and flipper allowed it to dominate the battle throwing Pussycat around the arena but ending on a judges decision.

It was expected to convincingly lose its grand final fight against Razer as it had done in the All-Stars championship and Razer started strongly damaging one of Firestorm's rams disabling the flipper. Firestorm came back to shove Razer all around the arena and across the edge of the pit three times bring the battle to one of the closest judge's decisions ever with Firestorm coming out on top on aggression and control but Razer edging it on damage. It wrecked its revenge in a fast and furious rematch with Hypno-Disc for third place, with its flipper still unusable from the previous fight they had used the weight to add extra armour that enabled it to stand up to the blade of Hypno-Disc and after a long drive, ram it down the pit and diving in with it. The judges called for a rematch, which Hypno-Disc couldn't comply, having damaged the robot when it hit the pit giving third place to the Firestorm team.

Series 6
Firestorm 4 flipped over Colossus in the CPZ, leaving it unable to flip itself onto its wheels, as it was up against the side wall. Meanwhile, it also flipped over Cedric Slammer, leaving it immobile, and for good measure, threw Mega Hurts 2 over, causing its moniter to break off. In the second round against Barbaric Response, Firestorm 4 flipped the Barber machine several times, and after getting beneath Refbot and flipping it on its side, it pushed Barbaric Response into a position from which it could not escape. In the heat final against X-Terminator, Firestorm and X-Terminator circled each other, with X-Terminator getting beneath Firestorm 4 and attempting to flip it over with its axe. After almost flipping X-Terminator into the pit, Firestorm 4 catapulted X-Terminator into the side wall, leaving it feebly attempted to self-right. Firestorm 4 then attacked and flipped Shunt onto its side. X-Terminator fell onto its back after trying to self-right.

Firestorm 4 flipped 13 Black against the side wall, and 13 Black's self-righter had broken, leaving it immobile. Moving through, Firestorm 4 fought S3, who it pushed up onto the side wall, so that the weight of the disc and wheel caused S3 to fall over the wall and out of the arena.

Firestorm put up a fight against Tornado, flipping it over so that the wedge became useless. However, flipping it back onto the front caused Firestorm 4's demise, because Tornado got beneath the wedged robot and pushed it into the open pit. However, Firestorm 4 won the playoff against Terrorhurtz; despite having a chunk of armour torn off by the deadly axe, Terrorhurtz lost drive and Firestorm 4 placed 3rd.

Series 7
Firestorm 5 held nothing back, flipping Bamm Bamm and one of the Black and Blue twins over. Steering Bamm Bamm onto the pit, it activated the release and Bamm Bamm descended into oblivion. Firestorm 5 then finished the bout by pitting the already immobilised Blue. In the second round, Firestorm 5 tossed Reptirron the Second across the arena and into the wall, where it was unable to reright itself and eventually gave up. Charging Reptirron the Second, Firestorm 5 flipped it out to reach the heat final. Against the impressive Ripper, Firestorm held nothing back, flipping Ripper around the arena until it broke down, leaving Firestorm 5 to flip it out of the arena and reach the semi-finals once more.

In this, Firestorm easily overturned the miniscule Mute, whose flipped was far too powerful to self-right, and it kept landing on its back. Firestorm lined up Mute and charged it, flipping it out of the arena for the win. This brought Firestorm 5 up against the New Blood Champion, Storm 2. A close battle that involved a lot of ramming and pushing finally cultimated in Firestorm 5 being pitted.

Firestorm 5 reentered the All Stars. However, none of the robots attacked each other, and Firestorm 5 charged Shunt immediately, flipping it onto its side. Throughout the battle, Firestorm and its opponents attacked Cassius Chrome, until Firestorm 5 fell into the pit. It was soon joined by Bigger Brother. This was the only time that a Panic Attack and Firestorm battle had Panic Attack go through.

Results

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Series Record



 * Series 1: Did not enter
 * Series 2: Entered with Groundhog
 * Series 3: Third Place
 * Series 4: Semi-Finals, Round 1
 * Series 5: Third Place
 * Series 6: Third Place
 * Series 7: Semi-Finals, Round 2

Honours
While not actual awards, the Firestorm team holds the following honours:
 * First Robot flipped out of the arena
 * Only Robot to flip Mr. Psycho
 * Most battles won in Robot Wars history.