Das Gepäck

Das Gepäck was a Dutch competitor robot that competed in the second series of Dutch Robot Wars. It also represented Germany in the UK vs Germany Special at the end of UK Series 6, to make up the numbers as there were not enough German competitors. Interestingly, despite being a Dutch competitor, the robot actually had a German name which literally translates as The Luggage. The robot was actually a converted version of the original Alien Destructor, the team's original entry on the show. It was an invertible box-shaped robot with six wheels driving it up to 20mph and ramming spikes at the front to push and impale. Despite its lack of real weaponry, Das Gepäck was eliminated in the first round of Dutch Series 2, but it was joint champion of the UK vs Germany Special along with Fluffy.

The robot was painted to look like The Luggage, a large chest from the Discworld book series by Terry Pratchett. The team continued the magical theme from the books by wearing wizard hats and claiming that the robot was powered by a black hole.

Dutch Series 2
Das Gepäck's first battle was against Gravity. It rammed into Gravity, who pushed it back against the wall. The robots continued pushing each other until Gravity flipped Das Gepäck into a CPZ, where Sergeant Bash clamped down on it. It escaped, and rammed into Gravity, who flipped it up against the wall. Bash helped it off, and the robots continued pushing until time ran out. The jury's decision was in favour of Gravity.



UK Series 6
Das Gepäck also represented Germany in the UK vs Germany special and fought fellow German representitive Ansgar's Revenge in Round 1. Despite its opponent's huge weight advantage, Das Gepäck immediately slammed Ansgar's Revenge into Dead Metal's CPZ, who cut into the steel bar before releasing the shufflebot, but Ansgar's Revenge seemed to have stopped moving. Sir Killalot dragged Ansgar's Revenge out into the middle of the arena, where it still made very little movement. Das Gepäck rammed Ansgar against the angle grinder. Ansgar's Revenge began to show signs of movement, but Das Gepäck kept ramming it, before pushing it into Sir Killalot. However, Ansgar's Revenge survived to the judges' decision, which unsurprisingly went to Das Gepäck. In Round 2, Das Gepäck was drawn against the weapon-less Delldog. Das Gepäck dominated the fight, slamming Delldog into Mr Psycho's CPZ, and then Sergeant Bash's CPZ. After being pinched by Sergeant Bash's claw, and hammered by Mr Psycho, Delldog broke down and was counted out by Refbot. With one push, Das Gepäck pushed the beaten machine into the pit. "Delldog, barking up the wrong tree, Das Gepäck represents Germany in the final"

- Craig Charles after the fight

Das Gepäck was now through to the final to fight the UK, represented by Fluffy. "The black hole is getting heavier and heavier, it’s getting so heavy they will be sucked right into it"

- The Das Gepäck team before the fight

In the final, both robots seemed tentative, avoiding each other, though Fluffy got some good hits in with its blade, knocking one of the German representative's spikes off with its first attack. However, Das Gepäck came back, pushing against the side. Fluffy and Das Gepäck continued to avoid each other, and it seemed Fluffy's blade had stopped. Neither robot could line up an effective attack, and time ran out. In a shock move, the judges ruled that the fight was a draw, much to the annoyance of the crowd. "And we are not going to penalties"

- Craig Charles to the German representatives in the post-fight interview

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * UK Wins: 2
 * UK Losses: 0
 * UK Draws: 1
 * Dutch Wins: 0
 * Dutch Losses: 1

Series Record
Dutch Series


 * Series 1: Entered with Alien Destructor
 * Series 2: Heat, Round 1

UK Series


 * Series 1-5: Did not enter
 * Series 6: Final, UK vs Germany Special
 * Series 7: Did not enter