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"Suddenly, I zapped on RTL, which was broadcasting a robot combat event (Robotwars, as it turned out). There, the EXTREME TEAM called on them to build a robot to defeat them."
— Ansgar website (translated from German)[1]

Ansgar was the name given to a series of German robots which competed in German Robot Wars and various competitions in the original UK Robot Wars.

The original Ansgar intended to enter a German series of Robot Wars which ultimately never took place, but it instead won the German Melee held during Robot Wars Extreme, leading German roboteers to address Ansgar as the German champion. Ansgar's Revenge entered the televised German series, but fell in the first round, while Ansgar 3 represented Germany in The Third World Championship, where it lost in the first round to the eventual world champion Storm 2.

Versions of Ansgar[]

Ansgar[]

"We had a different design and weapons ideas, we chose the UFO shape."
— Ansgar website on the design of their first robot[2]
Ansgar lance

Ansgar in the World Championship with its movable lance fully extended

The original Ansgar was created by Sascha Thomsen and his father Joachim after seeing a dubbed promotional episode of Robot Wars. Constructed from aluminium road signs, the result was a vaguely dome-shaped robot designed to look like a UFO with interchangeable flipper, spear and lever weapons that could be fired 300 times per minute. The robot was driven by a 12V battery. Ansgar could also "sit down" so it could not be pushed around by other robots, but it was very light at only 74 kilograms, as the team was working towards an 80kg weight limit.

"We focused on a good design and tried to build weapons which work well - we failed in that point."
— Sascha Thomsen

Ansgar's Revenge[]

AnsgarsRevenge1

Ansgar’s Revenge in its German Robot Wars heat

AnsgarsRevenge

Ansgar's Revenge in the UK vs Germany special

The team's second design was Ansgar's Revenge, a shufflebot which ran on a 16 leg mechanism powered by four 750W electric motors, and 4 Gel 27 batteries. This provided Ansgar's Revenge with a top speed of 25km/h, and could rotate 360 degrees in approximately one second. The robot itself featured a lifting weapon incorporating a shovel and twin spears, which could lift at an angle of 180 degrees to attack from the front and rear, and could lift 200kg. Despite shufflebots no longer qualifying for increased weight allowances under the Series 6 rules, Ansgar's Revenge was not affected by the rule change, weighing 196kg by the time of its appearances in the concurrently-filmed German Series and UK vs Germany Special.[3]

Ansgar 3[]

Ansgar S7

Ansgar 3 enters the arena

Ansgar 3 S7

Top view of Ansgar 3

The final incarnation, Ansgar 3, was Team Thomsen's second shufflebot, which again weighed 200kg in spite of the aforementioned regulation changes. The robot was powered by a 12hp electric motor, and armed with a 10kg undercutting bar spinner. The spinner featured two large spiked counterweights on either end of the bar, giving the weapon a passing resemblance to that of Fluffy, although in both cases the machines struck other robots with the flat end of the bar. Ansgar 3 proved to be one of the fastest shufflebots in Robot Wars, and its spinner was powerful for its low weight, complimented by the machine's very strong armour. However the bar spinner tended to break upon impact, and Ansgar 3 could not self-right or run inverted.

Etymology[]

"Ansgar" was the Old High German equivalent to the English name Oscar. In Germanic, its literal meaning is "god-spear".

Qualification[]

Ansgar pits

Ansgar at the filming of Extreme

The original Ansgar was built to enter a series of Robot Wars, which would air exclusively in Germany. Over a three-month build process, Ansgar was completed, but unfortunately for Team Thomsen, the German series had only received four applications, including their own. The season of German Robot Wars was cancelled as a result, although Ansgar and the other applicants were still invited to take part in the filming of Robot Wars Extreme, in a dedicated German Melee.

"3 months we screwed, toiled and racked to find out that everything should have been in vain. The appointment was postponed - the whole hurry in vain. First there was talk of 3 months, then of half a year, Eventually everything was discarded. The finished robot was disassembled and stored in the attic. But not for a long time! A week after the bitter disappointment came the high luck. We and the other 3 teams from all over Germany were invited to London for the World Cup."
— Ansgar website on the build process for the cancelled German season (translated from German)[4]
AnsgarInsides

The internals of Ansgar's Revenge prior to the German series

The team then built Ansgar's Revenge as a follow-up to their original design, and applied for RTL's second attempt at filming a German series of Robot Wars on RTL II. All German entrants for this series were required to attend a technical inspection run by Derek Foxwell in Berlin, which Ansgar's Revenge was present for. Unlike the previous year, the season of German Robot Wars took place, and Ansgar's Revenge automatically qualified due to the series receiving less than twelve German entries.

It is unknown whether Ansgar 3 attempted to enter the main competition of Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars, but regardless the robot made an appearance in the Third World Championship, representing Germany.

Robot History[]

Extreme Series 1[]

Team Thomsen's first UK appearance was in the German Melee against Golem, Nasty Warrior and Flensburger Power with the first incarnation of Ansgar. This battle was also broadcast a year later on German Robot Wars.

"On the second day it came to the first fights, the German championship - the first preliminary round. Tension totally! We four teams were divided into two boxes where our robots should do a short driving test. Here, Golem left a "lasting impression". They unintentionally destroyed the aluminium gate and delayed the fight by several minutes (PANIC!). When the damage was resolved, the fight could begin."
— Ansgar website (translated from German)[5]
German Melee

Ansgar fires its weapon repeatedly

Ansgar was equipped with its flipper weapon in this match, but couldn't get into position to flip any robots, so it spent most of the match swatting the air with its flipper. However, Golem broke down, Flensburger Power made little impact, and Nasty Warrior began smoking, allowing Ansgar to win by judges' decision. As this battle took the place of the planned German series, the German roboteers in attendance dubbed Ansgar as the first German champion of Robot Wars.

"With more luck than reason we won this preliminary round and are thus reigning German champion (first German champion forever)"
— Ansgar website (translated from German)[6]

For winning the German Melee, Ansgar represented Germany in the Second World Championship. This competition was also broadcast during Extreme Warriors: Season 1 and Ansgar's opening battle was broadcast during German Robot Wars.

Manta shoves Ansgar

Ansgar is immobilised by Manta

Ansgar damage

The damage Ansgar sustained from Manta's attacks

Ansgar was equipped with its stabbing spike for this match against the UK champion Chaos 2, US competitor and Civil War champion Manta and Mastiff of Italy, but it proved no help, as in the battle, Ansgar was immediately targeted by Manta, who was too low for the spike to hit. Manta pushed Ansgar around while using its blade to tear up the German entry. Ansgar stopped moving when it was pushed onto the flame pit, and was counted out, eliminating it from the competition.

"On the second day came the quarter-finals, in which we almost had a chance as second out of four; "Manta" was too strong for "Ansgar"."
— Ansgar website (translated from German)[7]

German Series[]

The Ansgar team went on to compete in the televised German series of Robot Wars, filmed and broadcast after their first UK appearance. Seen as somewhat of a "reigning champion" by its opponents, Ansgar's Revenge fought Golem for a second time, and Junkyard Queen.

"The rest of the fights were exciting, the previous German champion could not defend his title, so the team Kaputo with "Black Hole", the new German champions."
— Golem website, referring to Ansgar's Revenge as the defending champion[8]
Ansgar's Revenge vs Junkyard Queen

Ansgar's Revenge drives into Junkyard Queen

Golem vs Ansgar's Revenge

Refbot checks Ansgar's Revenge for mobility

Ansgar's Revenge didn't show much-controlled movement in its melee. It initially rammed into Junkyard Queen, and lifted itself from the arena floor, but otherwise colliding with the arena wall on several occasions, once even lifting itself onto the wall and only rarely coming into contact with an opponent, as Ansgar's Revenge was generally struggling to move. Golem rammed into Ansgar's Revenge towards the end of the battle while Refbot scanned it for any signs of life, but it did survive to a Judges' decision. However, the battle was mostly between Golem and Junkyard Queen, and for this reason, the judges chose to eliminate Ansgar's Revenge.

Ansgar's Revenge also competed in the Germany v England special, also broadcast during Robot Wars: The Sixth Wars. It was drawn against a fellow German representative Das Gepäck, in actuality, a Dutch Competitor brought in to make up for the lack of German robots.

"I think we can beat Das Gepäck"
— Confidence from the team before fighting Das Gepäck
Ansgars revenge dead metal

Dead Metal slices into Ansgar's Revenge

Das gepack ansgars revenge

Ansgar's Revenge is slammed into an angle grinder

Sir killalot ansgars revenge

Sir Killalot holds Ansgar's Revenge

It was immediately rammed by Das Gepäck, before taking the full force of another attack from behind this time and was slammed into Dead Metal. The House Robot repeatedly cut into the lifter, as Ansgar's Revenge started taking multiple powerful rams from its opponent in the process. Sir Killalot then plucked it up by the lifter, paraded it around the arena and eventually dropped it in the centre of the war zone. Das Gepäck slammed into it again, pushing it into an angle grinder, then pounded it repeatedly into the sidewall. It hobbled away, barely able to move. Sir Killalot pushed it away, sapping its last little drop of strength away. The battle went to a judges' decision, but the winner was clearly Das Gepäck.

"Ansgar's Revenge absolutely battered"
— Craig Charles

UK Series 7[]

The third robot in the Ansgar line of robots, Ansgar 3, made its first appearance in the German World Championship qualifier against I Bot One Beta and Reaper NP2 in hopes of representing its country in a World Championship for a second time.

Reaper Ansgar

Ansgar 3 immobilises Reaper NP2

Ansgar 3 came under immediate pressure from Reaper NP2 which drove at it, but a connection from Ansgar 3's spinning weapon saw Reaper NP2 go on the back-foot, as it darted away from Ansgar 3 and drove over the flame pit. Reaper NP2 continued to make its way around the arena before Ansgar 3 came across and made contact with another attack, this time, one that completely immobilised Reaper NP2. Afterwards, Ansgar 3 turned its attention to I Bot One Beta and crashed into the front of it before deciding to head towards the pit release button, which it activated.

Ansgar I Bot One Beta

Ansgar 3 nudges I Bot One Beta into the pit of oblivion

"Ansgar's weaponry: watch out for that, in Robot Wars."
— Jonathan Pearce as Ansgar 3 continues to cause damage to its fellow countrymen

Ansgar 3 then came in with another attack on Reaper NP2, which was being counted out by Refbot, before it immobilised I Bot One Beta with its next attack. With I Bot One Beta defenceless, Ansgar 3 bowled it towards the pit of oblivion before nudging it down. Reaper NP2 joined I Bot One Beta in the pit from a Shunt push, and Ansgar 3 had successfully qualified for The Third World Championship.

In the first round of the Third World Championship, Ansgar 3 faced two powerful British opponents, as it was drawn up against Seventh Wars Grand Finalists Storm 2 and Tornado.

Ansgar3wc3

Ansgar 3 is roasted on the flame pit

Tornado came in with an immediate drive on Ansgar 3, stopping Ansgar 3's weapon instantly - this triggered Ansgar 3 into making its way to the pit release and activating it. Storm 2 then rammed Ansgar 3 into a CPZ and against the arena wall, where it eventually edged its way out of trouble as Growler put it under pressure. Tornado and Storm 2 then planted Ansgar 3 on the flame pit, where its mobility ceased.

Ansgar32wc3

Ansgar 3 is pitted by its British foes

"And the German hopes of Ansgar 3 - up in smoke, I would've thought."
— Jonathan Pearce as Ansgar 3 is torched by the flame pit

Ansgar 3 was then nudged out towards the centre of the arena, where Storm 2 - with a helping hand of Tornado pushing behind it - forced Ansgar 3 down into the pit. This brought an end to Ansgar 3's participation in the tournament, with Tornado joining it in crashing out of the competition as Storm 2 progressed via a judges' decision.

Results[]

ANSGAR - RESULTS
UK Series
Extreme Series 1
The Second World Championship
Representing Germany, Eliminated in Heats
NOTE: This competition (not including the German Melee) was also broadcast during US Season 1, and Ansgar's opening battle (in addition to the German Melee) was broadcast during German Robot Wars
German Melee vs. Flensburger Power, Nasty Warrior, Golem Won
Heat vs. Chaos 2 (UK), Manta (USA), Mastiff (ITA) Eliminated
German Series
German Robot Wars
NOTE: See Extreme Series 1 Results
ANSGAR'S REVENGE - RESULTS
German Series
German Robot Wars
German Championship
Heat, Eliminator
Heat A, Eliminator vs. Golem, Junkyard Queen Eliminated
UK vs Germany Special
Representing Germany, Round 1
NOTE: This competition was also broadcast during UK Series 6
Round 1 vs. Das Gepäck (GER) Lost
UK Series
Series 6
NOTE: See German Series Results
ANSGAR 3 - RESULTS
UK Series
Series 7
The Third World Championship
Representing Germany, Eliminated in Heats
Qualifier vs. I Bot One Beta (GER), Reaper NP2 (GER) Won
Round 1 vs. Storm 2 (UK), Tornado (UK) Eliminated

Wins/Losses[]

  • UK Wins: 2
  • UK Losses: 2
  • German Wins: 0
  • German Losses: 2
  • NOTE 1: Although Ansgar's fights in Extreme 1 were also rebroadcast during the German series, they are only listed under the UK Wins/Losses
  • NOTE 2: Although Ansgar's Revenge vs Das Gepäck was aired during UK Series 6, it is only listed as a German loss.

Series Record[]

German Series[]

German Series Ansgar Series Record
German Robot Wars Heat, Round 1
UK vs Germany Special, Round 1

UK Series[]

Main Series Ansgar Series Record
The First Wars Did not enter
The Second Wars Did not enter
The Third Wars Did not enter
The Fourth Wars Did not enter
The Fifth Wars Did not enter
The Sixth Wars UK vs Germany Special, Round 1
The Seventh Wars The Third World Championship, Round 1
Series 8 Did not enter
Series 9 Did not enter
Series 10 Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 The Second World Championship, Round 1
Series 2 Did not enter

Gallery[]

Outside Robot Wars[]

Ansgar 3 first competed at Dutch Robot Games in 2003, purely as a black shuffling box without the use of its spinner. It performed respectably, winning a three-way melee over Tornado and Alien Destructor after Tornado suffered an electrical failure[9], and won its second-round melee against Reaper NP2 and Black Hole 2 on a close Judges' decision[10]. In the semi-finals it fought Tough as Nails and Kan-Opener, falling to the eventual champion Tough as Nails on a Judges' decision[11].

Trivia[]

  • Ansgar's team, as well as the Golem team, have consistently referred to Ansgar as the first German champion in Robot Wars for its victory in the German melee. This claim is corroborated by Julia Reed saying in the Second World Championship that Ansgar were 'the champions of Germany'.
    • If Ansgar were to be considered the first German Champion, then Ansgar's Revenge falling in the first round of the German series would give it the dubious honour of having the least successful title defence of any defending champion.
  • Ansgar's Revenge was one of three shufflebots to appear in domestic Robot Wars competitions, the others being Drillzilla and Scarab.
  • Ansgar 3 was the last walking robot of any kind to fight in a televised Robot Wars battle, having competed in the Third World Championship, which was aired after the Series 7 Featherweight Championship.

References[]

External Links[]

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