- "Beta is this vicious electric hammer-- being hit by Beta's hammer is something like being hit by a washing machine that's been dropped off someone's roof!"
- — John Reid
Basher, otherwise known as Beta, was a heavyweight robot built by Grant Cooper. It exclusively took part in the unaired Series 8 pilot episode. Grant Cooper was a producer of the show, so Basher and Team Robo Challenge could not compete in the main competition.
Due to John Reid designing the first version of Beta, and being part of its team when the robot competed in BattleBots, Basher is most commonly seen as a Team Hurtz machine, although Basher is in fact owned by Robo Challenge.
Design
Basher in the pits
Basher was armed with an 11kg rounded hammer, powered electrically. The hammer was extremely effective at causing trauma damage to robots, while also allowing the robot to self-right. It could even allow the robot to throw itself over or somersault while right-side up. Basher's front scoop was made of HARDOX, and ran extremely close to the ground, however it could be raised up and down before a match to help with driving and it featured its own shock absorbers. Basher's main weakness was its exposed hammer mechanism.
The Team
- Main article: Robo Challenge
Basher was primarily built by Grant Cooper, one half of Robo Challenge and a producer of Robot Wars. Grant Cooper drove Basher in its only Robot Wars battle during the pilot, before maintaining his backstage role for the remainder of the reboot.
Basher is also commonly associated with John Reid of Team Hurtz, as he designed the original version of Beta, to which Basher was the successor. John Reid was also part of the team as the lead speaker and driver when Basher competed in the 2016 season of BattleBots under its original Beta name. Nevertheless, John Reid was not involved with Basher during the filming of Robot Wars.
Robot History
Series 8
Basher in the arena
Although the robot did not participate in the main series of Robot Wars in Series 8, producers Robo Challenge entered their robot Basher into the pilot episode, used to test the arena and camera equipment.
Basher first entered a four-way melee against Ka-Pow!, Tanto, and Turbulence. Basher was aggressive in its performance, where Tanto first became immobilised, knocking out its safety link by driving over Ka-Pow! which prompted Basher to capitalise. Basher pitted the defeated Tanto, but in the process it overbalanced and fell into the pit itself, eliminating both robots from the competition.
Results
| BASHER - RESULTS | ||
| Series 8 | ||
| Series 8 - Pilot Episode Round 1 | ||
| Pilot Episode, Group Battle | vs. Ka-Pow!, Tanto, Turbulence | Eliminated |
Series Record
Basher with various crewmembers
| Series | Basher Series Record |
|---|---|
| Series 1-7 | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Pilot only |
| Series 9 | Ineligible |
| Series 10 | Ineligible |
Outside Robot Wars
Beta at BattleBots Season 5.0
Beta with its team at BattleBots Season 5.0
Due to exclusivity clauses, Basher competes outside of Robot Wars under the name of Beta. Beta was originally built to compete in Season 5.0. of BattleBots, as the successor to their previous success, Killerhurtz. John Reid was joined by George Francis in this season. Beta's scheduled fight had it take on Bender, but the magnets within Beta's hammer were continually pulling up the flooring of the BattleBox, and thus, Beta were forced to withdraw.
Beta with John Reid and Dave Moulds at BattleBots 2015
In 2015, Beta returned to BattleBots once more, in the new rebooted series, with John Reid and Dave Moulds forming the team. The robot's builder Grant Cooper was supposed to be part of the team, as the team captain, but could not compete due to the delay of his son's birth. Beta was drawn up against the eventual runner-up, Tombstone, which had even placed a "Beta Blocker" atop the robot for extra defense against Beta's hammer. Unfortunately, over 25kg of Beta's components were lost during the flight between the UK and USA, and so, Beta was forced to withdraw for a second series in a row, where it was replaced by reserve robot, Counter Revolution. However, Beta's profile was still released on the BattleBots website.
Beta at BattleBots in 2016, with John Reid and Grant Cooper
Beta returned to finally compete in the 2016 season of BattleBots. It did so under the entry of Grant Cooper and John Reid, while 2015 team member Dave Moulds entered with Cobalt. In Beta's first battle, it won a close Judges' decision over Lucky, and in the second round it became the second British robot in a row to defeat Overhaul. In the Round of 16, Beta faced and defeated Nightmare (a robot Killerhurtz defeated 17 years prior) via KO with four seconds left on the clock to reach the Quarter Finals, where it lost a close Judges' decision to the eventual champion Tombstone, the robot it was meant to fight in the previous series, after its hammer was dislodged. Beta was also released as a remote controlled model with an active hammer, under the BattleBots brand.
Beta at a Robots Live! event
In the United Kingdom, Basher competed at one Robots Live event, which was the robot's combat debut, inbetween the 2015 and 2016 seasons of BattleBots. It was permitted to use the Beta name.
In September 2018, Beta appeared at the first RoboNerd meet alongside Terrorhurtz and various other competitors from Robot Wars, BattleBots and King of Bots.
Trivia
Basher's metal guard in Robot Wars: World Series, with Alan Gubiev
- In the World Series, the metal wedge of Basher appears by JAR alongside Alan Gubiev during a VT segment on his World Series competitor Weber.
- In 2017, Basher (under its BattleBots name, Beta) received an Honorable Mention in the The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, owing to its popularity, powerful hammer and Team Hurtz's attempts to enter it into earlier series of BattleBots.[1]
References
External Links
- Beta's profile on the BattleBots website (Season 1)
- Beta's profile on the BattleBots website (Season 2)
- Beta on BattleBots wiki
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