Changes: Hammer & Tong

Revision as of 14:11, 30 July 2020

"This is a unique device - it is an axe and a flipper, all in one!"

— Julia Reed on Hammer & Tong's weapon

Hammer & Tong was a robot that competed in the fourth series of Robot Wars, reaching the second round before being beaten into submission by the eventual Grand Finalist Stinger.

Design

"It's powered by two one-horse strimmer engines, with belt drive, forward/reverse skid steering on all six wheels."

— Paul Schmidt on Hammer & Tong

Hammeratong arena — Hammer & Tong in the arena

It was a six-wheel drive skid-steer robot in clear polycarbonate armour. Its unique weapon consisted of a scavenged lifting arm that concealed a large spike. When the arm was raised, the spike was brought out, whereby the arm could be brought down again as a spiked axe. The spike would then tuck away when in contact with the ground, so that it would also act as a flipper. The weapon was the only one to have an actual conversion process, despite it merely being a spike that sheathed into the arm when lowered. Both weapons were potent, often producing recoil strong enough to throw Hammer & Tong into the air, but didn't cause a lot of damage and didn't manage to flip any of its opponents. Hammer & Tong was also extremely cumbersome, with even its top speed of 7mph seemingly unrealised in the arena.

Etymology

The name Hammer & Tong is derived from the idiom 'go at it hammer and tongs', used to describe seriousness and a level of intent to harm in an action.

The Team

Team Hammer & Tong were based in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. The team was captained by Stewart Smith, who was joined by Oliver Smith and Paul Schmidt during their only appearance in Series 4.

Qualification

Hammer & Tong qualified for the Fourth Wars by attending the live qualification tour.

Hammer & Tong attempted to return for Series 5, where it is known to have fought Obsidian in a qualifier battle^[1]. Although Obsidian's axe was not under the full control of its team, Team Hammer & Tong were nevertheless fearful of the titanium weapon, which pierced straight through Hammer & Tong on its first strike. Hammer & Tong responded with a hit to the side of Obsidian, bending a piece of its framework, but Obsidian managed to land another axe blow on Hammer & Tong. With Obsidian's axe buried inside Hammer & Tong, Obsidian managed to drive Hammer & Tong into the pit. This caused Hammer & Tong to lose the battle by knockout, and it did not qualify for the Fifth Wars as a result.

"Hammer & Tong started cautiously, keeping their distance from us ( which we were quite pleased about, as we were very wary of their machine). Eventually we met.....we had one hit with our axe ( nothing to do with me !!! ) and split a section of their bodywork.....Hammer & Tong gave us a hefty whack on our side, which bent a piece of our framework. Then a strange thing happened, I pushed the fire button and the axe actually fired !!!.....it was a direct hit, the axe was firmly embedded into Hammer & Tong. With the axe still embedded Phil drove Hammer & Tong towards the pit and dropped them in. Obsidian had won it's first fight and we were very relieved."

— Summary of the battle from the Obsidian website^[2]

Robot History

Series 4

"They brought this robot here on the train! Even with its pneumatically driven spiked arm and a flipper, scavenged from a mate actually. Will it be an express route through this heat, or a derailment, as Hammer & Tong perhaps get it wrong!"

— Jonathan Pearce introduces Hammer & Tong

In its first battle, Hammer & Tong fought the fourteenth seed Bigger Brother and newcomer Clawed Hopper.

Bigger brother clawed hopper hammer & tong — Hammer & Tong's qualification is secured while Bigger Brother topples Clawed Hopper

Bigger Brother flipped Clawed Hopper onto its side, but not quite enough to flip it over. Clawed Hopper's walking movements were enough to cause the walker to land the right way up. Bigger Brother withdrew and Hammer & Tong pushed into Clawed Hopper, whose walking movement and weight allowed it to easily overpower Hammer & Tong, pushing it very slowly back, whilst Hammer & Tong's weapon cut through thin air. Clawed Hopper slowly advanced on Hammer & Tong, who managed to press down on it with its weapon but not inflict any damage. Bigger Brother rejoined the fight, flipping Hammer & Tong up several times, as Clawed Hopper walked off the floor flipper. Bigger Brother's flipper had insufficient strength and degree of opening to get the wide bodied Hammer & Tong over on its back, so it moved back and attempted to flip Clawed Hopper again, with Clawed Hopper's weight and movement thwarting the attempt once more. Clawed Hopper continued its ponderous advance on Hammer & Tong, but Bigger Brother moved in, getting significantly more flipper beneath the walker, and managed to flip it on its back.

Bigger brother hammer & tong — Bigger Brother targets Hammer & Tong

Bigger Brother then turned on Hammer & Tong, flipped it up, and wedged its spikes in the wheels. Bigger Brother could not release Hammer & Tong, despite trying, so it pushed it around the arena. Whilst Bigger Brother flailed against Hammer & Tong, Dead Metal and Sgt. Bash closed in on Clawed Hopper. Despite attempts to use its legs to bash Dead Metal's saw away, Clawed Hopper was attacked and put on the flame pit. Dead Metal then pushed it onto the floor flipper, but only flew a small distance due to its enormous weight. Cease was called as Dead Metal attacked Clawed Hopper again.

Hammer & Tong then went up against the number thirty seed Stinger in the second round.

Hammer & tong stinger — Stinger slams Hammer & Tong

Hammer & Tong advanced with its weapon in the flipper position, whilst Stinger started much more slowly than usual. When Hammer & Tong drove alongside it and spun, striking its opponent several times with its mace. Stinger then reversed back and charged Hammer & Tong, slamming its mace into the bodyshell of its opponent. Hammer & Tong moved forward and brought its weapon down, which nudged Stinger up onto one wheel. Stinger flailed on one wheel, trying to land on the ground. It finally landed on both wheels, and swung its mace at Hammer & Tong, striking once more.

"The spike has been bent, has it? Have to see that again - no its okay. Folded back on itself as a protection as it slammed on the arena floor, its okay."

— Jonathan Pearce sees Hammer & Tong's design in action

KillalotHammer&Tong — Sir Killalot attacks Hammer & Tong

Stinger then attacked three times, with the first landing on the armour, the second missing, and the third being blocked as Hammer & Tong brought its weapon down. Stinger attacked again, and then drove forward. Hammer & Tong had its weapon lowered, attempting to flip Stinger, but Stinger struck with its mace and retreated before the weapon could be fired. Hammer & Tong's attempt to use its axe also missed. Stinger slammed Hammer & Tong, nudging it across the flame pit. Hammer & Tong weakly moved off, but broke down. Stinger pushed its mace underneath, and Hammer & Tong was showing no responsiveness. Stinger spun into position and began spinning, but Hammer & Tong was just out of range, so Stinger drove forward to attack. Its bumper caught on something and caused Stinger to jump away. Stinger continued to harass its opponent, and Matilda confirmed the immobilisation by charging in.

"Has Hammer & Tong been immobilised here? Immobilised for longer than 30 seconds, you're out...I think Hammer & Tong - something's gone wrong inside. I think they're immobilised, Killalot does to - look at that! Crumpling, crushing, formidable force from Killalot."

— Jonathan Pearce

Hammer&tong floor flipper — Hammer & Tong is flipped

Matilda pushed Hammer & Tong across the flame pit and Sir Killalot seized it, effortlessly slicing through Hammer & Tong's armour, before spinning and throwing it. Sgt. Bash and Shunt attacked, easily smashing the armour of Hammer & Tong, and Sir Killalot rejoined to crumple the armour. Sir Killalot finally placed Hammer & Tong on the floor flipper, which threw it, and cease was called.

Craig Charles: "Your robot is called Hammer & Tong, but you got bludgeoned to death, didn't you!"

Paul Schmidt: "They're supposed to be our friends from Lincoln! They said they were going to be gentle with us!"

— After the match

After the battle, the Hammer & Tong claimed that all the damage was cosmetic.

"Cosmetic damage to Hammer & Tong? That's like saying Mount Vesuvius is a firework!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Results

HAMMER & TONG - RESULTS
Series 4
The Fourth Wars - UK Championship Heat Semi-Final
Heat J, Eliminator	vs. Bigger Brother (14), Clawed Hopper	Qualified
Heat J, Semi-Final	vs. Stinger (30)	Lost

Wins/Losses

Wins: 1
Losses: 1

Series Record

Series	Hammer & Tong Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Did not enter
The Fourth Wars	Heat, Round 2
The Fifth Wars	Failed to qualify
The Sixth Wars	Did not enter
The Seventh Wars	Did not enter
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter

Outside Robot Wars

The team are also known to have created a machine under the name Hammer & Tong 2. It is unknown whether or not it attempted to qualify for the show, but it did compete in at least one live event where it battled against Stinger again in a demonstration, and used its weapon to pick it up.

Trivia

Hammer & Tong is one of a few robots whose weapons had double functions. These included Reactor 2, Constrictor, S.M.I.D.S.Y., Lambsy and Eric. All of the weapons could function as lifting weapons.
- From these, Hammer & Tong was the only robot to have its weapon act as a spiked axe instead of jaws, though Anorakaphobia claimed to have the capabilities to hammer and flip.
Hammer & Tong was the only robot from Heat J of Series 4 that did not make any other appearances.

References

[1] The archived Obsidian website on the Series 5 qualifiers

[2] [1]

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 {{quote|They brought this robot here on the train! Even with its pneumatically driven spiked arm and a flipper, scavenged from a mate actually. Will it be an express route through this heat, or a derailment, as Hammer & Tong perhaps get it wrong!|[[Jonathan Pearce]] introduces Hammer & Tong}}
 In its first battle, Hammer & Tong fought the fourteenth seed [[Bigger Brother]] and newcomer [[Clawed Hopper]].
-[[File:Bigger brother clawed hopper hammer & tong.JPG|thumb|left|Hammer & Tong's qualification is secures while Bigger Brother topples Clawed Hopper]]
+[[File:Bigger brother clawed hopper hammer & tong.JPG|thumb|left|Hammer & Tong's qualification is secured while Bigger Brother topples Clawed Hopper]]
 Bigger Brother flipped Clawed Hopper onto its side, but not quite enough to flip it over. Clawed Hopper's walking movements were enough to cause the walker to land the right way up. Bigger Brother withdrew and Hammer & Tong pushed into Clawed Hopper, whose walking movement and weight allowed it to easily overpower Hammer & Tong, pushing it very slowly back, whilst Hammer & Tong's weapon cut through thin air. Clawed Hopper slowly advanced on Hammer & Tong, who managed to press down on it with its weapon but not inflict any damage. Bigger Brother rejoined the fight, flipping Hammer & Tong up several times, as Clawed Hopper walked off the floor flipper. Bigger Brother's flipper had insufficient strength and degree of opening to get the wide bodied Hammer & Tong over on its back, so it moved back and attempted to flip Clawed Hopper again, with Clawed Hopper's weight and movement thwarting the attempt once more. Clawed Hopper continued its ponderous advance on Hammer & Tong, but Bigger Brother moved in, getting significantly more flipper beneath the walker, and managed to flip it on its back.
 [[File:Bigger brother hammer & tong.JPG|thumb|Bigger Brother targets Hammer & Tong]]