Hammers are a form of overhead weapon found in Robot Wars.
The concept of this weapon was first established in the 1995 US competition, where an unpowered sledgehammer was used by axlebot Spirit of Frank. The serrated titanium arm of 1995 heavyweight Thor (not to be confused with the later UK heavyweight of the same name) was also described as a 'hammer', though its appearance was drastically different to conventional types.[1]
A multitude of powered weapons described as 'hammers' were utilised by various 1996 and 1997 competitors, though the majority resembled and dealt similar damage to spiked axes. Examples of these include the weapons of KMM[2] and TerMinal frenZy, the latter of which eventually adopted a 'meat tenderiser' hammer head when rebuilt into frenZy. frenZy itself later found success in televised competitions with the 'meat tenderiser', using it to finish runner-up in the Series 4 War of Independence and unaired American Robot Wars 2000 pilot. The first competitor with an active weapon resembling a conventional hammer was likely to have been 1997 heavyweight Metallithor, though the hammer itself did not function fully in its only battle.[3]
In televised series, the first robots to use a powered hammer were Bodyhammer and Skarab from Series 1. However, the type would prove to be less popular and successful than axes, which were often capable of delivering greater damage outputs. Aside from frenZy, notable hammer-wielding robots from televised Robot Wars events include Dutch Grand Finalist Bamm Bamm and the Extreme 2 incarnation of Jason Marston's Thor, third-place finisher in the New Blood Championship. The House Robot Mr. Psycho also wielded a hammer.
Definition[]
- Hammers come in a range of forms, and are distinguished from axes in that they are usually blunt with the intention of causing internal damage, instead of puncturing through armour and damaging exposed wheels or tracks. Some teams add a blunt spike on the end of their hammers, like Thor and Hydra, in order to focus more of the energy into one point on the opposing robot. These types of hammers are usually referred to as spiked hammers.
Advantages and Disadvantages[]
frenZy buckles the armour of Detonator in one of many attacks
Thor's hammer was able to hit vital components, leading to Chip's immobilisation.
Advantages
- Hammers are one of the simplest and most widely-available weapons, with a robot only needing to have a common sledgehammer incorporated into the design at minimum.
- Like other overhead weapons, they can be mounted alongside rear-hinged flipping arms and lifters. Hydra used this weapon combination to good effect in Series 6 and Extreme 2.
- Due to the wide surface area of a hammer, a hammer is able to bend armour. This was demonstrated by JAR in its fight against Interstellar: MML, where JAR was able to buckle Interstellar's flipper; and frenZy in the War of Independence special of Series 4, where its hammer greatly buckled the armour of Detonator.
- The weight a hammer takes up causes massive internal damage to opponents, causing opponents to become immobilised. This was best shown in Thor's battle against Chip, where only one hit from the hammer immobilised Chip.
- Hammers often have a long reach compared to other overhead weapons, which allows hammer users to strike opponents with less fear of being attacked themselves. This was best demonstrated during Thor's New Blood Championship campaign in Extreme 2, where the hammer was able to attack robots like Cedric Slammer from a safe distance that its opponents could not retaliate from.
- As with bladed and spiked axes, hammers can double as an effective self-righting mechanism, depending on the power, design and leverage of the weapon and its mechanism. So far, frenZy is the only hammer-wielding robot to have demonstrated this capability in any Robot Wars competition.
Disadvantages
JAR misses its hammer blow on The Cat, which led to JAR's immobilisation
Compensating for the weight of its hammer, Thor's armour easily falls off against Tornado
Storm 2 nearly pits Thor after the latter missed an attack
- It takes a large amount of force in order for hammers to cause damage to opponents. Only Mr. Psycho truly utilised his hammer as a destructive weapon, using it to bend competitors' chassis out of shape and knock pieces of armour and internal components loose. However, as a House Robot, Mr. Psycho was seven times over the Heavyweight weight limit.
- Hammers do not cause a great deal of visible damage, making it difficult for hammer-wielding competitor robots to win Judges' decisions. Notable exceptions include the spiked hammer of Thor and the 'meat tenderiser' of frenZy, both of which proved to be capable of causing substantial visual damage to Judge Shred 2½ and Detonator respectively.
- The large weight a hammer takes up often results in competitors having thin armour. This was best shown by Thor and JAR, where Thor had thin armour to compensate for the large weapon, and JAR had no top armour at all as a result of its heavy hammer.
- Like other overhead weapons, hammers have a very narrow attack range and are usually only able to attack robots directly in front of the wielder. While the Series 7 version of Thor circumvented this issue by being able to strike from both sides, the Series 6/Extreme 2 version suffered this problem greatly; often missing many hits throughout its New Blood Championship run and therefore becoming easily overpowered by Storm 2 in the latter.
List of Robots with Hammers[]
Robots are listed in alphabetical order.
DESKTOP MODE ONLY: Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. House Robots are listed with a gold background. Robots from the 1994-1997 US competitions are listed with a purple background.
| Robot | Series Appearances with Hammers | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| A-Kill | Series 6 | Extremely limited damage potential; described by the team as being able to "crush a strawberry". Combined with a lifter. | |
| Anorakaphobia | Series 3 | Capable of firing at four hits per second. | |
| Bamm Bamm | Dutch Series 1 | Part of a set of interchangeable weapons along with a spiked axe, a 'club' and a flipping arm, all mounted on a 360-degree rotating turret, used along the way to a Dutch Series 1 Grand Final appearance. Replaced with the axe for Dutch Series 2 and UK Series 7. | |
| Bang | US Season 2 | Loanerbot which competed in Season 1 as Rot Box. | |
| Basher | Series 8 | Electrically-driven hammer weighing 11kg. Competed exclusively in the untelevised Series 8 pilot. | |
| Bodyhammer | Series 1 | Removed before the Arena stage due to reliability problems, and converted into a ramming spike. | |
| Bondi Titch | Extreme 2 | Stock Robot built by the Robot Wars crew specifically to represent Australia in the Commonwealth Carnage. | |
| Bumblebot | Series 2 | Reserve robot. Hammer was replaced with an axe in Series 3. | |
| Bunny Attack | US Season 2, Nickelodeon | Good battle record despite the weapon being ineffective. | |
| Enderbot | Dutch Series 1 | Design resembled a thwackbot, but the hammer was fully actuated. | |
| Evil Weevil | Series 4 | Spiked sledgehammer which was never seen in action. | |
| frenZy | Series 4, MTV Pilot | Titanium spiked hammer, referred to as an 'axe' on TV or as a 'meat tenderiser'; electrically-operated and capable of self-righting. Finished runner-up in the Series 4 War of Independence and American Robot Wars 2000 pilot. Prior incarnations - competing in the 1996 and 1997 US competitions - used a variety of axe arms. | |
| Hammerhead | Series 3 | Interchangeable with a spiked axe. | |
| Hydra | Series 6, Extreme 2 | Combined with a flipping arm. The sledgehammer featured 700lbs of thrust and a head weighed 2kg, and was often referred to as an 'axe' on TV - replaced for Series 7 with a hardened steel spiked axe. | |
| JAR | Series 9 | Stock Robot entered by the Brownlee Brothers in Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars. | |
| Maximum Torque | Dutch Series 1 | Weapon weighed 20kg in total; robot fought primarily using its wedge shape and drive power. | |
| Metalithor | 1997 US Championship | Large 180-degree hammer mounted on a horizontal turret. Weapon mechanism failed to work fully in its only battle due to technical issues.[3] | |
| Mr. Psycho | Series 6-7, Extreme 2 | Only House Robot to use a hammer weapon. Entire hammer assembly - based on an articulated arm - weighed 30kg. | |
| Rameses II | Series 2 | An early pioneer of HDPE armour. | |
| Rot Box | US Season 1 | Loanerbot which also competed as Bang in Season 2. | |
| RT 81 | Extreme 2 | Walkerbot; hammer mounted on a 360-degree rotating turret. | |
| Skarab | Series 1 | Along with Bodyhammer, the first UK Series competitor to wield a hammer. Used in its unaltered form in the Gauntlet and Arena Semi-Final stages. Modified in its Heat Final to feature a swinging mace, borrowed from Killertron. | |
| Thor | Series 6-7, Extreme 2 | Finished third in the Extreme 2 New Blood Championship. Spiked hammer replaced with a bladed axe and interchangeable heads for Series 8-10. | |
| Thor's Hammer | US Season 2 | Annihilator only; middleweight robot competing alongside heavyweight opponents. | |
| The Ripper | Series 2 | Predecessor to Ripper's Revenge which used a pickaxe. | |
| Thunderpants | Series 7 | Was reportedly capable of striking an opponent while inverted. Neither this feature or the robot itself were seen in action, as it lost mobility while entering the arena and could not be repaired in time. |
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