- "The Ramfire was a nice machine, it looked like it cost quite a bit. Anodized CNC parts, composite shell, fancy paintjob and graphics. The weapon was effective, but not deadly. It never returned to Robot Wars."
- — Team Minus Zero on Ramfire 100[1]
Ramfire 100 (also referred to as simply Ramfire, The Ramfire[1] or Ramfire 2000[2]) was one of the first heavyweight robots to compete in Robot Wars events, appearing exclusively in the inaugural US competition held on August 20 1994. It was both the first-ever Heavyweight Champion - prevailing over The Beetle in the Face-Off finals - and the first recipient of the 'Best Engineering' award, due to its elaborate weaponry and sophisticated construction methods.[3]
Design[]
Ramfire was a yellow and red tank shaped robot with the turret able to rotate around and fire a pneumatic spear which served as its primary weapon. Despite its tank inspired design, Ramfire was a four wheel drive robot and was made with anonized CNC with a plastic shell on top. Ramfire was rather quick around the arena.
Robot History[]
1994 US Championship[]
Ramfire 100 first fought Tiny Tim in the Heavyweight Championship. Ramfire began by charging towards Tiny Tim and circling around the forklift machine who was unable to catch up to the speedier Ramfire. Ramfire sped across the arena and a game of cat and mouse began as Tiny Tim struggled to chase after Ramfire who on the occasion came in and stabbed the side of Tiny Tim with the spike. At one point one ram and stab attack caused Tiny Tim to lose mobility on one side with a wheel deflated, causing Tiny Tim to spin around in circles unable to move from its circumference. Ramfire came in again with the spike and successfully stabbed the top armour plate of Tiny Tim, knocking the armour off and causing immense damage as a result. Ramfire continued to slam into Tiny Tim, pressuring it into the corner where it was repeatedly thwacked by the arena flipper as it was deemed immobile.
Ramfire 100 received a BYE and went straight to the final where it fought The Beetle. The Beetle entered the arena with antlers attached to the back of the robot as decoration and additional weaponry. The battle began with both robots circling each other until Ramfire slammed into The Beetle and fired its spike. This single attack caused The Beetle to charged into the arena side wall in full force and stab its weapon into the side wall itself. Unable to break free, The Beetle's driver unattached it from the side wall, freeing it but The Beetle continued driving in forward motion with no control despite help from its driver to get it working, The Beetle had no control and Ramfire became heavyweight champion.
Ramfire 100 also competed in some extra events, the first being the "Escort" where it was challenged to protect a White Drone and escort it from one side of the arena to the other and avoid House Robot who patrolled the arena and attacked the White Drone or competitor. Here, Ramfire and the White Drone both sped off together with House Robot quickly darting towards the two. Ramfire turned and protected the White Drone but ended up driving it into a arena mouse trap which slammed down on all three robots. House Robot pushed back against Ramfire as the White Drone was quickly caught again by the mouse trap before speeding off and reaching the end.
The last event Ramfire 100 competed in was the end of event melee where it was one of eight robots, who were still functioning and working properly, to battle it out in a grand rumble with all weight classes involved. Here it fought Tiny Tim, Zomo, Doolittle, The Beetle, The X-1, Spiny Norman and South Bay Mauler. Battle began slowly for most competitors as The X-1, Spiny Norman and South Bay Mauler all targeted Tiny Tim, slamming it about in the corner of the arena, only for all machines to seemingly dogpile into one another. Soon The Beetle attempted to attack Ramfire, pushing it slightly as the latter attempted to join in on the dogpile in the corner. Doolittle managed to slowly crawl across the arena as Zomo, The X-1 and Spiny Norman battled one another while South Bay Mauler sped away to the other end of the arena, away from all other competitors and started to spin up to speed. South Bay Mauler charged into the corner once again, this time smacking into Spiny Norman, Zomo and The X-1, tearing off Spiny Norman's shell leaving it defenceless and weaponless, whilst also dislodging Zomo's shell. South Bay Mauler sped away again as Tiny Tim and The Beetle pushed each other then turning to The X-1 who seem immobile for a brief moment before charging away to attack Ramfire. Both Tiny Tim and The Beetle began suffering control issues with Tiny Tim going in circles with one wheel not working and The Beetle immobile against the arena side wall meanwhile the armourless Spiny Norman slammed into both The X-1 and Ramfire as Zomo attempted to attack South Bay Mauler. Both The Beetle and Tiny Tim managed to drive away from the arena side wall and join the battle as Ramfire became immobile as a result of Spiny Norman driving underneath and wedging itself and Ramfire stuck in the middle of the arena. Moments after House Robot entered the arena, Spiny Norman freed itself, however, Ramfire 100 was still immobilised and as resulty lost the melee, which would be won by South Bay Mauler in the end.
Results[]
| RAMFIRE 100 - RESULTS | ||
| 1994 US Championship | ||
| Heavyweight Face-Off Champion | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Tiny Tim | Won |
| Round 2 | vs. No opponent | Bye |
| NOTE: Ramfire 100 progressed automatically to the Face-Off Final. | ||
| Final | vs. The Beetle | Won |
| Escort Successful | ||
| Escort | Drone Survived | Successful |
| Melee | ||
| Melee | vs. Tiny Tim, Zomo, Doolittle, The Beetle, The X-1, Spiny Norman, South Bay Mauler | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 2
- Losses: 1
NOTE: Ramfire 100's second-round bye and Escort run are omitted from the Wins tally.
Series Record[]
| Events | Ramfire 100 Event Record |
|---|---|
| 1994 | Heavyweight Champion (Face-Off) |
| 1995 | Did not enter |
| 1996 | Did not enter |
| 1997 | Did not enter |
Gallery[]
Honours[]
References[]
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