Robot Wars: The First Wars/Heat C

The First Wars - Heat C was one of six heats which determined the Grand Finalists of Robot Wars: The First Wars. The episode featuring Heat C was originally broadcast on March 6, 1998 on BBC2.

Competing robots

Cruella
From the University of East London

• Weight: 81.2kg
• Dimensions: 91 x 82 x 34 cm
• Ground clearance: Zero
• Power: 2 x Sinclair C5 motors
• Weapons: Circular saw
• Team Members: Phillip Martin, Martin Smith

Plunderbird 1
From Fordon in Hampshire

• Weight: 77.7kg
• Dimensions: 100 x 70 x 36 cm
• Ground clearance: 8mm
• Power: 12V motor
• Weapons: Circular saw, steel spike
• Team Members: Mike Onslow, Bryan Kilburn and Jon Dilley

WYSIWYG
From Edmonton

• Weight: 10.8kg
• Dimensions: 80 x 57 x 20 cm
• Ground clearance: 3.4cm
• Power: 10V motor
• Weapons: Wedge shape
• Team Members: Michelle Wheeley

Robot The Bruce
From Ipswich

• Weight: 84.6kg
• Dimensions: 82 x 52 x 37 cm
• Ground clearance: 5cm
• Power: 24V electric motor
• Weapons: Brute force
• Team Members: George Francis and Mick Cutter

Wedgehog
From London

• Weight: 24kg
• Dimensions: 90 x 80 x 30 cm
• Ground clearance: 2mm
• Power: 2 x electric motor
• Weapons: Pickaxe
• Team Members: Chris Glaister, Joe Wentworth and Hugo Elias

Dreadnaut
From Nuneaton

• Weight: 92.6kg
• Dimensions: 145 x 92 x 75 cm
• Ground clearance: Zero
• Power: 12V Starter motor
• Weapons: Forklift
• Team Members: Ken Feltwell and David Vowles

Gauntlet

1. Robot The Bruce - Completed - Used its much talked about brute strength to push the house robots back and made it into the End Zone.

2. Dreadnaut - Completed - Its huge weight gave it an advantage right from the start and it managed to force its way past Shunt. Dead Metal pushed it back but it got past Dead Metal and into the end zone. At the end of the run Dreadnaut started smoking, which put its place in the next round in doubt.

3. Wedgehog - 13.23m - In a rare move Wedgehog decided to take on the maze and successfully navigated it and looked promising but got impaled on the spikes just in front of the end zone.

4. Cruella - 10.15m - Good control got Cruella past Shunt but after that control seemed to become an issue and it couldn't get past the second set of skittles.

5. WYSIWYG - 5.55m - WYSIWYG got stuck almost instantaneously on the ramp and in trying to attack it so did Shunt. It managed to escape into the maze but poor steering led to a disappionting finish.

6. Plunderbird 1 - 4.81m - Shunt had little difficulty pushing Plunderbird 1 onto the grill and spent the remainder of the time hacking into Plunderbird 1's outer shell.

Note: Dreadnaut made its repairs so Plunderbird 1 was eliminated

Eliminated: Plunderbird 1

Trials (Football)

1. Robot The Bruce - 1st Goal - Robot The Bruce, Wedgehog and WYSIWYG had all added panels to the front to help them control the football. Robot The Bruce was first to get the ball but succeeded only in pushing it into the side. Dreadnaut got a touch but Wedgehog was the first to make an attempt on goal, which was saved by Dead Metal. Wedgehog recovered the ball but Robot The Bruce took it off them and pushed it into the goal.

2. Wedgehog - 2nd Goal - Cruella and Wedgehog fought over the ball whilst Dreadnaut seemed to be trying to prevent Wedgehog from scoring ("Look at that! Get out of the way Dreadnaut. What is Dreadnaut doing? I think Dreadnaut's a bit of a goal hanger here."). Wedgehog managed to shake off Cruella and take it to the far right of the goal before Dead Metal moved across and put the ball in. Because Wedgehog had had the last touch the goal was given to them.

3. Cruella - 3rd Goal - Cruella and WYSIWYG fought for the ball whilst Dreadnaut remained immobile ("No. I'm not too sure if Dreadnaut is goal-hanging, I think he's suffering a reoccurence of that old injury."). WYSIWYG decided to tackle Dead Metal and immediately paid for it as Dead Metal slammed it against the post and it stopped dead. With two robots out Cruella had little difficulty putting it into the net.

4. Dreadnaut - Most touches of the ball - Both WYSIWYG and Dreadnaut had failed to score due to both robots breaking down, but Dreadnaut had had more touches of the ball so it were allowed to continue.

Eliminated: WYSIWYG

Arena

Semi-Finals

• Robot The Bruce vs Cruella

A battle with no weapons. Cruella's wedge shape gave it an advantage as Robot The Bruce couldn't push it immediately. It used some good steering and managed to keep its front facing towards Robot The Bruce so it couldn't be pushed and seemed to be gaining the upper hand before it suicidally drove itself onto one of the grilles.

Winner: Robot The Bruce

• Dreadnaut vs Wedgehog

With a huge weight advantage and a much more effective weapon Dreadnaut could easily claim victory here as long as the motors stayed cool. Dreadnaut started well, pinning Wedgehog on its front prongs and pushing it into Sergeant Bash (whose saw promptly broke on impact with Wedgehog) and then almost got Wedgehog onto a grille. The House Robots circled around waiting for the kill on Wedgehog but then Dreadnaut started smoking again and the engine went.

Winner: Wedgehog

Final

Robot The Bruce vs Wedgehog

Wedgehog's only hope for a victory was for Robot The Bruce to run up its wedge-shaped front and roll over since Robot The Bruce weighed four times as much as Wedgehog and had thick armour that would protect it from Wedgehog's weaponry. The battle didn't come to much as Robot The Bruce only needed one opportunity to push Wedgehog onto the grille where the house robots finished the job.

Winner: Robot The Bruce