Robot Wars: The Second Wars/Heat G

Heat G
The Robot Wars Logo from the introduction titles
Series	The Second Wars
Winner(s)	Roadblock
Trial	Skittles
First Broadcast	December 18th 1998
Original channel	BBC Two
TV Ratings	5.59 million
Preceded by	Heat F
Succeeded by	Heat H (regular episode) The Making of Robot Wars (special episode)

"Now, if you listen to the Japanese, you hear that good things come in small packages. The Discman, the Gameboy, Kylie Minogue! And this is all good news for orientals with puny wedding tackle, but it’s basically wrong. Because good things come in huge great containers, with very large things written on the side in six foot high red letters. Indeed, here on Robot Wars, size is everything, beauty is nothing. If Birmingham was a robot, it’d be a force to be reckoned with, as are our six robots waiting in the pits, about to battle for a place in our series semi-finals."

— Craig Charles' introduction

Heat G of Robot Wars: The Second Wars was the seventh of twelve heats which determined the Semi-Finalists of Robot Wars: The Second Wars. The episode featuring Heat G was originally broadcast on December 18, 1998 on BBC Two. The episode managed to attract 5.59 million viewers, a decrease of 130,000 viewers when compared with the previous episode. According to BARB, this meant it ranked third in the top thirty highest rated BBC 2 broadcasts during 14-20 December, behind only an airing of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and The Simpsons. It became the first episode to have beaten Have I Got News For You in the ratings, as that show only attracted 5.27 million viewers that week.

Competing Robots

Newcomers

	Killerhurtz
	Weight	77.8kg
	Dimensions	1.15 x 0.8 x 0.4m
	Speed	15mph
	Turning Circle	1m
	Ground Clearance	10mm
	Power	8 x 20V batteries
	Weapons	Pneumatic axe
	Notes	Axe is custom built, weighs 7lb and generates 800kg of force
From: Oxford
Team Members: John Reid, Dominic Parkinson & Rebecca Reaston-Brown

	Limpet
	Weight	79.6kg
	Dimensions	1.0 x 0.75 x 0.28m
	Speed	4mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	25mm
	Power	2 x 12V wheelchair batteries
	Weapons	Wedge shape and 6' saw
	Notes	Tank tracks made from motorcycle chains & cost only £28 to build
From: Hinckley
Team Members: John Denny & John Freeman

	Onslaught
	Weight	76.1kg
	Dimensions	0.9 x 0.56 x 0.31m
	Speed	7mph
	Turning Circle	2m
	Ground Clearance	5mm
	Power	2 x 12V batteries
	Weapons	Scoop and mild steel spikes
	Notes	Mechanical speed controller built by team and motor from forklift truck
From: Bedford
Team Members: Alan Wood, David Wood & Peter Holland

	R.O.C.S.
	Weight	79.8kg
	Dimensions	0.8 x 0.77 x 0.63m
	Speed	6mph
	Turning Circle	3m
	Ground Clearance	12.5mm
	Power	1 x 12V battery
	Weapons	Forklift
	Notes	Weapon salvaged from car jack and shell painted by Colin's wife, Jackie
From: Hurworth in Darlington
Team Members: Colin Sievers & Karl Sievers

Veterans

	Nemesis
	Weight	74.5kg
	Dimensions	1.3 x 1.23 x 0.55m
	Speed	6mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	50mm
	Power	2 x 12V batteries, 1 x 6V battery
	Weapons	Pneumatic spike with static spikes and blades
	Notes	Famous for being covered in flammable fur
From: Dublin, Ireland
Team Members: Peter Redmond, Joe Gavin, William Murphy & John Cunnane

	Roadblock (seeded 1st)
	Weight	80.9kg
	Dimensions	1.6 x 1.1 x 0.45m
	Speed	5mph
	Turning Circle	0m
	Ground Clearance	5mm
	Power	4 x 12V batteries
	Weapons	12' tungsten tipped circular saw
	Notes	Reigning Robot Wars Champion, seeded number one
From: Bodmin Community College
Team Members: Hender Blewett, Chris Kinsey & Peter Kinsey

The Gauntlet

Left Route	Centre Route	Right Route
The Sentinel, two pits and Dead Metal.	Ramrig, see-saw, spikes and Sir Killalot	Ramrig, flame pit, and Sergeant Bash

Roadblock

Roadblock is pinned by The Sentinel

Roadblock drove out of the start zone and headed down the left path, weaving around a floor spike. It eased up and stopped, waiting for the arm of The Sentinel to move out of the way, and headed onwards as it did. The Sentinel retaliated and closed the gap, pinning Roadblock into the wall twice. Roadblock reversed a tiny bit, which forced The Sentinel to relent, and Roadblock headed through, edging close to the second pit but crossed the line without any other issues.

Hender Blewett: "That thing's huge!"

Craig Charles: "It is big, but you just slipped by it"

— Roadblock's reaction to being the first team to face The Sentinel

Onslaught

The Sentinel pits Onslaught

Onslaught turned onto the left path and headed towards The Sentinel, which initially blocked Onslaught, redirecting it into the wall. Onslaught reversed and was almost pushed into the first pit by The Sentinel, but was able to drive forwards. Onslaught was once again fed into the wall and held there. The Sentinel allowed Onslaught to get moving and it headed forwards, but was met by Dead Metal. Dead Metal held Onslaught back and The Sentinel followed up behind, poking Onslaught as Dead Metal attacked with its saw. The Sentinel swung round again, caught the back of Onslaught and spun it into the second pit.

Nemesis

Nemesis squeezes past Sir Killalot

Nemesis turned towards the right route to first navigate the ramrig obstacle. Nemesis moved in straight, but was turned slightly halfway down, and had to readjust. This time allowed the ramrig to close and lightly trap Nemesis at the end. Nemesis escaped, but had Sergeant Bash baring down on it, and the house robot started attacking with its flamethrower on the famously flammable fur of Nemesis. Nemesis managed to wiggle past the pendulum, but was bounced by Sergeant Bash, who eventually set fire to the top of Nemesis. Nemesis got past Bash and drove over the flame pit where Dead Metal and Sir Killalot were waiting. Now with one whole side on fire, Nemesis squeezes towards Sir Killalot, and as the House Robot reversed, Nemesis was able to reach the end zone.

Craig Charles: "You went out in a ball of flames in the last war, I would have thought you'd have learned"

Peter Redmond: "Well, if you're gonna cover a robot in fur, you might as well take the fire"

Craig Charles: "I thought you were going to use some flame proof material or something"

William Murphy: "Not at all, burn it that's what I say, burn it to hell"

— Team Nemesis showing their attitude hasn't changed between series'

R.O.C.S.

R.O.C.S. is picked up by Sir Killalot

R.O.C.S. drove to the right route and attempted the ramrig, but the rig closed and trapped R.O.C.S. in the centre. When the ramrig opened, R.O.C.S. drove out and stopped to allow the pendulum to swing away. Sergeant Bash drove into R.O.C.S. as it moved forwards and pushed back. Sir Killalot drove in and lifted his lance up, just caught the base of R.O.C.S.'s lifter and tipped it up on its side. Unable to move, R.O.C.S. stopped there as Cease was called, and righted by Dead Metal afterwards.

Limpet

Sir Killalot drives over Limpet

Limpet aimed for the middle route, avoiding the ramrig and deciding to climb the ramp. As it reached the middle of the see-saw, Sir Killalot pulled it down with his claw as he was waiting at the other end. Limpet tried to drive around Sir Killalot, but the House Robot pressured Limpet into the wall and eventually drove on top of the competitor. Sir Killalot drove off Limpet after spinning his tracks and Dead Metal drove across to hold Limpet. Sir Killalot moved in and cut one of the tracks on Limpet, leaving it immobilse as Cease was called.

Killerhurtz

Dead Metal pins Killerhurtz close to the end

Killerhurtz flew out of the start zone down the left route. A quick burst of speed saw Killerhurtz fly past The Sentinel and smash into Dead Metal, bouncing the House Robot out of the way and ripping the rear armour off. Killerhurtz was trapped in Dead Metal's claws and almost made it over the finish line.

"Oh off the line by Dead Metal, did they cross the line? Come on judges I'm sure they were through"

— Jonathan Pearce

However, Dead Metal pushed Killerhurtz back and into The Sentinel, which swung around and pushed Killerhurtz back and into the pit. Despite almost crossing the line, the judges didn't accept it and Killerhurtz was awarded 10.6m, the distance to its final resting place in the pit.

Results

Rank	Robot	Distance
1	Roadblock	Completed
2	Nemesis	Completed
3	Limpet	10.8m
4	Killerhurtz	10.6m
5	Onslaught	10.5m
6	R.O.C.S.	8.8m

Trial (Skittles)

Roadblock

Roadblock in the triangle, not how most of the barrels have been moved but not knocked over

Roadblock drove at the Skittles, but its lack of top speed meant it was only able to knock over the first pile,and was bounced away by their weight. Roadblock moved down the right side but stopped. It waited and then moved through a corner, pushing a handful of barrels out. Roadblock turned and went back through, turning halfway and carving a line through the barrels, but importantly only seemed to move them out of the way, rather than knock many over. Sir Killalot drove in and pinned Roadblock down for the last few seconds, leaving Roadblock with a score of 34.

Onslaught

Onslaught attacks Sergeant Bash

Onslaught didn't aim for the barrels straight away, instead heading to Sergeant Bash and circling the House Robot. Onslaught reversed away, taking out some of the first barrels, before turning and burrowing into the main pile. Onslaught turned and reversed its way through the middle, knocking a load of barrels over and circling around having done enough, Onslaught drove out of the triangle and attacked Sergeant Bash and Dead Metal.

Nemesis

File:Nemesisskittles.gif

Nemesis attacks barrels in the triangle

A bandaged Nemesis drove into the skittles, knocking the first pile over but getting stuck trying to topple more. Nemesis turned sideways and started to take more barrels out, spinning around and using its rear spike to poke some over. Sergeant Bash sat in view, throwing flames at the flammable fur, but Nemesis carried on regardless, pushing more barrels out of the way. Cease was called and Nemesis had two trophies, one barrel sitting atop the chassis, and one impaled on a spike.

"We gave it our best shot, we weren't really designed well for pushing over barrels"

— Peter Redmond

Killerhurtz

Killerhurtz takes out a load of barrels with its first attack

"Killerhurtz, the Formula 1 of our robots"

— Jonathan Pearce referencing Killerhurtz's speed and power

Killerhurtz accelerated quickly, smashing through the entire pile of barrels in its first attack. Killerhurtz turned and drove through the other corner of barrels and moved through the triangle. Sergeant Bash flicked his flamethrower at Killerhurtz, but the competitor simply reversed and drove through the last few barrels still upright. However, with the last few to go, Killerhurtz reversed into the wall and was attacked by Sir Killalot.

"It stuck in reverse, there was a problem with the speed controller"

— John Reid

Limpet

Limpet under a few barrels

Limpet drove slowly to the edge of the triangle and moved in, taking out a few barrels. Its lack of speed meant it didn't have time to knock too many barrels over and after reversing through a few, time ran out.

Results

Rank	Robot	Distance
1	Killerhurtz	64
2	Onslaught	57
3	Nemesis	38
4	Roadblock	34
5	Limpet	23

Arena

Semi-Finals

Roadblock (1) vs. Killerhurtz

Roadblock gets underneath Killerhurtz

Hoping to utilise its speed as an attacking advantage, Killerhurtz shot straight at Roadblock, putting a hole in the front scoop and bending their chassis, but doing little otherwise. The impact also broke the drive pins connecting Killerhurtz' gearbox to the rear wheels, leaving it immobilised. Roadblock used its scoop and wedge to get underneath Killerhurtz from the side and push into the PPZ, where it followed up by attacking it with its improved circular saw.

"And Killerhurtz, in the PPZ, doesn't seem to be able to get away."

— Jonathan Pearce

With Killerhurtz no longer mobile, the House Robots moved in to attack it, Shunt taking a hit from the Killerhurtz axe resulting in a bent scoop, before Dead Metal eventually finished it off by grabbing hold of it with its pincers, before pushing it into the pit.

Winner: Roadblock

Nemesis vs. Onslaught

"The wedge on the front of Onslaught could be decisive here..."

— Jonathan Pearce

Nemesis catches Onslaught side on

Nemesis hangs on the edge of the pit as Onslaught prepares to deliver the final push

Before the battle, the Nemesis team mounted a kebab between Nemesis' wheel arches, hoping that it would be cooked when its fur caught fire. Unfortunately, this was not to be - Onslaught's shovel and four-wheel drive made it simple for it to push the flat-edged, two wheel-driven Nemesis around the arena. During the fight, Onslaught was able to run rings around Nemesis with its speed, but briefly drove itself into the PPZ, from which it escaped. Towards the end, Nemesis seemed to have stopped moving next to the pit, allowing Onslaught to push the Irish machine into it.

"Nemesis just sitting there really... OH, and towards the pit and finally in. The end for Nemesis."

— Jonathan Pearce

Winner: Onslaught

Final

Roadblock (1) vs. Onslaught

Onslaught and Roadblock

Onslaught burns and Dead Metal slices in

Roadblock approached Onslaught but Onslaught failed to move at all after 'activate' was called. Roadblock pushed Onslaught onto an arena spike but there was still no movement from it. Onslaught started smoking and Dead Metal and Shunt attacked Onslaught while Roadblock took on Sergeant Bash.

"If you're weak, you'll be victimised, it's as simple as that."

— Jonathan Pearce as the immobile Onslaught is attacked by the House Robots

Dead Metal snapped Roadblock's strimmer shaft with its claws in the dying seconds of the fight, but it didn't matter as Onslaught hadn't moved at all, meaning the defending Champion was through to the Semi-Finals.

Craig Charles: "What, you wanted a right good rumble but you didn't get one?"

Hender Blewitt: "That's right, that's right. We had to put up with Shunt instead"

— Post-match talk

Heat Winner: Roadblock

"I'll show you my robot, you show me yours, the biggest one wins, on Robot Wars!"

— Craig Charles' sign-off

Trivia

• Nemesis and Roadblock were once again placed in the same heat.
  • The two Heat Finalists would also face off again in the following series, where Beast of Bodmin fought Onslaught.
  • The two eliminated heat semi-finalists would fight in Series 10, when Diotoir and Terrorhurtz were drawn against each other in the first round.
• This Heat introduced a new House Robot, The Sentinel, which would only appear in the Second Wars.
• Sgt. Bash was given a new saw to replace the one Panic Attack broke in the prior Heat.
  • Dead Metal was also given a new saw, a steel-toothed concrete cutter to replace the old ineffective angle grinder.
• Limpet's score of 23 barrels in the Skittles trial would have been enough to top the leaderboard in Heat A.