- "Wild Card Warriors gives those couch-potato competitors brave enough (or stupid enough) - who have an untried robot at home - the chance to put up or shut up. Newcomers who have never fought in the arena before will be invited to take on some of the top All-Star veterans in head-to-head contests. Those novice robots and teams lucky - or unlucky - enough to be given a Wild Card will get their chance to see what it's really like to do battle in the arena. Will they have the metal to match the mouth and give the veterans a hard time - or will they become metal mincemeat?"
- — Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide[1]
Wild Card Warriors was a side competition held during Robot Wars Extreme: Series 1. It consisted of a series of one-on-one battles between new robots which had not fought in the main competition before, and a selection of experienced veterans from previous series. The newcomers would fight to prove their capabilities against their seasoned opponents, and to win themselves a place in the 'Robot Wars family.' However, of the six newcomers to take part, only one won a Wild Card Warrior battle, although its victory was not televised.
The idea of the Wild Card Warriors competition may have influenced the similarly-themed Extreme 2 New Blood Championship.
Competing Robots
Veterans
Behemoth | ||
Weight | 95kg | |
Dimensions | 1.1m x 0.62m x 0.57m | |
Power | 24v Motor | |
Weapons | Pneumatic Scoop | |
Strengths | Self-righting Mechanism | |
Weaknesses | Low Impact Weaponry | |
From: Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire | ||
Team Members: Anthony Pritchard, Michael Pritchard, Kane Aston |
Dominator 2 | ||
Weight | 96kg | |
Dimensions | 0.65m x 0.65m x 1.35m | |
Power | 2 x 750w Electric Motors | |
Weapons | Pneumatic Axe | |
Strengths | Power & Speed | |
Weaknesses | Accuracy of Axe | |
From: Huntingdon | ||
Team Members: Peter Halloway, Elliot Smart, Chris Hall |
King B Powerworks | ||
Weight | 88kg | |
Dimensions | 1m x 0.77m x 0.25m | |
Power | 36v DC Motor | |
Weapons | Front Disc and Rear Lifter | |
Strengths | Extremely Powerful | |
Weaknesses | Exposed Tyres | |
From: Havant in Hampshire | ||
Team Members: Simon Harrison, Grant Hornsby |
Panic Attack | ||
Weight | 98kg | |
Dimensions | 1m x 0.7m x 0.16m | |
Power | 24v Motor | |
Weapons | Lifting Forks | |
Strengths | Impenetrable Armour | |
Weaknesses | Reliability of Weapon | |
From: Thornhill in Cwmbran, Gwent | ||
Team Members: Kim Davies, Michael Davies, Christian Bridge |
Stinger | ||
Weight | 83kg | |
Dimensions | 0.71m x 0.61m x 0.38m | |
Power | 2 x 24v Electric Motors | |
Weapons | Bludgeoning Spike | |
Strengths | Heavy Duty Weapon | |
Weaknesses | Exposed Tyres | |
From: Branston, Lincoln | ||
Team Members: Kevin Scott, Tim Mann, Karl Skinner |
Newcomers
Ajjay | ||
Weight | 100kg | |
Dimensions | 1.1m x 1.1m x 0.25m | |
Power | 12v Motors | |
Weapons | 4 x Flailing Arms | |
Strengths | High Speed Robot | |
Weaknesses | First Time Competitor | |
From: Tilehurst in Reading | ||
Team Members: John Shepherd, Liam Ryan |
Axe-Awe | ||
Weight | 97kg | |
Dimensions | 1.12m x 0.86m x 0.57m | |
Power | 24v Electric Motors | |
Weapons | Axe & Flipper | |
Strengths | Experienced Engineers | |
Weaknesses | Slow & Sluggish | |
From: Langport in Somerset | ||
Team Members: Gilbert Grimm, Robert Grimm, Adrian Moore |
Draven | ||
Weight | 100kg | |
Dimensions | 1.15m x 0.73m x 0.55m | |
Power | 2 x Electric Motors | |
Weapons | Hydraulic Jaw | |
Strengths | Heavily Armoured | |
Weaknesses | Reliability | |
From: Cranbrook in Kent | ||
Team Members: Martin Gutkowski, Joe Gibson, Richard Johnstone |
The Executioner | ||
Weight | 100kg | |
Dimensions | 1.32m x 0.88m x 0.51m | |
Power | 2 x 750w Electric Motors | |
Weapons | Hydraulic Crushing Blade | |
Strengths | Powerful Weapon | |
Weaknesses | Exposed Tyres | |
From: Stanground | ||
Team Members: Mark Nenadic, Ian Sanford, David Sanford |
The Spider | ||
Weight | 100kg | |
Dimensions | 0.60m x 1.33m x 0.90m | |
Power | 750w Electric Motor | |
Weapons | 4 x Rotating Spikes | |
Strengths | Invertible | |
Weaknesses | No Armour | |
From: Mold in Flintshire | ||
Team Members: John Udale, Robert Udale, Carol Udale |
Untelevised
Hypno-Disc | ||
Weight | 100kg | |
Dimensions | 0.9m x 0.55m x 0.25m | |
Power | 24-36v DC Motors | |
Weapons | Large Rotating Disc | |
Strengths | Destructive Weapon | |
Weaknesses | Vulnerable Wheels | |
From: Middleton Cheney, Banbury in Oxfordshire | ||
Team Members: Dave Rose, Derek Rose, Ken Rose |
TX-108 | ||
Statistics not displayed | ||
From: Burntwood in Staffordshire | ||
Team Members: Craig Danby |
Matches
Stinger vs Ajjay
The fight began with both robots largely dodging each other. Ajjay made the first attack, ramming into Stinger whilst avoiding its bludgeoning spike, but its spinning weapon didn't appear to be working. Stinger missed several hits with its spike, and Ajjay continued to ram it, eventually hitting it into the pit release button. Stinger drove away, and Ajjay attempted to ram it again, but made no meaningful attacks, whilst Stinger merely continued to slam its mace on the arena floor.
- "But is there control? Is there any aim to this?"
- — Jonathan Pearce noting both robots lacking in good control
The constant dodging continued, with Ajjay seemingly unable to control itself properly. This became evident when, under no pressure, it drove straight into Sir Killalot's CPZ, who picked it up in his claws.
- "Ajjay! Ajjay! Ajjay!? OK? KO? I think so..."
- — Jonathan Pearce
Killalot eventually dropped Ajjay, who then drove onto the flame pit. Ajjay then drove at Stinger, who at last started landing meaningful attacks with its spike. The two robots then continued to drive at each other.
- "The underdogs have come here, though, with plenty of pluck, determination and courage, and we'll give them credit for that"
- — Jonathan Pearce praises Ajjay
A few more less meaningful attacks occurred to both robots, and suddenly Stinger reversed towards Sir Killalot, who grabbed hold of it by its axle. He then proceeded to carry it towards the arena wall; cease was called, but Killalot dropped Stinger out anyway. The judges were called to make a decision.
- "They've done all the work, but it looks as if it could get tossed out of the arena here! But Killalot's got to beat the clock! The clock is ticking down, can Stinger survive? Can Stinger stay in? I think they've just stayed in! Out of the arena they go. But I think it was after time, in which case, Killalot was bang out of order!"
- — Jonathan Pearce as Killalot throws Stinger out of the arena.
- "Now, this is not a unanimous decision. They've decided, two-to-one, that the winners are Stinger!"
- — Craig Charles announces the decision
Winner: Stinger
Behemoth vs The Spider
- "There's always new ones, they always stand to their own fair chance, but they're not too sure what it's like out in the real world of the battles and, well, we're quite familiar ourselves, so we'll show them what it's like"
- — Michael Pritchard
The battle begun with both robots dodging around each other. After three of these, they both drove front on at each other, and Behemoth flipped The Spider over, driving it straight into the arena wall. Upon contact, Spider's spinning blades made matters worse for itself by pulling it up the wall. Behemoth charged at the stuck Spider, knocking it onto its side. It then made another charge and lifted it over the arena wall altogether. This was the first time a non-flipper weapon had thrown another robot out of the arena.
- "Out of the web, out of the picture, out of the plan!"
- — Jonathan Pearce after the quick battle
Winner: Behemoth
King B Powerworks vs Draven
- "I've been talking to Martin [Gutkowski] who's the team captain, and I've always laughed at his robot, saying "Oh, it's so complicated, you've taken two years to get that going, you'll never get it going, it's going to fall over as soon as you get in there"...and he HAS got it going and now it's frightening"
- — Simon Harrison, captain of King B Powerworks, on Draven's back-story
King B Powerworks got off to the faster start, but the first few moments of the battle had the two simply driving around one another. Eventually, Draven managed to catch King B within its jaw, but wasn't able to close it in time and instead pushed it around the arena. King B when attempted to use its saw on Draven, but it did not appear to be working. Draven took the advantage and pushed King B into the CPZ, but the more experienced machine escaped. With its saw out of action, King B attempted to use its lifting spikes to ram Draven's side, but no damage was caused. Draven eventually managed to catch King B Powerworks again, but the jaw was too slow to catch its faster adversary.
- "Draven had a chance there to close the beak on King B and they failed to do so. If it goes to the judges, they will have taken notice of that"
- — Jonathan Pearce
King B then attempted to use its saw on Draven again, which seemed to flicker back to life momentarily before stopping again. With this failing, it attempted to use its spikes again and this time it was able to get underneath Draven and hook itself between its wheels. Draven attempted to escape by raising its lifting mechanism, but this only caused part of its armour to break off. Unable to escape, King B took the immediate advantage and, in a decidedly Panic Attack-equse move, activated the pit and pushed Draven straight in.
- "And once again, it's the more experienced robot, King B Powerworks, that wins it"
- — Jonathan Pearce
Winner: King B Powerworks
Dominator 2 vs The Executioner
- "Go home, guys. You're gonna get trashed"
- — Mark Nenadic, of The Executioner
As soon as the battle began, The Executioner drove away from Dominator 2 and attempted to press the pit release button, but missed. It attempted a second time, with the same result. A third attempt finally managed to open the pit as Dominator tried to push underneath it. It missed an axe blow and The Executioner drove away, but as Dominator gave chase, the newcomer suddenly turned around and drove straight into the descending pit.
- "Well it took them long enough to activate the pit release, and as soon as they did they went straight down!"
- — Jonathan Pearce on The Executioner's appaling driving
At about 16–18 seconds, it proved to be the quickest battle in either series of Robot Wars Extreme.
Winner: Dominator 2
Panic Attack vs Axe-Awe
- "You've got one shot and make it a good one, because it's the only one you're gonna have"
- — Kim Davis' message to Axe-Awe
Despite both robots low speed of 8 mph, the battle started quickly. Axe-Awe spun around, revealing its rear to Panic Attack, but the former champion did not capitalize. The two eventually charged at each other front on, but clashed slightly to the side, resulting in Axe-Awe missing an attack with the axe. Axe-Awe then tried to use its flipper, but missed and Panic Attack reversed away. Axe-Awe tried another attack with its flipper, and managed to lift up one of Panic Attack's skirts. Panic Attack came back strongly by lifting up Axe-Awe from the side, meaning it was unable to use its axe properly. Panic Attack then rolled Axe-Awe over, but the Wild Card quickly righted itself using its axe. It spun again, exposing its back to Panic Attack, and this time the veteran took advantage, ramming it into the side wall and lifting it up onto its top, keeping Axe-Awe's wheels off its body using its lifting forks.
- "This is all rather inevitable, isn't it?"
- — Jonathan Pearce, realising what Panic Attack has in mind
Axe-Awe was powerless to do anything as Panic Attack pulled off its signature move, carrying its opponent towards the pit release, then dropping it into the pit. After the battle had finished, it was briefly shown that Panic Attack had tried to attack Shunt again.
- "Axe-Awe in awe of an ex-UK champion!"
- — Craig Charles after the battle
Winner: Panic Attack
Hypno-Disc vs TX-108
- "No Wild Card challenger has yet beaten one of our experienced machines, don't forget"
- — Jonathan Pearce, prior to Axe-Awe's challenge of Panic Attack
Hypno-Disc started the battle strongly, cutting into TX-108's armour. However, after only 20 seconds, the former runner-up suddenly broke down. Refbot counted it out, leaving TX-108 as the winner, and the only Wild Card warrior to beat one of the veterans.
The Hypno-Disc team, unsatisfied with the result, requested a rematch. Team Terrafonics were unable to comply, however, so the pre- and post-match interviews went ahead based upon the fight. However, the producers were also unsatisfied with the battle and it was not aired on television. To this day, no images or footage of the battle has been found.
Winner: TX-108
Trivia
- Dominator 2's victory over The Executioner is ranked within the Shortest Battles in UK Robot Wars. It is the quickest battle from both series of Extreme.
- TX-108 was the only newcomer to win a battle, defeating Hypno-Disc via the veteran breaking down. However, the fight was never televised, possibly due to its short length and presumed lack of exciting content.
- Of the six newcomers, only Axe-Awe, Draven and The Executioner would appear in the UK Series following their Wild Card Warriors battles, with TX-108 failing to qualify and Ajjay and The Spider presumably failing as well. However, neither The Spider and Axe-Awe were true newcomers; their teams had fought in previous UK Championships with different machines, Team Tarantula with Robocow and Team Iron-Awe with Iron-Awe respectively.
- If teams are considered, Craig and Chris Danby would also enter the UK Series later on, albeit with the unrelated robots Foxic and Apex.
- This event marked Behemoth's first out of the arena flip, and the first occasion of a robot throwing another out of the arena without a flipping weapon.
- It also marked the first occasion of a House Robot throwing a competitor out of the arena, with Sir Killalot dropping Stinger over the wall at the end of its battle against Aijay. However, as cease had already been called by that stage, Stinger still won the resulting Judges' decision.
- Pussycat was originally intended to fight Draven, but after it could not compete due to weapon restrictions, King B Powerworks was chosen to fight in its place.
- "We were to have been fighting Pussycat, but due to a problem with the arena, large spinning discs were banned for the day. We fought King B Powerworks instead."
- — Archived Draven website[2]
- In the Italian dub of Robot Wars Extreme, this side competition was known as Il Diploma, translating quite simply to The Diploma. It can therefore be inferred that winning a fight against an experienced competitor equates to completing a course of study within Robot Wars.
References
|