Roter Ochse was a super heavyweight robot which competed exclusively in the Super Heavyweight Championship of Robot Wars: The Second Wars. Its appearance on television was limited to highlights of its qualifying melee, which it lost after losing control and smashing through the arena wall.
Design[]
Roter Ochse in the testing area
Roter Ochse was a large, silver and red cutoff wedge-shaped robot with an oil barrel mounted on top. Powered by an 8.5hp Honda engine, Roter Ochse was one of the largest competitor robots in the show's history. Due to its enormous size and car-like steering, the super heavyweight had a two-metre turning circle. It was also armoured in 1mm steel, with 50mm steel box section providing structural support.
The insides of Roter Ochse - note the demolition hammer and engine powering the machine
Roter Ochse on an inadequately-sized trolley
Its weapon was a unique Kango-branded demolition hammer (essentially a handheld jackhammer) which was capable of causing damage by buckling and bending other robots' armour and chassis. The demolition hammer proved very potent, even buckling the arena wall at one point. However, this, combined with its tendency to spring out of control, saw Roter Ochse effectively being disqualified from its only battle on safety grounds in just 55 seconds. The team pride themselves on being "the first robot to have been banned from Robot Wars" as a result of this incident.[1]
- "When we arrived I refused to move it on a sack trolley and Mat Irvine (Mentorn technical consultant) said "...are you sure it's strong enough for the arena?" I think the question should have been "...are you sure the arena is strong enough for it"!"
- — The Roter Ochse team detail their only fight
Etymology[]
Roter Ochse is German for "red ox."
Robot History[]
Series 2[]
In its Super Heavyweight Championship qualifier - shown as partial highlights in The Grudge Matches - Roter Ochse was due to face Siren and Thud. It immediately hit problems when the team started its Honda engine before the battle, with a few pulls of the starter being enough for it to suddenly jump into life and run uncontrollably across the arena. After a short while, Roter Ochse was eventually stopped and the battle was deemed safe to start.
- "A panicky floor manager asked us to clear the floor whilst the beast was tamed and captured."
- — Team Thud on Roter Ochse (incorrectly referred to as "Bumble Bott" on their website)[2]
Roter Ochse drives around Siren and into the side wall
In the opening moments of its qualifier, Roter Ochse drove round the outside of Siren, but stayed out of the action as Siren attacked Thud, which ended up losing drive to one side after a run-in with Sergeant Bash. However, around 55 seconds into the battle, Roter Ochse ran out of control again, smashing through the arena wall and into a television camera. The battle was stopped and cancelled with immediate effect, with Siren being declared the winner as it was the only robot still functioning fully at that point. At some stage in the truncated bout, Roter Ochse suffered damage to its back end from "ramming Sergeant Bash", as per the team's website[3].
Post-fight damage to Roter Ochse
Having lost its chance to compete in the fully-broadcast Super Showdown final, Roter Ochse was thus eliminated and 'banned' from future Robot Wars competitions following its wall-breaching mishap.
Results[]
| ROTER OCHSE - RESULTS | ||
| Series 2 | ||
| Super Heavyweight Championship Lost | ||
| Qualifier | vs. Siren, Thud | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
Roter Ochse in The Pits
| Series | Roter Ochse Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Super Showdown, Qualifier |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Sixth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
Trivia[]
- Roter Ochse was the heaviest robot in Robot Wars not to be a walkerbot, shufflebot or House Robot, at 166.1kg. This also makes it potentially the heaviest of all Series 2 Super Heavyweight competitors - its weight being 10.5kg over that of the next-heaviest, Demon Duck.
- Roter Ochse was incorrectly referred to as Bumble Bott by Team Thud, who presumably mistook it for the heavyweight that fought in the Reserve Rumble.
References[]
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