Team Vader was a team that competed in Series 6-7 of Robot Wars and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme.
- "After watching so many of the Robot Wars TV shows and commenting on how poor some of the robot designs were it was time to put my criticisms to the test and build a fully combat ready robot for myself. I had many ideas (still have) and decided on one particular design having being inspired by the American robot Nightmare. December was basically spent on the CAD system outlining the basic shape and dimensions of the new robot code name Vader. I joined the RW club just before Christmas and received the pack and application form just before the Christmas holiday. This was sent back ASAP just in case we missed out through over demand."
- — Vader website on entering Robot Wars in December 2000
History[]
Team Vader built and entered two robots; Vader, which reached the Heat Final in Series 6, and IG-88, which also reached the Heat Final in Series 7. Like Team Ming and Team Mouse, Team Vader entered both of their machines into the Seventh Wars.
- "...I entered Vader seperately to Paul Rose who entered IG-88. Whilst I was involved in assisting with the build of IG-88, I never appeared with the machine or was listed on the entry forms. My entry of Vader was a fairly late decision as I was at a loose end and the machine was just sitting in the garage, and then surprisingly during the qualifying "auditions" it was unbelievably dominant in it's heat."
- — Simon Latham on Facebook[1]
Both machines featured reverse wedge-shaped chassis and large vertical spinning weapons; Vader with a vertical flywheel, IG-88 with a 'bi-rotational axe' that could spin in forward and reverse directions. Both weapons proved highly destructive, capable of immobilising opponents in as little as one hit (such as Aggrobot and Tomahawk), as well as ripping whole armour panels clean off, as demonstrated in IG-88's attacks on Scorpion in their first-round melee. However, Vader and IG-88 both lacked self-righting mechanisms, and were prone to getting flipped from the front as their weapons could not reach low wedges. The latter issue in particular contributed to Vader's first-round loss to M2 and IG-88's swift defeat against Dantomkia; both in Series 7.
The names of both of their machines were directly inspired by characters from the Star Wars film franchise; Vader after the original trilogy's main antagonist, part-cyborg Sith Lord Darth Vader, and IG-88 after the droid bounty hunter of the same name.
Team Vader considered applying for the reboot series, but stated the robots had "too many flaws to compete effectively" against the new breed of competitors, according to Paul Rose.[2]
Robots[]
| Name | Weight Class | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Vader | Heavyweight | Series 6-7, Extreme 2 |
| IG-88 | Heavyweight | Series 7 |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 4
- Losses: 4
Series Record[]
| Main Series | Team Vader Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Failed to qualify with Vader |
| The Sixth Wars | Heat Final with Vader |
| The Seventh Wars | Heat, Round 1 with Vader Heat Final with IG-88 |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Did not enter |
| Series 2 | Entered with Vader |
Trivia[]
- Both Vader and IG-88 fought The Stag in their first round fights in their respective Heat Final-reaching wars.
- Three of the robots that beat Team Vader (Wild Thing 2, Dantomkia and Terrorhurtz) were consecutively beaten by Razer in Series 6.
- Also, three of the teams (Wild Thing, Team Iron-Awe and Team Hurtz) that beat Team Vader's robots have lost to Chaos 2 sometime during Robot Wars.
- Team Vader is one of three teams to have had their machines thrown out of the arena three times, the others being Team Iron-Awe and Team Ixion, plus the only UK team to be thrown out twice in the same series.
- Team Truly Unruly from Extreme Warriors are the only other team to enter two robots in one series and have them both thrown out of the arena during that series. Unlike Team Truly Unruly, Team Vader's robots were flipped out in the main competition whereas Team Truly Unruly's were thrown out in the side events.
References[]
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