Turrets

Turrets
Sergeant Bash demonstrates his turret-mounted flamethrower in Series 3
Robots
Pioneer(s)	Satoru Special, Ramfire 100 (1994-1997 US competitions) Binky, Terminal Ferocity (televised series)
Notable Robots	Agamemnon, Tazz/Tazbot, Alexander (1994-1997 US competitions) Bamm Bamm (TV, Dutch & UK Series)
House Robots	Sergeant Bash, The Sentinel

Though not usually classified as weapons in their own right, a number of Robot Wars robots have used turrets as a rotating device for this purpose. This usually provided the robot with damage and/or defence capabilities from all angles in which the component rotated.

House Robot Sergeant Bash is probably the best-known robot to use a turret in the televised show, forming the base of his propane-powered flamethrower. Prior to this, competitors from the 1994-1997 US competitions used similar mechanisms with varying degrees of success. The inaugural Heavyweight Champion, Ramfire 100, incorporated one into its weapon designs, as did 1996-1997 heavyweight Quarter-Finalist Tazz (later Tazbot), and Team Delta's 1996-1997 middleweight entries - 1996 champion Agamemnon and 1997 runner-up Alexander.

Competitors with turrets were rarely successful in televised Robot Wars competitions, with two-time Dutch Series Grand Finalist Bamm Bamm being a notable exception.

Definition

Turrets in robot combat are analogous to gun turrets used in military applications, including ships, tanks, aircraft and defence fortifications. They are overhead rotating devices which typically rotate horizontally on a circular or cylindrical mount, often using a separate mechanism in order to do so. Some turrets would also allow vertical movements from the installed primary weapon, which is especially applicable to Sergeant Bash, The Sentinel and competitors with overhead, flipping or lifting weaponry.

Unlike their namesakes, turrets in Robot Wars could only generally be used as melee weapons, as the build rules issued to competing teams disallowed the use of projectile weaponry. Compared to typical horizontal spinners, they do not spin continuously, and can switch direction immediately depending on where the opponent is.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages

By using its turret, Bamm Bamm was able to direct axe blows on Rat without the robot having to turn around

• Turrets offer up to 360 degrees of range on the horizontal axis, enabling robots to attack or defend from any angle in this orientation. This enables both of the aforementioned actions to be carried out without the robot needing to turn.
• Depending on the design, turrets can be adapted to work with a large variety of weapon types. Bamm Bamm used several interchangeable weapons throughout the course of Dutch Series 1, including an axe, a hammer, and a rear-hinged flipping arm.
• Some turrets can also function as a self-righting mechanism, and do not usually require a specific angle in order to achieve this. Tazz displayed this characteristic in its later BattleBots guise as Tazbot, while THE BASH's turret was intended to specifically act as a srimech only. Bamm Bamm's axe also demonstrated self-righting capabilities in Dutch Series 2, though this could not be repeated in its Series 7 appearance.

Disadvantages

A strike from Wheelosaurus was enough to not only puncture, but pull Sergeant Bash's flamethrower off its mount in Series 2

• Turrets are not compatible with invertible designs, and the majority of these were not capable of acting as a srimech. Terminal Ferocity, for example, lacked the strength to self-right with its turret when it was flipped over by Facet. Similarly, Sergeant Bash's turret was too short to help him self-right whenever he was flipped.
• Due to their positioning, turrets can often increase the robot's height and - in turn - its centre of gravity, making it more liable to getting toppled.
• As turrets require their own power sources and mechanisms to rotate, they can make for an especially complex design to maintain and operate if they also include a powered weapon.
• If the assembly or mount is not wholly durable, turrets can easily be broken apart through heavy or sustained impacts. Wheelosaurus once removed Sergeant Bash's flamethrower during its Series 2 Gauntlet run, while THE BASH lost its turret entirely following attacks by Dead Metal and Big Nipper in the World Series.
  • If a turret is disabled, it can adversely affect weapon aim if the mechanism is seized in one place, or the assembly rotates freely from constant movement and collisions.

List of Robots with Turrets

Robots are listed alphabetically.

DESKTOP MODE ONLY: Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. House Robots are listed with a gold background. Robots from the original 1994-1997 US competitions are listed with a purple background.

Robot	Series Appearances with Turrets	Notes	Image
Agamemnon	1996 US Championship	1996 Middleweight Face-Off & Melee Champion. Rear pneumatic spike could tilt and rotate on a horizontal-mounted assembly; removable along with the robot's front cutting disc arm.
Alexander	1997 US Championship	Redesigned successor to Agamemnon. Featured a front articulating 'cutting crane' with a 1,200rpm milling cutter and a rear pneumatic 'air punch'; both weapons could rotate horizontally via a turntable and custom bearing respectively. 1997 Middleweight Face-Off runner-up.
Bamm Bamm	Series 7, Dutch Series 1-2	Interchangeable axe, hammer, "club" and flipping arm in Dutch Series 1, though only a narrow spiked axe was used in later appearances. Dutch Series 1-2 Grand Finalist.
Binky	Series 3	Turret formed a 360-degree "battle sled" weapon.
Evolution	Series 5	Turret designed to resemble that of a tank; fitted with 'rotating twin blades'.
Metalithor	1997 US Championship	Turret formed part of a rotating hammer mechanism.
Ramfire 100	1994 US Championship	First heavyweight to feature a turret; inaugural Heavyweight Champion and 'Best Engineering' award winner. Incorporated a large pneumatic spear as its main weapon.
RT 81	Extreme 2	Walker; armed with an electrically-driven hammer.
Satoru Special	1994-1996 US Championships	Pioneer of turrets; earlier lightweight and middleweight incarnations combined this with a sawblade. The 1996 middleweight Satoru Special 3 also incorporated a set of net 'launchers' to entangle opponents.
Sergeant Bash	Series 1-7, US Seasons 1-2, Dutch Series 1-2, Nickelodeon, German Series	Probably the best known turret-user. Turret carried a flamethrower, which could rotate horizontally and - in later series - pitch downwards.
Tazz	1996-1997 US Championships	Fitted with an electric spiked arm capable of thwacking, lifting or grappling opponents. 1996 and 1997 Heavyweight Face-Off Quarter-Finalist, the latter as Tazbot.
Terminal Ferocity	Series 3	Joystick-controlled 'swivel turret' with a moveable chainsaw.
THE BASH	Series 10	World Series only. Turret functioned solely as a srimech; purposefully designed to resemble Sergeant Bash's flamethrower.
The Sentinel	Series 2	Mini excavator turntable; cabin and articulated arm could swing together as one unit at up to 180 or 360 degrees depending on placement. Only used in The Gauntlet (Heat G onwards) and a limited number of Arena battles.

Trivia

• Two additional competitors - Lightning Tracks and the Extreme 1 Armed Forces entry Rhino - also incorporated turrets as part of their tank-inspired theming, albeit as non-functional decorations.