Wedges

Wedges
Roadblock's wedge proved decisive in it winning the First Wars
Robots
Pioneer(s)	Roadblock
Notable Robots	Beast of Bodmin, Thing 2, Tornado

Wedges are a common body type of robot that doubled as a combat weapon.

Before the beginning of the televised UK Championship, robots like Wedge of Doom and La Machine enjoyed considerable success in tournaments. Roadblock won the original UK championship with its wedged body, and the wedge remained a viable weapon early in the show until the prevalence of invertible machines and self-righting mechanisms.

After The Fourth Wars, most wedges were either combined with a form of flipping or lifting weapon or added to an invertible machine. Series 6 champion Tornado and Series 7 runner-up Storm 2 were among the invertible robots to use armoured wedges to breach ground clearances, even if the traditional tactic of overturning a foe was no longer the end result.

Definition

A wedge or ramp is a body shape which slopes to the ground and creates a triangular shape from the side profile. The bottom of the wedge is designed to negotiate an opponent's ground clearance in order to let it run up the top and be lifted off the arena floor. Depending on the angle in which an opponent is positioned on the robot's wedge, it can be either driven around the arena towards walls and arena hazards, or turned over completely.

Quite often, a wedge can also be classified as a ramming blade.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Roadblock topples Killertron over

Tornado was able to exploit Hypno-Disc's ground clearance and avoid its disc using its interchangeable scoop

• Wedges are among some of the easiest weapons to design and build, being only as expensive as the robot's chassis.
• Wedges offered a useful synergy when combined with another weapon, especially flippers, crushers or overhead weapons such as axes and hammers. As robot designs evolved, traditional wedges would inherently assume some form of front- or rear-hinged flipping or lifting weapons, such as the designs for Spawn Again, Firestorm and Apollo.
• In earlier series, wedges were very effective knock-out weapons, as few robots had self-righting mechnanisms. Roadblock, Beast of Bodmin and Thing 2 were especially effective at defeating their opponents in this way.
• Heavily-armoured wedges could prove to be very durable defensive weapons against powerful spinning weapons. Tornado's 'charity scoop', for example, was able to withstand Hypno-Disc's flywheel as well as exploit its ground clearance during their Series 6 Semi-Final battle.
• Even in later series, smaller wedges could be used to push very effectively. This is best shown in Storm 2's Series 7 and Extreme 2 success, where it used its wedge to breach ground clearance and push opponents around. Tornado also managed this to great effect in Series 6-7 and Extreme 2.

Disadvantages

Thing 2 topples over through the combination of Panic Attack's charge and an arena spike

Such was its low ground clearance, Vector of Armageddon's wedge prevented it from driving up the second ramp during its Gauntlet run

Once inverted, Tornado's scoop was of no use against Bigger Brother's own wedge and flipper

• With the invention and popularity of srimechs, the traditional tactic of using wedges to overturn other robots became very ineffective on its own.
• Additionally, without the use of a srimech or a weapon with a self-righting capability, they were unable to allow the robot to right themselves when flipped. This was particularly telling in the defeats of Roadblock and Thing 2 in Series 2 and 3 respectively, with both robots succumbing once they were overturned.
• Low wedges are often problematic when navigating uneven surfaces, often being hindered by slight imperfections in the arena floor. Vector of Armageddon's was unable to complete its Gauntlet run in Series 1 after getting beached on the second ramp due to its low ground clearance, while robots such as Storm 2 and Firestorm 4 would later get themselves wedged under the Floor Spinner/Disc of Doom at various points during Extreme 2.
• Although they can be incorporated into invertible designs, an inverted wedge was usually far less effective and often counted against a robot. Tornado's scoop had considerably less potency once it was flipped over by Bigger Brother in the Extreme 2 All-Stars, allowing Bigger Brother to resist its shoves and pit Tornado with ease. Some exceptions to this do exist, such as the invertible flippers of St. Agro and Wheely Big Cheese.
• From Series 7 onwards, basic wedges were effectively outlawed unless paired with an active weapon. While the majority of wedge-shaped robots inherently featured moving weapons to begin with, this rule change resulted in Storm 2 and Tornado needing to adopt a lifting arm and a flail respectively in order to remain eligible to compete.
• If the wedge sustains a significant amount of damage, it will bend and therefore be no longer able to get underneath opponents. The most severe case of this occurred during Bulldog Breed's loss against X-Terminator in Series 7, where repeated attacks from X-Terminator's flywheel buckled Bulldog Breed's wedge and flipper plate to prevent it from doing so.

List of Robots with Wedges

NB: Many famous wedge-shaped robots, such as Firestorm, Chaos 2 and Apollo, are excluded from this list due to them incorporating other prominent weapons such as their flippers. Only robots whose wedges were their primary weapon are included below.

Beast of Bodmin

Big Brother

Dominator 2

Heavy Metal

Micro-Mute

Storm 2 in Series 7

Thing 2

Tornado

WYSIWYG

Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots that aren't heavyweight are listed with a green background.

Robot	Series Appearances with Wedges	Notes
Aggrobot	Series 3	Tongue acted as a wedge, future versions were invertible wedges with lifters.
All Torque	Series 3
Ally Gator	Series 3	Weapon acted as a ramming blade.
Anarchy	Series 2
Beast of Bodmin	Series 3	Also featured a very narrow flipping ram on the wedge tip, which was rarely used. Series 3 Semi-Finalist and successor to Roadblock.
Big Brother	Series 3	Also featured a chain-flail mace, which was rarely used. Predecessor to Bigger Brother.
Chimera2	Series 9	Armed with a torque reaction axe and front wedge.
Corporal Punishment	Series 3
Crippler	Series 3	Featured front and rear ramps.
Cruella	Series 1-2
Cunning Plan	Series 1	Series 1 Grand Finalist. Held the Shortest Battle Record for two series.
Darke Destroyer 2	Series 4
Demolition Demon	Series 2
Demolisher	Series 1-2	Series 2 Featherweight Champion. Very steep, never got under a robot.
Demon	Series 2
Demon Duck	Series 2
Dominator 2	Series 3-6, Extreme 1-2	A traditional wedge was used by the original Dominator, replaced with the distinctive bi-wedge design for Dominator 2's appearances. Wedge used to tip opponents over (as demonstrated against Corkscrew), as well as to get underneath opponents and hold them in place before striking them with its axe.
Doom	Extreme 1-2
Ghetto-bot	Series 4
Grunt	Series 1	Stock Robot
Heavy Metal	Series 9	Built by Team 13. Equipped with a unique rotating arm, though relied more on the wedge to win battles.
Krayzee Tokyo	Series 1
Micro-Mute	Series 7, Extreme 2	Extreme 2 Featherweight Finalist.
Miss Ile	Series 3
Oblivion	Series 2
Onslaught	Series 2	Converted into a lifting scoop for future series.
Prometheus (US)	Series 3
Revolution 3	Series 7	Interchangeable with a spinning drum weapon, but never seen in combat.
Roadblock	Series 1-2	Series 1 Champion and Third Place in Series 2.
Rhino	Extreme 1
R.O.C.S. 2	Series 3
Storm 2	Series 7-8, Extreme 2	Later modified to incorporate the robot's lifting arm, added in order to comply with the active weapons rule. Combined with the robot's speed and pushing power. Extreme 2 New Blood Champion, Series 7 runner-up and Third World Champion.
Thing 2	Series 3	Original wedge later had a lifter and horizontal flywheel added to it in various incarnations of its successor, Wild Thing. Series 3 Semi-Finalist.
Tornado	Series 6-7, Extreme 1-2	Nicknamed the 'Charity Scoop' due to its regular use at live events. Part of an interchangeable weapons set from Series 6 onwards, fitted with a flail in Series 7 in order to comply with the active weapons rule.
Tyke	German Series 1	German Series Grand Finalist, finishing fourth. Wedge did not lay flat, rather was spiked at the front.
Vector of Armageddon	Series 1
WYSIWYG	Series 1	Stock Robot
X-Terminator	Series 3-7, Extreme 1-2	Static scoop intended to get under and trap opponents.