Robot Wars Returns - Sunday 8pm BBC2

[JohnC]

 

It was Apex.

[JohnC]

I don't know if it's more funny or sad that those kids came back with a completely redesigned Expulsion and it ended up just as shit as the original.

[merman]

On 26 November 2017 at 20:10, JohnC said:

I don't know if it's more funny or sad that those kids came back with a completely redesigned Expulsion and it ended up just as shit as the original.

 

Spoiler

Shit enough to make the 10-robot rumble

 

Grand final on Sunday, been enjoying this series more than the last, but spinners are still dominating.

[wev]

Can't see whoever survives that royal rumble will having much of an impact on the finals

[Plums]

I do have a soft spot for the hammer/axe robots. I always want to see Thor make it, the level of control and power in the drive of that thing is phenomenal. That's one way that you can beat the spinners I think, they don't tend to be particularly manoeuvrable because of the torque and gyroscopic stiffness.

[MarkN]

The final has been great so far. I loved the full pit in the 10 robot rumble, and now Nuts 2 has just aced the first semi (with cluster bots proving to actually be worthwhile after all). Really good stuff!

[JohnC]

Behemoth took a hell of a lot of tumbles in its stride in that semi. Many a robot has had bits falling apart with less that that.

[K]

This is amazing. It’s like Foreman-Ali, what with Behemoth just standing there and taking a beating from Carbide, and then coming back super-hard. 

[GoblinUK]

What a great final episode. Sadly the viewing figures have been very poor for this series so I fear that could be a final farewell. 

[zuum]

Poor Behemoth. The thing that most lets them down is that they're don't seem to be very good drivers. The guy from Eruption is an example of how to drive a flipper well, Behemoth just can't seem to get the hang of positioning themselves and are always flipping early or missing chances.

[Bacon Horsemeat]

loved Angela's reactions. Such a great final

[sprite]

On 01/12/2017 at 09:45, wev said:

Can't see whoever survives that royal rumble will having much of an impact on the finals

 

You were saying

 

Great final, really pleased for the new champion as even in the last fight he showed some really good planning in his moves.  Everyone was suggesting the weapon may be broken but I’m pretty sure he was just holding on before using it to make it last? Seemed that way!

[wev]

I'm happy to be proved right. I wanted Concussion to get through the Royal Rumble but the guy from Eruption is such a good, clever driver he deserved to win.

[merman]

A great end to the series, definitely a step up from last year.

 

Spoiler

Nuts 2 was a real surprise, did some serious damage to Carbide.

In many ways I'm glad that Concussion and Rapid went out, arrogance doesn't make you better

 

[Plums]

Superb. I wanted to see Behemoth or Eruption win. The absolute state of Eruption at the end of that final, I gasped when its flipper still worked after that initial onslaught. Absolutely deserved. 

 

I really hope that the show continues, it's odd that viewing figures are down considering how it's getting better every series. O'Briein and Scanlon are great too. I think maybe the format of the show needs an overhaul, though.

[sprite]

Nuts 2 started to annoy me with their whole “but we are the joke team, why are we here!” shtick.  They have a good concept which proved effective and it was only with a bit of adaptation that the opposition managed to put them out.

[Ste_S]

14 hours ago, Plums said:

The absolute state of Eruption at the end of that final, I gasped when its flipper still worked after that initial onslaught.

 

Never thought I'd see Rope-a-dope in Robot Wars. Started cheering after that first flip 

[Plums]

Yeah definitely! Battery was definitely going for Carbide towards the end, as soon as that happened and Eruption still had gas in the tank then it was a slaughter.

[Timbuktu]

On 4 December 2017 at 20:36, Plums said:

Superb. I wanted to see Behemoth or Eruption win. The absolute state of Eruption at the end of that final, I gasped when its flipper still worked after that initial onslaught. Absolutely deserved. 

 

I really hope that the show continues, it's odd that viewing figures are down considering how it's getting better every series. O'Briein and Scanlon are great too. I think maybe the format of the show needs an overhaul, though.

 

I'm sure but thought this series might have followed a bit too closely from the last one, I didn't expect it so soon.  The final was absolutely fantastic though.  I never really warmed to the Eruption kid before, he always seems too cold and calculatedly, I think his passion really show in the final, this meant the world to him.  Here's hoping he an now concentrate at uni and become a truly great robotics engineer.

 

the competitors need some more time to redesign and come back with fresh robots though, or they all end up the same with minor refinements.  As far as entertainment goes, that finale was probably the best collection of fights I have seen on this show.  Every single one was exciting in some way.  I though Nut winning that first fight against Carbide and Behemoth was genius.

[JohnC]

Didn't realise there was a 2-part UK Vs Rest of World starting tonight until I saw my box recording it.

 

Rest of world being Ireland, Portugal, Belgium and Netherlands. Really pushing the boat out there.

[Plums]

 

On 05/12/2017 at 23:04, Timbuktu said:

I never really warmed to the Eruption kid before, he always seems too cold and calculatedly, I think his passion really show in the final, this meant the world to him.  Here's hoping he an now concentrate at uni and become a truly great robotics engineer.

Yeah he just seemed like he wanted it more than anyone else, with the possible exception of the Behemoth guy (hence why I was supporting them too, despite him being a bit of a twat). That's what it needs more of, people who are in it to win and have real passion, not schoolkids with their latest shitty project. 

 

Nuts 2 blew my mind to be honest, it's always had potential but I don't think anyone ever expected it to be a contender. Its weapon concept is completely new - it doesn't hit the hardest but it has enormous reach and is capable of inflicting pinpoint damage on difficult to reach components, and is essentially impervious to most damage. The little wedgebot holding the enemies worked so well, if the main bot had a bit more mobility I could see it beating most opponents. What did Sun Tzu say? "First make yourself invincible and then destroy your opponents invincibility."

 

15 hours ago, JohnC said:

Didn't realise there was a 2-part UK Vs Rest of World starting tonight until I saw my box recording it.

 

Rest of world being Ireland, Portugal, Belgium and Netherlands. Really pushing the boat out there.

 

Amazing!

[mushashi]

19 hours ago, JohnC said:

Didn't realise there was a 2-part UK Vs Rest of World starting tonight until I saw my box recording it.

 

Rest of world being Ireland, Portugal, Belgium and Netherlands. Really pushing the boat out there.

 

It's no different to the American baseball World Series in that respect

 

What chance would the UK lot have against the Americans I wonder, I assume they have more money if the comments about that other show are any indication (never seen it), even if the rule differences would mean they'd have trouble having a fair fight.

[JohnC]

The second ep goes wider, with US, Canada, Russia and Netherlands. The US, and RoW team captain, is Michael Mauldin (of Lycos!). He's apparently been involved in Battlebots and other non-televised robot fighting series. Though rather than bring something from Battlebots or whatever, they've taken a winner from last series Battle of the Stars specials.

[mushashi]

As expected the UK won fairly easily against the first lot, they must be putting up a different set of UK teams for the 2nd ep, which should be a more even match as the American scene is equally if not more active. The Belgium machine was pretty good.

 

Flipping Sir Killalot is either going to require a bit of a fluke or for a rule change to allow heavier robots to compete as that is a hefty machine to try and lift

[merman]

That was good fun, especially with Diotir up to his old tricks...

[Dig Dug]

The BBC failed Robot Wars more than Robot Wars failed the BBC imo.

[deerokus]

The BBC lately seems to struggle to know how to handle anything that isn't a lavish drama, current affairs, Saturday night fare, or a documentary.

[Gotters]

but in better news think there is a new series of Battlebots on one of the Five channels starting this weekend - I gave up on Robot Wars as it was so dull, but Battlebots is a lot more exciting, with a ruleset that doesn't make the battles so tedious and just about attrition (which there is skill in building, but lacks spectacle)

[cubik]

The main problem with it was it felt like a 15 minute program that had been dragged out over an hour with too many slow motion shots of people walking in and out of the pits. I know it was always a bit like that but this latest rehash just felt like it had no content. 

[Huz]

Yeah it's amazing what a difference 15 minutes made. The old shows were perfect at 45 minutes on a weekday teatime, but an hour on a Sunday night was just tedious.