Woo, another new series of ROBOT WARS has graced our television screens once again! This is the third series since its comeback last year, and the 10th overall. Apollo, a great flipper robot won Series 8, and Series 9 was won by the powerful spinner of Carbide. With some new changes to the rules and an updated format, will Carbide be able to retain its title, the first robot to do so since Chaos 2 way back in Series 3 and 4? Or will Apollo regain what it once had? Then again… with so many other great robots out there, the title could go to someone new! Time to take a look at the first episode and get a glimpse of what’s in store for the rest of the series!!!
Format Changes
Before we get into the action, I’d best go over the changes to the format for this series. In the last 2 series of the reboot, robots would be split into 2 groups of 4 and battled it out in a 4 way melee. The two surviving robots from each match would then be put into a group and faced off against each other, gaining points for winning, and more points depending on how they won. Personally I was never that into this format. Luckily, it seems that things are going back to a more traditional format, with 6 robots being split into 2 groups. 1 winner from each go to the semi finals, and the losers get one more chance in a one on one battle to also go through. From there, the winners of the semi finals make it to the finals, and the winner advances to the series final! Outside of that, everything else is the same… plus the “fog of war” which will fill the arena with fog for 10 seconds. Sounds… ummm… foggy.
Group Battle 1 – Behemoth Vs Donald Thump Vs Sabertooth
Behemoth is a fan favourite, and a series veteran who was around during the very early days of Robot Wars. Its great flipper can throw any robot around the arena and even out of it! Donald Thump has a big spinning weapon, as does Sabertooth, albeit in very different designs.
Sadly, this first battle is underwhelming with everyone becoming immobile! However, due to its aggression and style, Behemoth is awarded the win!
Group Battle 2 – Apollo Vs Apocalypse Vs The Swarm
The former champions Apollo is back and determined to win once again. Its flipper is one of the most impressive we’ve ever seen in Robot Wars history, so it certainly has the ability to go all the way again! Apocalypse has a deadly axe, and a blow to the right area can disable any robot! The Swarm is a clusterbot; a group of robots that connect in the beginning and then separate for the fight. The advantage is the ability to have multiple weapons. The disadvantages though, which imo outweigh the advantages, are that all the robots are much lighter as they need to meet the weight limit COMBINED. This also means weaker armour and less powerful weapons. And, at least two of the 4 clusterbots need to remain active at all times.
Well, this one certainly had some highlights thanks to the awesome flipping power of Apollo! Those tiny clusterbots are just as useless as I expected, and end up getting flipped around like they were nothing! Apocalypse on the other hand had issues with its axe from the very beginning, and soon became immobilised. A very easy victory for the former champs! The team behind The Swarm probably should have just come back with an updated version of Bigger Brother, a former finalised back in the old series of Robot Wars.
Robot Redemption 1 – Sabertooth Vs Apocalypse
The winner of this match will get through to the semi finals! Sabertooth is likely the favourite to win, but if Apocalypse’s axe is working, we could potentially see an upset!
The axe is indeed working, and Apocalypse had Sabertooth on the run for the majority of the fight! Even the spinning drum of Sabertooth stopped working, but one well aimed drive into the side of the arena and Apocalypse was immobilised in an instant! Oh, and we saw the fog of war. Nothing like interrupting a fight and blocking the view for 10 seconds! Genius idea, guys…
Robot Redemption 2 – The Swarm Vs Donald Thump
Poor Donald Thump has clearly been sabotaged by Hilary Clintonbot! Its spinning weapon is not working, and he must battle on without it or forfeit! Can The Swarm actually make it through to the semi finals?
So much for The Swarm not having any effective weaponry due to being so small! Donald Thump lost both front panels from the spinner bot! And after a little more beating, Donald Thump has LOST! An upset? Well, I don’t think anyone is upset at a Donald Thump loss!
Semi Final 1 – Apollo Vs Sabertooth
Sabertooth might not quite be Carbide, but this should be a pretty good battle and similar to the Apollo Vs Carbide battles of the past!
A very fun battle here, with Sabertooth desperately trying to avoid that massive flipper and get its own weapon into play. However, excellent driving from Apollo made that almost impossible, and a few flips later leaves Sabertooth’s weaponry dead! After that, it was all downhill, or rather, uphill as Sabertooth is launched into the air and out of the arena!
Semi Final 2 – Behemoth Vs The Swarm
Despite doing well against Donald Thump, I don’t think The Swarm can survive against the might of Behemoth. Especially with Behemoth’s weapon actually working!
Behemoth was on the hunt for this fight, trying to take out each clusterbot one at a time, and it did an exceptional job! The Swarm tried its best to spread out and come at Behemoth from all sides, but once one got caught and flipped, they stood no chance!
10 Way Qualifier – Sabertooth Vs The Swarm
Not entirely sure what the 10 Way fight is, in terms of a prize, but the 2 semi final losers are going to complete for a splot in it! Personally I wanna see The Swarm win, just to add even more mayhem to a 10 robot fight!
A crazy fight! The Swarm were all over the place as usual, flying around on the arena flipper, running into Sabertooth and getting attacks by Dead Metal! Then, the area spikes turned into rockets and shot right out into the air! With two of the clusterbots stuck on the flame pit and another 2 flipped upside down, Sabertooth wins this battle!
Final – Apollo Vs Behemoth
Two great flippers going head to head! I sense that one of them is going up, up and away right out of the arena!
Wow, what a fight!!! Behemoth flipped around. Apollo flipped around! The house robots getting in the way! A tense heat final as former champions battled against a robot who hasn’t won a heat final in 19 years! While my prediction didn’t come true, Behemoth came very close to flying out of the arena. In the end though, one push forward combined with a perfectly timed flip sent APOLLO into the pit. Behemoth are through to the finals!!!
Overall thoughts
A great way to kick off the new series of Robot Wars! Crazy clusterbots, a Donald Trump parody robot, and a fantastic final that finally saw one of my all time favourites Behemoth overcome the odds and sending Apollo packing! Now to wait 7 days until the return of the reigning champions Carbide. Can they even make it past the heat? We’ll all have to wait and find out!!!
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