Event Report

Dreadfully Wicked Robots
Motorama 2008
EVENT REPORT

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Motorama 2008
February 15-17, 2008
Harrisburg, PA

Motorama Robot Conflict is one of the largest combat robot events held in the Eastern US each year. It is held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg during the motorsports convention simply referred to as "Motorama".

This was our 2nd year competing as Team Dreadfully Wicked. We had an amazing time, got to see our friends again, and made some more new friends. The camaraderie at this event was probably the best I've seen at any event I've been to. Great sportsmanship, and even better showmanship. We had 4 bots in competition and it was tough to maintain them all, but even after getting our drum ripped off by Surgical Strike, we kept coming back... and so did everyone else!

Everyone was very helpful and willing to share parts and pieces at this event. Specifically I'd like to thank the following people: Team Slackers United for letting me use their Spectrum controller after KO-ing their bot. Peter for programing my controller. And several teams including Ministry of Bad Ideas, Team Metal Volcano, Team Sandman, and Team Brain Damage all for allowing me to borrow tools at some point.

REBOUND
On Friday we competed with Rebound in a round robin tournament with 4 other 150g bots. Rebound did an OK job of putting little cuts on other bots, but didn't have the drive speed to get around to their wheels. Rebound beat the other 2 spinner bots, but lost to the 2 wedge bots... Go figure!

Rebound's first match was against a fast wedge named Baby V. Baby V did a great job pushing Rebound around and keeping our blade from causing any damage to him. Baby V won the match by judges decision. Rebound's second match was against the other undercutter P150. P150 apparently had some radio problems, as Rebound was able to put some good cuts to his sides and wheels. Rebound was awarded the win by the judges.
Rebound then fought Not Quite a VD, and it was a 1 hit match! In one big hit, Not Quite A VD ended upside down against the wall and could not move. Rebound sustained some damage from the hit, but could still move and so we were awarded the win by knockout. Rebound's last match was to the other wedgebot Robo-Sushi. R-S did a great job driving, and pushed Rebound nearly the entire match. Rebound barely got any good hits to R-S. R-S won by judges decision.

P150 won the fairyweights, with a record of 3-1. Rebound, Not Quite A VD, and Robo-Sushi all tied for 2nd with 2-2 records. Baby V took 3rd with 1 win.

Concussion
Concussion competed on Friday in the Antweight class. Concussion made an OK debut, but the weakness of the shell proved to be a problem. As it became dented, it hung up on the frame and would consequently not spinup.

Concussion's first draw was Trivial Jr, a solid low wedge. Trivial Jr pushed Concussion around with ease, but Concussion did get a few nice hits to his front side. The match ended badly for Concussion when TJ went underneath Concussion and hit our power switch, instantly turning my robot off. The powerswitch was moved for the next match, lesson well learned!

Concussion had the luck of facing Always in round 2. Always is a wicked steel beater. Concussion worked well, and actually tossed Always around pretty well. This was a very exciting match, perhaps one of the better Antweight fights of the day. The match ended when Always lost drive and could not move. Concussion was awarded its first win by KO.

Round 3 was set for Concussion to face Sweet Revenge, but SR's blade had broken in its previous match. Ray did not want to just go in without a weapon and take the chance on having anything else damaged, so he forfeited the match and gave Concussion it's second win of the day.

In our last fight Concussion was eliminated by Ti Terror, a well built solid wedge/clamper. The only damage concussion did was to itself with dings and dents all over the shell and both teeth badly bent. The match went the full 2 minutes, but the win went to Ti Terror by judges decision.

The internals of Concussion worked great. The drive motors were reliable and the weapon spun up well. We just need a better balanced and stronger shell.

Aggravator
In the beetle class, Aggravator did a great job of aggravating everyone. It placed 2nd, and its only two losses came to Yeti. Aggravator took alot of damage, especially after drawing BE1 first round!

Aggravator's first round draw was aginst BE1, one of the most powerful beetle midcutters ever. I tried being as aggressive as possble, just slamming into BE1's blade until he eventually lost a drive wheel. I also lost 1 side drive, but was still able to waddle towards him, continuing to ram his blade. Aggravator took the win by KO. When we got back to the pits, after inspecting the inside we learned BE1 had shattered one of our banebot drives. Luckily we had 2 spares!

Round 2 was against another good wedgebot named Creepy Crawler. Aggravator's wedge was low enough to get under CC almost everytime we met, and I just continued to push CC into walls for the remainder of the fight. The match went to the judges and was awarded to Aggravator.

Aggravator took on another fast ram-bot, The Impenetrable, in round 3. The Impenetrable is a solid brick of UHMW and was pretty difficult to push around. This match also went to the judges, and was awarded to Aggravator.

In the winners bracket finals is where Aggravator met Yeti for the 1st time. Alan Young's bot Yeti features two wedgelettes in the front with a mean vertical spinning nar-drummette in the middle. Early in the match, Aggravator's wedge was completely torn off and front plate almost ripped as well. After suffering a few more nasty hits, I decided to tap out and head to the loser bracket.

Agrgavator then had to face the winner of the loser bracket, Pressure Point. This match was a great display of aggressive driving, with several big collisions, and driveby wedge hits. I gave PP some good wall slams, but he also gave me a solid clamp in the middle of the match. Luckily I have carbon fiber top armor, and the clamper did not penetrate into the bot. The match went the whole 3 minutes and Aggravator was awarded the win in a close decision by the judges. This then gave me the unfortunate opportunity to rematch Yeti for the beetleweight championship.

In the tournament final, the match went very similar to my first match against Yeti. Aggravator's wedge was torn off, and Yeti tossed me a few times. Yeti had some trouble getting his drummette going later in the match, but did a great job keeping his wedges pointed at Aggravator and preventing himself from being pushed into walls. Yeti was awarded the win by judges decision. Congrats to Alan on the win, he did an amazing job driving (with all of his bots) and certainly deserved the win!

UPCHUCK
Match Analysis COMING SOON...