ANDRONE 4000
I swear Androne 4000 was one of the members of Outkast... turns out it's actually a brand-new robot with supposedly the strongest crusher in Robot Wars history, able to exert 8 tonnes of force. The front armour is also supposedly 15mm steel, which is ridiculous, but to make up the weight they've had to armour the top of the robot in flimsy plastic. Good thing they're not in Terrorhurtz' heat then, eh?
Any vertical crusher in Robot Wars will inevitably get compared to Razer, and if Androne 4000 can live up to the stats, it could do well. It's reasonably fast, well-armoured (mostly), and that weapon could do some serious damage. My concerns are twofold. Firstly, reliability: the front armour will stand up to Concussion, but will the weapon system? Secondly, that ground clearance looks awfully high in places, and Iron-Awe 6 will be eyeing it with glee.
My prediction: A good-looking machine, but up against some stiff competition. The effectiveness of the weapon will be key.
CONCUSSION
Concussion were one of the more impressive debutants from last year, and the only ones to reach the Grand Final, beating de facto 3rd seeds Thor twice along the way. While it looks much the same as last year, there are plenty of improvements: for one thing, the drum is stronger, heavier, and spins faster. There are now some sticky-outy bits to help it run upside-down, and of course, they've addressed its reliability problems.
As reigning Grand Finalists, Concussion are naturally among the favourites for this heat, but I hesitate to say that they're the favourites. Iron-Awe 6 will be a strong competitor, and many also fancy Nuts, so to speak. I think Concussion is capable of reaching the Grand Final again, but it won't be as easy as the first time.
My prediction: Concussion is a good robot, and should make the heat final, but I'm unsure how much further it can get this time round.
IRON-AWE 6
Iron-Awe is another of those machines, like Big Nipper, that didn't quite kick on during the original series but went from strength to strength during the 12-year hiatus. Iron-Awe 5 won two FRA championships and is a Hall of Fame inductee, but wasn't accepted into Series 8 or 9. Finally, the Grimms are back, and Iron-Awe 6 should be a contender. The flipper is powerful (and proven), and specially for this year it's armed with pneumatic "cannons" to entangle spinning weapons.
So how does Iron-Awe stack up against Rapid, who won the previous heat? Well, it's slower at 12mph, its armour is a little thinner, it doesn't have as much pushing power... it does have the entanglement cannons, but I'm not convinced they'll do much. I'm not writing Iron-Awe off yet, though: there's no denying that it has a very powerful flipper at its disposal. Will they get the chance to use it?
My prediction: The brothers Grimm have brought a machine with a lot of pedigree, but perhaps a little behind the times? Potential heat finalist.
NUTS 2
Everyone's favourite jigsaw puzzle is back, and you may be surprised to learn that the smart money is on Nuts 2 to win the heat. But why not? Its speed has been upgraded to 26mph this year, so its sit-and-spin slams will be even faster, and the ring is now thicker. Its Meltybrain technology, which allows it to move while spinning, didn't work last series, but they've sorted that out now and Nuts 2 could well be a force to be reckoned with.
Of course, as we all know by now, Nuts does not like spinners. Carbide tore it apart in Series 8, Matilda punted it out of the arena in Series 9, and now it has to contend with Concussion, Tauron, and The Kegs. I feel like it would be a major upset if Nuts were to win this heat, over the more impressive-looking Concussion and Iron-Awe 6, but who knows? This is Robot Wars, and anything can happen...
My prediction: In with a chance of reaching the heat final, but can it go one step further? I'm not convinced.
TAURON
Tauron's Robot Wars debut lasted about five seconds before Concussion knocked it out, so we really have no idea what it's capable of. Fortunately, after ring spinner Triforce had to withdraw from this series, Tauron was given a well-deserved second chance. It's been completely redesigned, and looks a much stronger machine: the bar is now 18kg and spins up to a blistering 244mph, while the armour is a lot tougher overall.
Tauron will be wary of being in the same heat as Concussion again, but I'm certain they'll do better than last year, especially with the raft of upgrades they've made. My only immediate concern is that it's a little on the slow side, at 12mph; but other than that, as long as it doesn't break down again, Tauron should put on a good display.
My prediction: A vastly improved robot, I'll be surprised if Tauron goes out in the first round again - but I'll be even more surprised if it wins the heat.
THE KEGS
Remember Terror Turtle? It was one of several less-renowned veterans to show up for Series 8, and was promptly flung out of the arena by Eruption. Well, builder John Frizell has returned for Series 10, and this time he's brought a clusterbot. Only one half is pictured above, but they both look roughly the same: half a beer keg with some wheels bolted onto it and a horizontal bar spinner mounted on the front.
John, a former Greenpeace director, is clearly doing this for fun - why else, in the current year, would you build a robot out of a recycled beer keg? This, I'm afraid, is this year's Frostbite: the armour is flimsy, the weapons look ineffectual, the drive system is weak, and the lightness of each half means they're susceptible to being flung out of the arena. Still, they're clearly enjoying themselves, and if they still have a robot left at the end of it, they can crack open a cold one with the boys - each of The Kegs apparently doubles as a fully-functioning beer tap!
My prediction: A fun entry? Certainly. A serious entry? No. Don't expect The Kegs to last very long in the arena.
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