Bot Blast was a ton of fun as usual. Nocturne was not finished in time to compete, but FireArrow was ready to go so we packed it and our tools and set out for Pennsylvania. We arrived, passed safety, and got ready for our first fight with no issue at all. This year, my spot in the pits was in between Kyle, who was running the 3lb Ripto, and Jake from team Orbital Activity, who I met at Pennbots, with his new antweight drum Empire. Matches started on time and FireArrow managed to get a bye to the second round.
Match 1: FireArrow vs Don't Ask
Don't Ask was a last-minute 4-hour ant build by Tim, the builder of Scrambles the Death Dealer. It was a UHMW box with an undercutting sawblade that reminded me all too much of DDT in its first match. My plan was to wait for his gyro forces to expose his rear end and then go in for the kill.
As the match started, his unpredictability got the better of me and left some good scratches on my wedge, dealing some slight damage as I pushed him around and sending him flying whenever he got a good hit. Eventually, a good hit from his blade flipped me onto my back, and I spent a lot more time than I should have trying to right myself. I knew it could, but apparently the floor had less traction than my driveway so I
had issues trying to right. A good charge into Don't Ask's blade flipped me right side up again, so I was able to push him around and stuff. Near the end of the fight one of FireArrow's silver spark gearboxes let go so I only had one-wheel drive for the last 10 seconds or so of the match. Based on this damage I lost the match on a split judge's decision.
Match 2: FireArrow vs Nuff Said
Nuff Said was exactly how I saw it on Youtube: A long, 2WD box with two low titanium wedge forks at the front. We had replaced the broken gearbox from the battle from Don't Ask but we unfortunately didn't realize that it had claimed the other gearbox too. After a few rams into the wall the other gearbox fell apart leaving us with 1.5 wheel drive for the rest of the match. However, Nuff Said had bigger issues than that, they had some massive radio reception problems that allowed me to win the match on a judge's decision.
Match 3: FireArrow vs Slice
The team that brought 3 antweights to their first event was a family from New Jersey, and the drivers were bright young kids who showed a lot of promise. Slice was their first robot and as so wasn't very strong, its weapon had very little force and couldn't right itself. I pushed it around for a while, it got stuck on its side a few times (I was nice and knocked them onto their wheels again) but eventually it got flipped onto its back and counted out.
Match 4: FireArrow vs Velociraptor
Velociraptor came all the way from Washington with a vertical sawblade and an excellent driver. Nate and Slim Pickens had already defeated Velociraptor, so I was going to try to use the same strategy he did and charge into him from the side. This was a basic "slam-him-around-the-box-until-the-match-ends" fight with Velociraptor only gaining the upper hand once or twice, getting to my steel back end and sending some sparks flying. Their titanium wedge was a non-issue, I was able to get under it easily. Despite more paint scratches it was a fairly easy match, with FireArrow taking another judge's decision.
Match 5: FireArrow vs Hercules
I saw Hercules fight last year, it was a promising little lifter bot with a pretty big weakness to spinners. It had managed to make it to the final four with me and I had to take it down to take home a trophy. The first charge proved his wedge was lower than mine, so I had to go around the wedge to get him into the walls. A few times I was able to wedge myself in between the lifter and the chassis, and I used this opportunity to shove him around. FireArrow won once again by judge's decision.
Match 6: FireArrow vs Antelope
Antelope's newest incarnation was a 4WD wedge bot. It looked pretty tough to drive around so I knew I was going to have to outwedge it. They were using their solid wedge attachment for this match, after their finger wedges lost to Slim Pickens in the winner's bracket final. Holy crap I could not get under that thing. He was always able to get under me, drive me around and flip me over. I knew I wasn't going to win, but with 30 seconds left in the match I got incredibly lucky: I got to his side and was able to somehow stick his wedge into a seam between the wall and floor. Antelope got counted out and I was moving on to the finals!
Match 7: FireArrow vs Slim Pickens
This was it. The finals. I was up against Nate, who had made it to the finals going 4-0 and undefeated. I knew this was going to be close. The match started with both of us getting under each other several times, with me getting the first big slam of the match. We were both trying to outmaneuver each other. Not much else to say, it was a wedge final. However, one good slam got Slim Pickens stuck on its wedge horns, and since it couldn't move from that position Nate tapped out. FireArrow takes home the antweight title with a 6-1 record!!!
FireArrow's overall record for its first full year of competition is 15-3, and to be honest that's outstanding. I can't wait for my next event, whatever it may be, and hopefully we'll be there with two robots, as Nocturne creeps ever closer to completion.
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