TORNADO - The Team with the Comedy Flying Cow
ROBOT RUMBLE 2000

We attended the Robot Rumble event at Debenham, near Stowmarket, organised by Eddy and Roy of the Prizephita team. This was a good event, well organised and very popular - we look forward to the next Rumble in Easter 2001. We used this event as the last public run for the pneumatic toothpick - and as such we wound it up as high as it would go!

Lots of robots were in attendance. Running heavyweights included Velocirippa, Chaos 2, Sump Thing, Humphrey, Behemoth, Rambot, Judge Mech, Henry 2, Skab, Wheely Big Cheese, Venom, Dominator 2, Suicidal Tendencies, Stinger, Bigger Brother, Xenomorph 2, The Steel Avenger, Toecutter 2 and Invertibrat.

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Also around were Cassius 1 and 2, Prizephita 1 and 2, Robogeddon, Xno, Ickle Xno, Zippy, Scaramanga, Ickle Behemoth, and probably a load of others I've forgotten. We got to meet Rex, who chaired the judging panel, and see Cassius 1 and 2 at close hand.

LEFT: Bigger Brother versus Henry 2. RIGHT: Wheely Big Cheese gives Stinger some air!

LEFT: Chaos 2 vs Skab - Skab put a big hole in the front of Chaos 2, but Chaos 2 threw them around enough to win. RIGHT: Suicidal Tendencies vs Steel Avenger - ST lifted and pushed the Avenger about, at one point even turning them on their side and peppering their underside with holes. Suicidal Tendencies were the clear winner.

LEFT: Our first fight was against Invertibrat. We pushed them around until they started leaking gas, and continuted until we not only switched off their radio gear but knocked out their removable link! RIGHT: Venom vs Rambot.

LEFT: Dominator 2 vs Toecutter 2. The fluffy pig got a taste of Dom 2's axe! RIGHT: Chaos 2 dealt with Humphrey in their usual style...

LEFT: Antweights Ickle Xno and Ickle Behemoth. RIGHT: Bigger Brother vs Stinger.

Our most difficult fight of the day was against Suicidal Tendencies. They had fitted their scoup weapon which made it very easy for them to lift us off the ground. They pinned us in a corner (maybe for a bit too long to be fair!) and hit us repeatedly with their axe. We gained two punctures, and were out of the morning session.

Repairing the punctures took some time, and we had to bodge the repair with some of the more damaged wheels from the series 4 filming, but we fixed it...

Dominator 2 showed Venom why plywood armour may not be the best... Peter Halloway later showed the interviewer pieces of Venom at the live interview on BBC Radio Cambridge.

The morning session final between Stinger and Dominator 2 was a brilliant fight. Check out those titanium sparks in the picture on the right! Dominator 2 were ahead right up until the last moment, when they got tangled in the arena fence. Stinger were thus declared the winner.

The afternoon session: Chaos 2 dispatched Velocirippa...


Our first fight of the afternoon was against the wonderfully lo-tech (and very noisy) Sump Thing. We rammed them and pushed them around, and yet again - we broke the arena! The battle was stopped while hasty repairs were performed. Upon restart we pushed them into a corner, rammed them, and that was it. They started to smoke a little... we had gone through.

LEFT: Rambot got caught under the edge of the arena whilst fighting Humphrey. This happened to several wedges during the day, including Wheely Big Cheese. RIGHT: Judge Mech fought Henry 2.

LEFT: Wheely Big Cheese gave Skab some airtime! RIGHT: Bigger Brother tussled with Toecutter 2.

LEFT: Dominator 2 took on Venom again, and unfortunately for Venom, the result was the same as earlier. RIGHT: Suicidal Tendencies beat Stinger, who were forced to use their practice wheel to avoid making big holes in the arena floor as they had done in the morning!


Our last fight of the day was against Chaos 2, and it didn't last long. Up until the point when I drove between Chaos and the barrier, according to Rex's score sheet, we had been winning. But George propped us against the barrier, and that was it, we were out. My mistake, well done George (...again. Grrr!)

Bigger Brother took out Wheely Big Cheese, puncturing their tyres.


The fight between Dominator 2 and Suicidal Tendencies was spectacular and violent. ST learnt the lesson not to leave polycarbonate out in the sun the hard way - the fight ended with Dominator 2's axe wedged into them very well indeed!

I'm not completely sure (I can't rely on my memory) but in the final Dominator 2 beat Bigger Brother.

We did some damage to the pneumatics - we got something stuck in the seal on the end of the ram - but it didn't help that I disconnected the power to the valve, and forgot to reconnect it! Thanks to our support crew - Chris (left above), Anna (right above), Alex (below), and Lucy.

Have a look at the official Robot Rumble site.


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