Storm2 for Robot Wars 2016
Storm2 (also styled as Storm II and Storm 2) is a British box-wedge robot armed with an interchangeable four-bar lifter, front-hinged lifting arm and a vertical spinning flywheel (which has yet to be used in battle). However, it is better known for its impressive ramming power.
It competed in the British television game show Robot Wars, winning the New Blood Championship in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme, subsequently finishing runner-up in Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars and winning The Third World Championship, although it fell in the Heat Final in 2016 after being flipped out of the arena by Apollo.
It has also seen some success in British live events, most notably finishing 2nd in the 2006 UK Heavyweight Championships. It is a fairly regular competitor in both Roaming Robots and Robots Live! events.
Storm2 also competed in RoboGames 2008, winning one match before losing to Sewer Snake.
It competed in TechnoGames under the name Ickle Toaster.
The original Storm without its armour
The original Storm, which competed in a couple of minor live events, was armed with an interchangeable clamp-lifter and lifting scoop.
Robot History
Robot Wars: Extreme 2
A weaponless Storm2 in the New Blood Championship
Storm2 competed in the New Blood Championship. This version of Storm2 lacked any active weaponry, relying wholly on its ramming power. In its first match, Storm2 made an alliance with Revolution 2, and proved its power straight away in the first round of the New Blood Championship against Direct Action, pushing it near Mr. Psycho. Storm2 took a blow from Mr. Psycho, but managed to avoid serious action. A blow from the large blades of Revolution 2 did not cause much visible damage. Storm2 drove into a CPZ but charged out, skidding into the arena side wall. The sheer force of Storm's attacks immobilised Direct Action on one side, leaving it spinning around in circles, and it was easily dispatched of in the pit, after a brilliant move from Storm2, when it drove onto the edge to lure Direct Action in.
The following two fights were equally straightforward. In the second round, Storm2 was placed up against Chopper and was completely unaffected by Chopper's weak spinning blade. All Storm2 had to do was drive under it with the wedge and slam it against the wall, the force flipping Chopper over, and it was not capable of self-righting, immobilsing it and putting Storm2 through.
Storm2 had received noticeable modifications before its Heat Final against ICU. Spikes now lined the back end of the machine, and the robot's name was painted on top. In the battle, the two robots charged at each other, with ICU sharply riding over the top of Storm2, but this impact tore the aerial from ICU, leaving it unable to move (only firing its axe and srimech), leaving Storm2 to simply nudge ICU onto the arena floor flipper to be counted out by the Refbot, putting Storm2 through to the Grand Final.
In the Grand Final eliminator against Thor, both started by circling and dodging each other. Thor brought its hammer down, missing. Storm2 bumped Thor into Mr. Psycho. Storm2 got underneath Thor and hit the pit release tyre. The rear end of Thor hovered over the pit when Storm2 tried to get it down, but it escaped. The attacks of Storm2 took its toll on the opponent as Thor's CO2 powered hammer stopped working. Storm2 guided Thor towards the pit once again, but Thor got away again. One of Storm 2's wheels started smoking shortly before cease was called, but Storm2 won the judges decision anyway, allowing it to contest the New Blood Championship Grand Final with Mute.
The competitors spent the opening stages buffeting each other's attacks until Mute drove Storm2 against the arena wall, unable to flip it. Storm almost pushed Mute into Dead Metal, but Mute got away, leaving Storm2 needing to drive out of the CPZ itself. Storm2 looked relatively slow compared to its earlier rounds and again drove into Dead Metal, almost getting flipped by Mute while reversing out of Dead Metal's clutches. Mute got underneath Storm 2 again and flipped it across the arena onto the wall with its weaponry. Cease was called, and the judges went for Storm2, giving the team automatic entry to the Seventh Wars.
Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars
Storm2 in the Seventh Wars, with spring-loaded skirts
Placed in the universally named Heat of Doom, high expectations were of Storm2, as it was the seeded machine in that heat. However, changes since the addition of the weapon were still new, and the newest model of Storm 2 had not been fully tested. Storm2 faced Rhino, Mayhem and Supernova in its first round battle. It began by slamming Rhino across the arena but then being flipped by the other machine. Once again, Storm2 slammed Rhino into an arena wall, before pushing it into Matilda's CPZ. The house robot sent part of the arena wall flying away with her flywheel. Rhino escaped and lifted Storm2 again. Storm2 then shoved Supernova into Sir Killalot, snapping the house robot's treads. It also shoved the Sri Lankan robot across the arena into a CPZ and Matilda tapped it with her flywheel, immobilising it. Supernova was counted out, putting through Storm2 and Rhino.
Storm2 pushed Trax around a lot in Round2, a result of Trax being equipped with tracks that could not grip the floor. The two briefly circled each other in the centre of the arena, after which Storm2 was able to slam Trax into the arena wall twice. After a short bit of manoeuvring from the two robots, Storm2 got good leverage at the rear of Trax and gave it another almighty shove into the arena wall. Trax was trapped against the arena wall by Storm2, which used its lifting arm to lever Trax into the air, edging it towards the arena spike on the wall. Trax was released, and Storm2 followed it closely as it escaped across the arena. Storm2 slammed in to the pit release button which fell off, and the pit descended. Trax was once again out-manoeuvred and rammed into the arena wall, this time successfully on to a spike, causing damage to the rear of Trax. Trax loosely sailed across the arena floor before wandering too close to the CPZ of Mr. Psycho and taking a blow from Mr. Psycho's hammer on its front left side. Storm2 nudged Trax in again, which barely escaped the hammer. Storm2 and Trax moved across the arena again and steered around each other before Storm2 managed to slip in behind Trax and edge it close to the pit. Trax quickly escaped around the pit, daring Storm2 to attack. Shortly after, time ran out. The battle went to a judges' decision, where Storm 2 was declared the winner, soundly defeating another opponent. The heat final would be against The Steel Avenger.
The Steel Avenger attempted to hit it with its axe but got the axe stuck in the arena floor. Storm2 pushed it across the arena into the wall. It hit it so hard that The Steel Avenger bounced out of the arena, the first time in Robot Wars a robot had been thrown out of the arena without the use of an active weapon.
In the Semi-Final, Storm2 was drawn up against The Grim Reaper and to fight the flipper-equipped robot, was fitted with side skirts to reduce the ground clearance of Storm2. This worked very well as The Grim Reaper struggled to get its flipper underneath Storm2 and it pushed and flipped The Grim Reaper around repeatedly. Even though The Grim Reaper looked promising equipped with a wide-opening flipper. Roughly five seconds in to the match The Grim Reaper was slammed in to the arena wall by Storm2, and then trapped and levered up by Storm2. After being released, the two very quickly danced around each other at a great speed. The Grim Reaper was shunted in to a vacant CPZ before being pushed and lifted up, crashing in to the pit release button at speed. Storm2 chased The Grim Reaper around the arena, The Grim Reaper spinning around to try and evade Storm2. Storm2 nudged it into Shunt, who artfully marked the top of the flipper on The Grim Reaper with his axe. Shunt's second shot missed both robots completely. Storm2 chased The Grim Reaper again as before, this time forcing it to meet with Sergeant Bash's crushing jaw, which gripped and dragged it back in to the CPZ before letting it go. The Grim Reaper was bumped towards the now open pit, but was not pitted. The Grim Reaper was chased by Storm2, being slammed again and again in to the wall and Shunt's CPZ, before being rolled onto its back panel. Shunt, unsuccessfully attacking it, accidentally knocked off its own exhaust. Storm2 carefully nudged The Grim Reaper backwards as it was trying to self-right, causing it to stay on its back. After a few more tries, The Grim Reaper successfully flipped itself back onto its wheels. The countdown timer ran out as The Grim Reaper was rammed in to the wall, stopping on the flame jet. Storm2, finishing underneath The Grim Reaper in the dying seconds, was chosen as the winner by the judges.
In Round2 it managed to prevent Firestorm 5 getting under it by bending the front blade upwards. Exploiting Firestorm 5's weakness (its low pushing power), Storm2 entered a pushing match, easily winning and pushing Firestorm 5 into the pit. The New Blood Champion was through to the Grand Final.
Storm2 faced the defending champions Tornado for a place in the Grand Final of The Seventh Wars. Storm2 and Tornado circled each other and collided in the middle of the arena, Storm2 getting leverage under the side of Tornado. Tornado managed to escape being rammed in to the arena wall, and the two robots' scoops met again in the middle of the arena. Tornado had more traction than Storm2, who was easily pushed back across the arena and in to the wall. Tornado had barely escaped being stuck after bouncing on to Storm2 from the impact. Storm 2 and Tornado battled closely again, during which Storm 2 managed to lift Tornado up and over. Being invertible, Tornado was not beaten yet. Tornado was, however, powerfully slammed in to the wall after Storm2 found leverage at the rear of Tornado. This happened on several more occasions, including one situation where Tornado was rammed in to the wall, nearly being propped up against it. Storm2 and Tornado collided with each other in a battle of pushing strength, this time Storm2 managing to out-push Tornado. Tornado was chased around the arena, finally being caught and pushed along the arena floor. Refbot pushed the pit release button, and Tornado was trapped in a dangerous position after being pushed across the pit as it was being lowered, barely managing to escape. Shortly after, time ran out, and the judges gave the victory to Storm2.
It fought bravely against Typhoon 2, the armour was strong enough to withstand Typhoon's attacks, and it attempted to flip Typhoon on several occasions, basically the first time it used the lifting arm. Eventually Typhoon 2 destroyed the arena wall so the bout was stopped. When it was restarted Storm2 continued pushing Typhoon 2 around until they both got caught on the Pit panel. Storm2 appeared to slow down after this, and when it slammed Typhoon into the Arena Wall again a large piece of armour from the front wedge flew off, moments before the battle ended. The judges said that Storm2 won on Control and Aggression, and Typhoon 2 won on Style and Damage, so because Damage carries the most weight Typhoon 2 was declared the new Champion. Many argue that Storm2 would have won had the panel not fallen off.
Storm2 then had the chance to make amends for this Series 7 loss, in the Third World Championship. Ansgar 3 of Germany and Grand Finalists Tornado were the opponents in the first round. Ansgar's progress was very quickly stymied, as the two English rammers put the German walker on the flame pit, where it was immobilized. Once Ansgar got off the flame pit, Storm2 and Tornado teamed up to dump Ansgar 3 in the pit of oblivion. Tornado used its wedge shape to get in underneath Storm2 and ram it against the side wall, but once again, the extra power and speed gave Storm2 the edge over Tornado, slamming it into a CPZ. A well controlled drive from Tornado put Storm 2 in the clutches of Dead Metal, although it escaped with just a few bruises. Storm2 fought back though, using its lifting arm to flip over Tornado. This was deemed enough by the judges to put Team Storm through.
Series Semi Finalist Tough as Nails met Storm2 in the World Championship Semi Final, and Tough as Nails immediately got a grip on Storm2. Tough as Nails' usual tactics did not work however, as Storm 2 ferociously charged Tough as Nails into the arena wall, allowing the Dutch entry to be hammered by Mr. Psycho. It was becoming evident that Tough as Nails was being outclassed, and another ram by Storm2 caused a tyre to fall off the Dutch robot. Tough as Nails who was still fully mobile went for the pit release button, but inevitably it was Tough as Nails that fell down, despite holding onto Storm 2 with its pincers. Storm2 added insult to injury by nudging the tyre debris into the pit.
Storm2 faced its Heat I opponents Supernova, representing Sri Lanka in the final. The pair started tentatively, dodging the other machine's potential attacks. Supernova got a glancing blow on Storm2, sending the Sri Lankan machine spinning. Storm2 pushed Supernova into the arena wall, where Supernova's disc made it spin on contact with the wall. Miraculously, they bumped into each other and Supernova flipped itself over onto the wall, where its disc dug deep into the arena floor. After Supernova had been immobilised for 30 seconds and knowing this was possibly the last ever series Storm 2 decided to go and play with Shunt in the arena, however Shunt later lifted it onto the arena wall. The Refbot freed Supernova and Shunt freed Storm2, so they could continue fighting. The two rammed each other around before cease was called. The judges awarded the World Championship to Storm2.
2004 UK Championships (Winter Tour)
Storm2 competed in its first big competition since Robot Wars in 2004. It won its qualifier fight at Newport against Chompalot easily and also Mighty Mouse as well at Worcester which gave it the points it needed to qualify through to the finals at Doncaster.
In round 1 of the finals, Storm2 faced Velocirippa who it managed to ram around the arena and put it where it wanted and despite getting flipped by Velocirippa, it still managed to win the judges decision on aggression. Next in the quarter-finals it met Ewe 2 who it got beaten by forcing Storm2 to go into the loser's melee and face Ripper & Mute. Storm2 again lost after Ripper became immobilised and Storm2 got stuck on Ripper which dragged Storm2 out along with it.
2005 UK Championships (Winter Tour)
Storm2 came back the next year for the 2005 UK Championships as the 4th seed. It won its first qualifier match at Portsmouth easily after Hades' bungee cords for its flipper snapped and the flipper flew wide open without resetting, meaning it couldn't use it. Storm2 finished the fight off by pushing Hades in the fight. Next it fought Pressure at Birmingham who managed to flip Storm2 twice, but Storm2 was unharmed and remained in control of the fight, ramming Pressure into the walls and leaving it immobilised in the corner. Winning both of its fights meant it had the points it needed to qualify for the finals at Folkestone.
In round 1 of the finals, Storm 2 fought the no. 6 seed Kronic. Storm2 did shove Kronic a few times but it spent most of its fight upside down after being flipped by Kronic, it nearly at one point nearly went out the arena. Both robots were still mobile at the end which lead the battle to a judges decision and the judges decision went against Storm2 and it was out the 2005 Winter Tour.
2006 UK Heavyweight Championships
Storm2 competed in the first full-combat event outside of Robot Wars in 2006. It shared its pod with Leveller 2, TX-108 & Toxic where it won each of its qualifier battles, shoving YX-108 down the pit, beating Leveller 2 and lifting Toxic up so it got stuck on its side against the wall. These victories put Storm2 through to the finals.
In round 1 of the finals, Storm2 met the no. 2 seed Terrorhurtz. For the fight, Storm2 got fitted with a shock-absorber to protect against the axe blows from the deadly axe. It worked out well and the fight was basically Storm2 shoving Terrorhurtz all over the arena with Terrorhurtz's axe landing ineffective axe blows on Storm2. Eventually, Storm 2 shoved Terrorhurtz into a corner where it ended up getting its own axe stuck on the wall and was immobilised. Next in the quarter-finals, Storm2 met 8645T who couldn't get its flipper underneath Storm2 and got shoved around until Storm2 flipped it over near the wall where it couldn't self-right due to the wall being there. It next fought PulveriZer who again got hammered into the walls and sparks always flew as Storm2's titanium armour came into contact with it. The fight went to a judges decision and Storm2 won on aggression so Storm2 was through to the grand-final, here it met the newcomer Turbulence. It never quite got itself to any effect on Turbulence as Turbulence flipped it over so it couldn't run well inverted and was flipped against the wall stacked where it couldn't get down and finished 2nd in the whole tournament.
2006 UK Winter Tour
Storm2 in 2006
Storm2 took part in the 3rd Winter Tour hosted by Roaming Robots in 2006. It lost to Knightmare at Portsmouth but won its other qualifier fight at Birmingham which enabled it to qualify for the finals at Folkestone.
In round 1 of the finals, Storm2 defeated Tiberius 4 before meeting Behemoth in the quarter-finals where it got beaten. In the loser's melee, it teamed up on Turbulence with Ripper to get it down the pit and when it was all between Ripper and Storm2 to fight, Storm2 got shoved down the pit too by Ripper but managed to get out and move Ripper in there. After meeting Behemoth in the quarter-finals, it met again with it and got beaten again in the semi-finals. After losing the semi-finals, Storm2 fought for 3rd place in the play-off against Merlin. The fight was close with Storm2 managing to ram Merlin all around the arena and get flipped as well, but lost the judges decision and finished 4th. This was the last time Storm2 fought in the Winter Tour.
RoboGames 2008
Storm2's first match was against Eugene. This match started with Storm2 speeding across the box, attempting to slam into Eugene. However they missed, and this allowed Eugene to get up to full speed. Storm2 then got around to the rear of Eugene, and got underneath. This caused Eugenes spinning axe to make contact with the floor, disabling it. Storm2 followed this up by slamming Eugene against the wall. At this point the two bots started jockeying for position before Storm2 managed to get underneath Eugene again, twice. On the second time Storm II slammed Eugene into the wall Eugene recovered. However Storm2 delivered another slam, this time on the front of Eugene disabling it Eugene was counted out giving Storm2 the win by KO.
Storm2's next match was against Sewer Snake. These two had fought each other before in the 2006 UK Championships. The match started off well for Storm2 with Storm2 slamming into Sewer Snake popping them a few feet off the ground, then getting underneath Sewer Snake and taking them to the wall. Sewer Snake then got underneath Storm2 and returned the favor, however when they tried to flip them, Storm2 managed to get away and slam Sewer Snake into the wall again. Sewer Snake then got underneath Storm2 and slammed them into the wall again. Storm2 then started driving around taking strategic pot shots at Sewer Snake, Sewer Snake then got underneath Storm2 and flipped them upside down. Storm2 then used its lifting arm to self right, and delivered Sewer Snake to the wall. Sewer Snake then attempted to slam Storm2 into the wall but missed and wound up driving itself into the wall instead. By this point however Storm2 was having drive issues, and this allowed Sewer Snake to get underneath them from the side, and slam and flip them into the side wall. Storm2 then tried and failed to right itself. This allowed Sewer Snake to come over and slam Storm II into the wall twice. Again Storm II tried and failed to right itself, and again Sewer Snake slammed Storm II against the wall. After this Storm II finally managed to right itself, however Sewer Snake then repeatedly slammed Storm II against the arena wall as the seconds ticked down. The resulting judges decision went in Sewer Snakes favor meaning Storm II was in the losers bracket, unfortunately the match with Sewer Snake had took its toll on Storm II and they were unable to repair their broken drive sprocket and had to pull out, eliminating them from the competition.
Robot Wars 2016
Storm2 with its team, equipped with the flyweheel
Storm2's participation in the 2016 series was first confirmed through a teaser trailer released on June 25th, 2016. In it, Team Storm admire their machine to the theme of Joe Cocker's You Are so Beautiful, displaying the robot's new spinning disc, before playing clips of the robot in the arena.
In its first round battle, Storm2 was drawn against veterans Terror Turtle and Sabretooth, and newcomer Eruption. Storm2 was equipped with its front-hinged flipping arm, to allow it to self-right in the event of being flipped by Eruption. This first battle was relatively quiet for Storm2. It immediately targeted Terror Turtle and pushed it around the arena into various CPZ's with relative ease. Storm 2 then shoved the turtle-based robot into the side wall whilst Eruption flipped Sabretooth over. Off-screen, Storm2 was flipped by Eruption, but the two teamed up to pin Terror Turtle in the corner of the arena, and Terror Turtle was pushed in front of the lowered section of the arena wall, where Eruption flipped it out, sending Storm2 and Eruption through to the next round.
In the second round, Storm2 first met Eruption in a head-to-head scenario. It quickly got underneath Eruption and pushed it, although Storm2 was caught by Sir Killalot momentarily, and held over the flame pit. Quickly recovering, Storm2's ground clearance was too low for Eruption to breach, and it easily pushed Eruption around the arena, and over the floor flipper, which tossed Storm2's opponent through the air. Storm2 pushed Eruption towards Sir Killalot, and held it in place, but eventually suffered a late flip. Storm2 held Eruption against the arena wall, still winning the battle of ground clearances, but in the final twenty seconds of the fight, condensed on the TV edit, Storm2 became immobile near the pit release, and was flipped twice by Eruption. he resulting Judges' decision was a split decision in favour of Storm2, awarding it two points.
Storm2 fought its next full-pressure flipper in its next battle, Apollo. Storm2 maintained its front-hinged flipping arm for the third battle in a row, for self-righting purposes. Storm2's low ground clearance once again proved important, stopping Apollo from getting underneath, although when Apollo found an opportunity, Storm2 was flipped by Apollo, and pushed onto the floor flipper, launching it further. Storm2 could not self-right until Apollo eventually left it alone, but after doing so, Storm2 became stuck on the raised pit due to its extremely low ground clearance, exposing it to another flip from Apollo. At this stage, Apollo lost a drive chain, so Storm2 opened the pit, although it held back while Apollo flipped Dead Metal. Taking another flip, Storm2 self-righted and pushed Apollo into Matilda's CPZ, but this just gave Apollo another chance to flip a House Robot. However, at this point Apollo lost drive on one side, giving Storm2 the chance to spend a large portion of the fight pushing Apollo around, mostly cut from television. Storm2 almost managed to push Apollo into the pit, but narrowly missed doing so. Despite Apollo's lack of mobility, a unanimous Judges' decision controversially went against Storm2.
In order to qualify for the Heat Final, Storm 2 needed to defeat PP3D, built by Gary Cairns, driver of the robot that defeated Storm 2 in the Seventh Wars Grand Final. Storm 2 finally changed its weapon to the 4-bar lifter, intending to overturn PP3D so that Storm 2 would be lower down than the height of PP3D's disc. When the battle started, Storm2 charged straight for PP3D, buffeting it into the air thrice, gradually bringing it towards Shunt, which landed an axe blow. However, PP3D also hit Storm2 in the process, bending a titanium side panel away from the main body. Both robots continued to clash with each other, damaging both machines, although one particularly strong attack knocked Storm2 onto the arena spikes, which held it in place. However, an even contest had come to a sudden halt, as PP3D lost mobility on one of its wheels, directly on top of the pit. Storm2 pressed the pit release button, and PP3D descended, awarding Storm2 the necessary three points to put it in the Heat Final, on a total of five points, equal to Apollo but in second place due to its loss to the latter.
Storm2 and Apollo faced off for a second time in the Heat Final. Once again, it was equipped with its front-hinged arm, though it did not operate during the fight. Starting tentatively, Storm2 managed to slip under Apollo and push it towards Shunt, though as before, this provided Team MAD yet another chance to flip a House Robot. Storm2 opened the pit, and pushed Apollo towards it, but was flipped over. Fleeing, Storm2 was launched far across the arena, into the wall, although this righted Storm2. Matilda nudged Storm2 from behind, so it moved to the centre of the arena. At this stage, Apollo flipped Storm2 against an arena trench, and a second flip threw Storm2 out of the arena.
Although Storm 2 was defeated at this stage, it remained in contention for a wildcard, alongside Behemoth, Thor, Dantomkia & Gabriel. However, Thor was chosen, and Storm 2 was fully eliminated from the competition.