Battlebots - General Discussion

[Gothish520]

On 5/4/2021 at 12:55 PM, CoderLady said:

 

Son of Whyachi really, really needs a self-righter. Maybe when it got its reputation as fearsome it was the baddest thing spinning, but there are smarter drivers and better bots out there now. IIRC one of the other last times it got beaten was by a bot flipping it.

SawBlaze absolutely destroying Son of Whyachi two seasons ago is one of my favorite battles ever. No flipping, just complete and total domination and destruction:

https://youtu.be/uiMEr0_TuNQ

 

[Quilt Fairy]

5 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

SawBlaze absolutely destroying Son of Whyachi two seasons ago is one of my favorite battles ever. No flipping, just complete and total domination and destruction:

https://youtu.be/uiMEr0_TuNQ

 

Why don't I remember this one?  It was absolutely awesome!  Thanks for the link. 

[Ligeia]

Discovered this show recently and I'm desperately hooked ! I need a daytime version of this show to get my fix lol 😆 Can't wait for the new season to start, right when I'm finished watching previous ones. Is there any way to watch the old 2000's show btw ? I guess there isn't but just in case...

[Quilt Fairy]

10 hours ago, Ligeia said:

Is there any way to watch the old 2000's show btw ?

The shows from 20 years ago I have no idea, but for the reboot of the series (the last 5 years or so), I have 2 suggestions.  First, youtube.  You won't find entire seasons, but you can find stuff like this: Battlebots Best Fights of 2017.  Second, since it's now a Discovery show, I would check out Discovery+.  I don't have it, but it's probably your best chance for full episodes from older seasons.  

Good luck. 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Quilt Fairy

[proserpina65]

On 5/5/2021 at 2:46 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

I think that's true for all of these "legends".  

Yeah, Tombstone was the only one which held up, and it got there by sheer power.  The matches it lost in the regular Battlebots were all with bots which used its power against it.

[Ligeia]

On 10/4/2021 at 1:06 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

The shows from 20 years ago I have no idea, but for the reboot of the series (the last 5 years or so), I have 2 suggestions.  First, youtube.  You won't find entire seasons, but you can find stuff like this: Battlebots Best Fights of 2017.  Second, since it's now a Discovery show, I would check out Discovery+.  I don't have it, but it's probably your best chance for full episodes from older seasons.  

Good luck. 

I'm in France so I don't have access to Discovery+ I believe, but I was able to find seasons 3-4-5 + Bounty Hunter on torrents. I saw seasons 1-2 on Netflix. I just finished the whole run and I'm rewatching season 1, since I know all of the teams better now 😄

[Quilt Fairy]

11 hours ago, Ligeia said:

I saw seasons 1-2 on Netflix.

I did not know any seasons were on Netflix.  I'll have to check that out. 

[Vermicious Knid]

New season has already been filmed. I had wondered why there was a big tent with the Battlebots logo just off the Strip, until I saw a local news report about it. Also, there is now a Battlebots slot machine.

[Ligeia]

According to reddit the new season is set to air around Thanksgiving.

9 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

I did not know any seasons were on Netflix.  I'll have to check that out. 

Maybe it's not on Netflix US, I don't know.

[enoughcats]

On 10/10/2021 at 4:57 AM, Ligeia said:

According to reddit the new season is set to air around Thanksgiving.

Which US channel?

[grommit2]

6 hours ago, enoughcats said:

Which US channel?

Enoughcats has to be one of the best pseudonyms of all time!

[Rickster]

6 hours ago, enoughcats said:

Which US channel?

Previous seasons have been on Discovery. Of course, they could put it on streaming Discovery+, or start it there before putting it on broadcast.

[Ligeia]

On 10/11/2021 at 6:10 PM, enoughcats said:

Which US channel?

Hey there ! I saw you on another TV show thread 😄

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 10/11/2021 at 5:44 PM, Rickster said:

Previous seasons have been on Discovery. Of course, they could put it on streaming Discovery+, or start it there before putting it on broadcast.

And I think it was the Science Channel that had reruns later in the week.

[CoderLady]

BattleBots used to belong to Comedy Central in the early 2000s, then ABC in 2015-16, then Discovery from 2018 on. I couldn't find any CC episodes but there is a "Battlebots (ABC)" channel with a nice playlist from the ABC years on YouTube. Check it out if you need a bot fix!

Edited October 14, 2021 by CoderLady

[Ligeia]

I just finished browsing through all the forum to read your impressions on the previous seasons. Here's my two cents on some topics :

- I usually hate filler but Battlebots filler is awesome ! I love Chris & Kenny, they're the best commentators I've ever seen. They have a great chemistry together and their banter is a pleasure to watch. One thing I also can't be grateful enough for is that filler is focused on bot building & repairs exclusively... No lousy sob stories or toxic personal drama which is absolutely great !

- We love Tombstone at home ! With Tombstone we're sure to be entertained. And we love Ray Billings as well, his cocky persona is fun and it's obvious it's just for show and he's actually a nice guy ! And he does have reason to be cocky, Tombstone DESTROYS ! I've seen some smug comments about its simple design, but I don't see how that could be hold against him, I think the simpler the better in this competition, look at Chomp and that other fancy bot controlled by the guy's movements (forgot the name)... Well in recent seasons Tombstone seemed to be on a downward spiral, I wonder how it will fare in the new season.

- I also love to hate Witch Doctor. I don't know, I just can't take them seriously with those silly costumes. I also think they're overhyped big time, they usually underperform except in season 4 where they actually did well. In season 3 they did so poorly they were very obviously given a pity win by being assigned a rigged match against some never-heard-before bot that self-destroyed even before WD could touch it !

- Chomp is such a joke ! Way too overhyped as well. I don't like the builder because she gives the typical "I wanna be the first woman to win" speech blah blah blah, I'm sorry but I don't care what's between your legs, just prove yourself by designing a viable bot. Champ tries to be fancy but is just overdesigned and ineffective. And hammer bots in general are lame, they usually barely do any damage.

- I don't like Rotator because he tends to whine when he loses to a judges decision. I'm sorry but that Beta win was completely fair, I was actually surprised it was a split decision. That's not the only loss the Rotator guy whined about. I was so rooting for Tombstone in the Tombstone vs Rotator fight.

- I also don't like Kraken. I don't mind the guy, he seems nice, but Kraken's fights are always so boring ! It chews on the other bot, takes it for a ride that seems to go on forever, then releases it... Rinse and repeat... Not fun.

 

[Ligeia]

You can take a look at the new season teams and bots here : https://battlebots.com/2021-season-robots/

[Vermicious Knid]

Some of those are new, yes? I'm happy to see SMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! is back, but no Beta. Not thrilled to see kids again. Just do Battlebots Junior if you really want to promote robotics for kids.

[enoughcats]

9 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Just do Battlebots Junior if you really want to promote robotics for kids.

Yuppers.

So glad to see Minotaur back, but didn't recognize my favorites in that crew. 
Rusty looks to have below lower and meaner and that's good.

No Chomp?  I really wanted that crew to make the first almost totally automated bot. 

What I didn't expect: so many points of weakness: I call them exposed wheels. Even Tombstone has the same two totally exposed wheels. 

The one with tractor treads also is depending on something invisible to protect them.  One break in either tread and that bot will go in circles. Likewise the bots that have only two wheels. With four, there're better odds to keep moving. 

 

[Ligeia]

Seems like team Copperhead changed too. I liked the previous captain, he was cute.

I hope Ghost Raptor has been dramatically enhanced, because so far this bot has generally been a huge let down.

I'm excited for Pardon My French because, well, I'm French ! 😁

My favourites for this year : Ribbot, Sawblaze, Tombstone, Icewave, Uppercut, Whiplash, Yeti

[Ligeia]

Seems like the new season premiere is delayed to early January. Bummer.

[Ligeia]

January 6 confirmed for new season

https://youtu.be/RKEFwLJOGOI

Edited December 14, 2021 by Ligeia

[Vermicious Knid]

Now showing up in my DVR list. But the entire season was available on Discovery+ last year at once for binging.

[Quilt Fairy]

19 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Now showing up in my DVR list.

Mine, too.  And the listing has the episode as 3 hours long.

[enoughcats]

Is there an alternative source to Discovery +?

[Quilt Fairy]

5 hours ago, enoughcats said:

Is there an alternative source to Discovery +?

Are you talking about watching the older seasons?  Because this new season is airing on regular Discovery, then streaming on Discovery +.

[libgirl2]

It was so fun to have the show back last night! 

[enoughcats]

Three hours, though, was almost an overload. 

Does anyone know what substances caught fire, and stayed burning?  And how hot the flames were?  The intentional burns happening at the same time as their opponents unintentional burns made it hard to see what was happening. 

Spoiler

Are we not going to see Minotaur or Tombstone again?  I was further confused that I thought Minotaur was from Brazil, but the desriptions were as if it were Greek.  I hated to see old friends destroyed early.

I wish they'd put the third hour on a different night, because I found it confusing that some of those bots had fought two hours earlier. 

[libgirl2]

On 12/29/2021 at 8:54 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

Mine, too.  And the listing has the episode as 3 hours long.

ours too and that was wrong. 

5 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

Three hours, though, was almost an overload. 

Does anyone know what substances caught fire, and stayed burning?  And how hot the flames were?  The intentional burns happening at the same time as their opponents unintentional burns made it hard to see what was happening. 

  Hide contents

Are we not going to see Minotaur or Tombstone again?  I was further confused that I thought Minotaur was from Brazil, but the desriptions were as if it were Greek.  I hated to see old friends destroyed early.

I wish they'd put the third hour on a different night, because I found it confusing that some of those bots had fought two hours earlier. 

We didn't have a third hour or did we turn it off too soon? 

[enoughcats]

57 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

We didn't have a third hour or did we turn it off too soon? 

They called it Battlebots: Bounty Hunter.

The bots from previous seasons (and maybe some from this season) are competing in the usual way, Their objective is to go against the more original Bronco for a cash prize of twenty thousand dollars (I might have the number wrong,)  There may be additional competitions against other pr4eviously awesome bots.  I was a bit confused when the two hour show ended and suddenly we were in a competition where I recognized the bots but their staff were older (and Chomp's was pregnant) (The walking chomp from ?two seasons ago as chomp didn't compete last year, IIRC.  

[libgirl2]

42 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

They called it Battlebots: Bounty Hunter.

The bots from previous seasons (and maybe some from this season) are competing in the usual way, Their objective is to go against the more original Bronco for a cash prize of twenty thousand dollars (I might have the number wrong,)  There may be additional competitions against other pr4eviously awesome bots.  I was a bit confused when the two hour show ended and suddenly we were in a competition where I recognized the bots but their staff were older (and Chomp's was pregnant) (The walking chomp from ?two seasons ago as chomp didn't compete last year, IIRC.  

thank you! I watched that in the past and didn't realize they were doing it again. Hopefully we can catch it. 

[libgirl2]

59 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

They called it Battlebots: Bounty Hunter.

The bots from previous seasons (and maybe some from this season) are competing in the usual way, Their objective is to go against the more original Bronco for a cash prize of twenty thousand dollars (I might have the number wrong,)  There may be additional competitions against other pr4eviously awesome bots.  I was a bit confused when the two hour show ended and suddenly we were in a competition where I recognized the bots but their staff were older (and Chomp's was pregnant) (The walking chomp from ?two seasons ago as chomp didn't compete last year, IIRC.  

My husband watched it and it was a repeat of last year's which we watched. 

[CoderLady]

53 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

My husband watched it and it was a repeat of last year's which we watched. 

It looks like they're using the 12 episodes (6 2-episode tournaments) of Battlebots: Bounty Hunters as a third hour to make Thursday nights total Battlebots nights. Not a bad idea.

[Rickster]

3 hours ago, enoughcats said:

Three hours, though, was almost an overload. 

Does anyone know what substances caught fire, and stayed burning?  And how hot the flames were?  The intentional burns happening at the same time as their opponents unintentional burns made it hard to see what was happening. 

  Reveal spoiler

Are we not going to see Minotaur or Tombstone again?  I was further confused that I thought Minotaur was from Brazil, but the desriptions were as if it were Greek.  I hated to see old friends destroyed early.

I wish they'd put the third hour on a different night, because I found it confusing that some of those bots had fought two hours earlier. 

A couple of times they mentioned it was the batteries that were burning.

We didn't watch the third hour yet. Is this a new Bounty Hunters, or did they just tack on a rerun from last season?

[CoderLady]

11 minutes ago, Rickster said:

Is this a new Bounty Hunters, or did they just tack on a rerun from last season?

Reruns.

[proserpina65]

In your face, obnoxious Ewert spawn!

[Omeletsmom]

On 1/7/2022 at 9:16 AM, enoughcats said:

Three hours, though, was almost an overload. 

Does anyone know what substances caught fire, and stayed burning?  And how hot the flames were?  The intentional burns happening at the same time as their opponents unintentional burns made it hard to see what was happening. 

  Hide contents

Are we not going to see Minotaur or Tombstone again?  I was further confused that I thought Minotaur was from Brazil, but the desriptions were as if it were Greek.  I hated to see old friends destroyed early.

I wish they'd put the third hour on a different night, because I found it confusing that some of those bots had fought two hours earlier. 

The Minotaur team is from Brazil; Faruq was referring to the beast from Greek Mythology that the bot was named after.

I'm sure both Minotaur and Tombstone will fight at least their three scheduled matches.  Everyone brings enough parts to rebuild if they have to.  I expect both of them will make it in to the main tournament.

[Vermicious Knid]

They were all exciting fights, which isn't always the case for a whole episode. Lots of things catching on fire. I wish they'd kept the audience to only the teams on their own platforms again. Seeing that crowd packed in just made me cringe. But Clark County had lifted all restrictions at the time it was filmed, masking indoors was (and is) a state mandate.

Was rather amused the opening featured a close up of Ceasar's Palace as if they were filming there and not in a tent in a parking lot.

[QuantumMechanic]

The part that cracked me up was Shrederator's driver's self-awareness.  "If we lose we lose.  But if we win people will be saying 'You lost to Captain Shrederator?!?'".  So he knows what people (correctly!) think of the bot.

Though what an upset!  But I wonder if there was something wrong with Tombstone right from the start.  There seemed to be sparks and stuff from the rear of Tombstone almost from the starting gun.

Edited January 11, 2022 by QuantumMechanic

[Ligeia]

A bit late to the party, but what a pleasure to see the show back ! I'm so glad to see Chris & Kenny again. I'm not a fan of the changes they made to the battlebox, this new platform seems to take a lot of space for little use. And it's quite a disadvantage to full body spinners.

SawBlaze vs. Minotaur : What a way to start the season ! I wasn't expecting Minotaur to get dominated that hard. Jamison Go seems to be in great shape !

Uppercut vs. Gigabyte : Well no surprise there, Gigabyte got crushed, Uppercut is one of my favourites this season.

Switchback vs. Gruff : I was expecting Switchback to win given all the screentime the team got, but they didn't. They'll probably get to shine later.

Captain Shrederator vs. Tombstone : Well it's an upset but at the same time I'm not very surprised. Tombstone hasn't been the menace it used to be since season 5. I was wondering if its downfall spiral would continue, seems like I got my answer. A bit sad coz I love Tombstone ! But I'm also glad Shredder could finally win a match.

Free Shipping vs. Blacksmith : The new Blacksmith doesn't seem to suck as hard as I was expecting it to. I didn't care much for that match to be honest.

Pain Train vs. Deep Six : Pain Train has always sucked ass and it seems it's not gonna change anytime soon.

Hydra vs. End Game : it was a bit of a disappointing match, but I don't know why I kinda knew it would end like this. Anyway I didn't have a favourite for it so any outcome would have suited me fine.

Jackpot vs. Deadlift : I thought Jackpot was gonna lose at first, but they achieved a nice reversal.

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Ligeia

[enoughcats]

Is the slot of "pretty woman with a brain asking good questions" gone for good?

Will anybody use the raised platform after the ?? single use the first episode.?

[libgirl2]

13 hours ago, enoughcats said:

Is the slot of "pretty woman with a brain asking good questions" gone for good?

Will anybody use the raised platform after the ?? single use the first episode.?

They did last night. 

[enoughcats]

3 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

They did last night. 

But did it matter? The bot marooned up there had been upended a number of times down on the flat. It was a goner for a least a minute before the other bot got it up there. 

I do see that the corners increase by 50% where a bot can be trapped by a stronger bot.  

Something else re the judges:

They are covid-distance apart, but that also means they have less opportunity to influence each other.

This year the phrase "primary weapon" hasn't been used. So damage isn't limited to the mayhem done by one part of the bot.  That would have changed outcomes in some previous years where the primary was out but the body of the bot was still fighting. 

[libgirl2]

5 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

But did it matter? The bot marooned up there had been upended a number of times down on the flat. It was a goner for a least a minute before the other bot got it up there. 

 

No, in the long run it didn't matter. The bot would have lost anyway, but at least it was used. I don't really care that much for it. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by libgirl2

[grommit2]

Ooh...smashing, bashing.  
Pieces flying all over.
Fire!
More smashing and bashing.
Ahh...this is REALLY cool!

[Vermicious Knid]

Rusty's cute and a fan favorite, but it gets destroyed pretty much every time. If they had a halftime show Rusty would be perfect but as an actual competitor, no. Please put it out of our misery.

Title card battle was rather anti-climactic.

[Ligeia]

I don't care for the new platform either. I bet it's gonna get removed next season. It's just a waste of space. I also don't like how they put extra glass on the sides so a bot can't be flipped behind the barrier. That was one of the funniest things to watch.

Yeti vs. Mad Catter : I'm so disappointed for Yeti ! I always root for it. I have nothing agaist Mad Catter but the guy's "über-extra" role is getting old.

Defender vs. Ribbot : That was disappointing for Defender, I was curious to see how the new Vasquez bot would fare... That's not very promising. On the other hand I'm super glad Ribbot got such a win coz I love it. Is Jason Vasquez gonna join back Whiplash next season ?

HiJinx vs. Mammoth : HiJinx AKA "Jem & The Holograms" is just too weak, its weapon never does any damage at all. It's very pretty with the shiny colors, but not viable as a competitor. I'm quite surprised by the drastic change in Mammoth's desing, and it seemed the weapon was kinda flexible ? How do they expect to do damage with that ? I don't get it. They were lucky HiJinx was so weak. The HiJinx pink-haired lady was pissed.

Kraken vs. Rotator : I don't like either of these bots. Kraken is very boring and is usually all about "grab bot, go for a walk for 30 seconds", rinse and repeat. On the other hand I don't like Rotator because Victor Soto is a sore loser. But seeing Rotator destroy Kraken like that was actually a delight ! lol especially when it took away the teeth, I was like FINALLY !

Rusty vs. Blip : That was quite an impressive start for Blip ! I'm curious how it will fare compared to Hydra. I was expecting Rusty to be a bit tiny more refined since I read the guy got sponsors since last season.

Tantrum vs. Malice : Tantrum kinda sucked in previous years but it seems they did some good work on that weapon ! They completely destroyed Malice.

Bloodsport vs. Whiplash : I think Bloodsport is a bit overrated, it has never been such a menace, its weapon can't compete with the likes of Tombstone or Uppercut. That was still a nice match with some great driving by Matt Vazquez as usual.

YouTube Bonus Battle : SubZero vs. Shatter! : Haven't seen it coz it's not online yet.

[proserpina65]

On 1/14/2022 at 12:38 PM, grommit2 said:

Ooh...smashing, bashing.  
Pieces flying all over.
Fire!
More smashing and bashing.
Ahh...this is REALLY cool!

It's violence the entire family can enjoy! lol

[libgirl2]

Interesting night, a few surprises too. 

[enoughcats]

Who was it that commented about the fighting floor that there were" more corners to get trapped in"?  

Was that why the raised platform was added? Or an unintended consequence?