Ansgar was the name given to a series of German robots that competed in German Robot Wars and various competitions on UK Robot Wars. "Ansgar" is the German equivalent of the English name Oscar. In Germanic, its literal meaning is "god-spear."
Versions of Ansgar
Ansgar
Ansgar in the World Championship with its movable lance fully extended
The original Ansgar was created by Sascha Thomsen and his father Joachim after seeing a dubbed promotion episode of Robot Wars. Constructed from aluminium road signs, the result was a vaguely dome shaped robot designed to look like a UFO with interchangeable flipper, spear and lever weapons that could be fired 300 times per minute. The unique aspect of the robot was to "sit down" so it could not be pushed around by other robots, but it was very light at only 74 kilograms. However, despite this weight problem, it won the German melee.
- "We focused on a good design and tried to built weapons which work well - we failed in that point."
- — Sascha Thomsen
Ansgar's Revenge
Ansgar’s Revenge in its German Robot Wars heat
The team's second design was Ansgar's Revenge, a walking robot, more specifically a shufflebot with 16 legs. It had a shovel with lifting spears to attack from the front and rear. It had hard, powerful motors to produce very quick speeds. Unlike the American shufflebot Drillzilla, Ansgar's Revenge was not affected by the rule change in the US stating that shuffling mechanisms would only allow one-and-a-half times the extra weight, as this rule hadn't yet been established in Europe. As a result, Ansgar's Revenge weighed 200kg.
Ansgar 3
Ansgar 3 in the Third World Championship
Ansgar 3 was also a shufflebot, utilising the weight advantage offered to walkers by weighing 200kg, powered by a 12 horsepower electric motor. Ansgar 3's weapon was an undercutting bar spinner, like that of Fluffy, but the spinner was comparatively light at 10kg. By this time, however, the shufflebot rule-change had been established in the UK, but Ansgar 3 was allowed to compete regardless, and proved to be one of the fastest shufflebots in Robot Wars. Ansgar 3 boasted a solid defence, but could not self-right.
Robot History
Extreme Series 1
Ansgar fires its weapon repeatedly
Team Thomsen's first UK appearance was in the German Melee against Golem, Nasty Warrior and Flensburger Power with the first incarnation of Ansgar. This battle was also broadcast a year later on German Robot Wars. Ansgar was equipped with its flipper weapon in this match, but couldn't get into position to flip any robots, so it spent most of the match swatting the air with its flipper. However, Golem broke down, Flensburger Power made little impact, and Nasty Warrior began smoking, allowing Ansgar to win by judges' decision.
- "After we arrived for the Second World Championship we already knew that our chances are quite low to win anything with our robot in that year, but it was a great experience."
- — Sascha Thomsen
Ansgar is immobilised by Manta
For winning the German Melee, Ansgar represented Germany in the Second World Championship. This competition was also broadcast during Extreme Warriors: Season 1 and Ansgar's opening battle was broadcast during German Robot Wars. Ansgar was equipped with its stabbing spike for this match against the UK champion Chaos 2, US competitor Manta and Mastiff of Italy, but it proved no help, as in the battle, Ansgar was immediately targeted by Manta, who was too low for the spike to hit. Manta pushed Ansgar around while using its blade to tear up the German entry. Ansgar stopped moving when it was pushed onto the flame pit, and was counted out, eliminating it from the competition.
German Series
The Ansgar team competed in the first and only German Series of Robot Wars, although this was filmed and broadcast after their first UK appearance. Ansgar's Revenge didn't show much controlled movement in its melee, colliding with the arena wall on several occasions and only rarely coming into contact with an opponent. Golem rammed into Ansgar's Revenge on a couple of occasions, but the battle was mostly between Golem and Junkyard Queen, and for this reason the judges chose to eliminate Ansgar's Revenge.
- "I think we can beat Das Gepäck"
- — Quiet confidence from the team
Dead Metal slices into Ansgar's Revenge
Ansgar's Revenge is slammed into an angle grinder
Ansgar's Revenge was drawn against Das Gepäck, a Dutch Competitor brought in to make up for the lack of German robots, in Round 1 of the UK vs Germany special. This competition was also broadcast during Robot Wars: The Sixth Wars. It was immediately rammed by Das Gepäck, before taking the full force of another attack from behind this time and was slammed into Dead Metal.
Sir Killalot holds Ansgar's Revenge
He repeatedly sliced into its Probophobia-esque lifter, Ansgar taking multiple powerful rams from its opponent in the process. Sir Killalot then plucked it up by the lifter, paraded it around the arena and eventually dropped it in the centre of the war zone. Das Gepäck slammed into it again, pushing it into an angle grinder, then pounded it repeatedly into the side wall. It hobbled away, barely able to move. Sir Killalot pushed it away, sapping its last little drop of strength away. It went to a judges' decision, but the winner was clearly Das Gepäck.
- "Ansgar's Revenge absolutely battered"
- — Craig Charles
UK Series 7
The third robot in the Ansgar line of robots, Ansgar 3, made its first appearance in the German World Championship qualifier against I Bot One Beta and Reaper NP2 in hopes of representing its country in a World Championship for a second time.
Ansgar 3 immobilises Reaper NP2
Ansgar 3 came under immediate pressure from Reaper NP2 which drove at it, but a connection from Ansgar 3's spinning weapon saw Reaper NP2 go on the backfoot, as it darted away from Ansgar 3 and drove over the flame pit. Reaper NP2 continued to make its way around the arena before Ansgar 3 came across and made contact with another attack, this time, one that completely immobilised Reaper NP2. Afterwards, Ansgar 3 turned its attention to I Bot One Beta and crashed into the front of it before deciding to head towards the pit release button, which it activated.
Ansgar 3 nudges I Bot One Beta into the pit of oblivion
- "Ansgar's weaponry: watch out for that, in Robot Wars."
- — Jonathan Pearce as Ansgar 3 continues to cause damage to its fellow countrymen
Ansgar 3 then came in with another attack on Reaper NP2, which was being counted out by Refbot, before it immobilised I Bot One Beta with its next attack. With I Bot One Beta defenceless, Ansgar 3 bowled it towards the pit of oblivion before nudging it down. Reaper NP2 joined I Bot One Beta in the pit from a Shunt push, and Ansgar 3 had successfully qualified for The Third World Championship.
In the first round of the Third World Championship, Ansgar 3 faced two helpings of British opposition, as it was drawn up against Seventh Wars Grand Finalists Storm 2 and Tornado.
Ansgar 3 is toasted on the flame pit...
Tornado came in with an immediate drive on Ansgar 3, stopping Ansgar 3's weapon instantly - this triggered Ansgar 3 into making its way to the pit release and activating it. Storm 2 then rammed Ansgar 3 into a CPZ and against the arena wall, where it eventually edged its way out of trouble as Growler put it under pressure. Tornado and Storm 2 then planted Ansgar 3 on the flame pit, where its mobility ceased.
...before being pitted
- "And the German hopes of Ansgar 3 - up in smoke, I would've thought."
- — Jonathan Pearce as Ansgar 3 is torched by the flame pit
Ansgar 3 was then nudged out towards the centre of the arena, where Storm 2 - with a helping hand of Tornado pushing behind it - forced Ansgar 3 down into the pit. This brought an end to Ansgar 3's participation in the tournament, with Tornado joining it in crashing out of the competition as Storm 2 progressed via a judges' decision.
Results
| ANSGAR - RESULTS | ||
| UK Series | ||
| Extreme Series 1 | ||
| The Second World Championship Representing Germany, Eliminated in Heats | ||
| NOTE: This competition (not including the German Melee) was also broadcast during US Season 1, and Ansgar's opening battle (in addition to the German Melee) was broadcast during German Robot Wars | ||
| German Melee | vs. Flensburger Power, Nasty Warrior, Golem | Won |
| Heat | vs. Chaos 2 (UK), Manta (USA), Mastiff (ITA) | Eliminated |
| German Series | ||
| German Robot Wars | ||
| NOTE: See Extreme Series 1 Results | ||
| ANSGAR'S REVENGE - RESULTS | ||
| German Series | ||
| German Robot Wars | ||
| German Championship Heat, Eliminator | ||
| Heat A, Eliminator | vs. Golem, Junkyard Queen | Eliminated |
| UK vs Germany Special Representing Germany, Round 1 | ||
| NOTE: This competition was also broadcast during UK Series 6 | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Das Gepäck (GER) | Lost |
| UK Series | ||
| Series 6 | ||
| NOTE: See German Series Results | ||
| ANSGAR 3 - RESULTS | ||
| UK Series | ||
| Series 7 | ||
| The Third World Championship Representing Germany, Eliminated in Heats | ||
| Qualifier | vs. I Bot One Beta (GER), Reaper NP2 (GER) | Won |
| Heat | vs. Storm 2 (UK), Tornado (UK) | Eliminated |
Wins/Losses
- UK Wins: 2
- UK Losses: 3
- German Wins: 0
- German Losses: 1
Series Record
German Series
Ansgar 3 after Series 7
| German Series | Ansgar Series Record |
|---|---|
| German Robot Wars | Heat, Round 1 UK vs Germany Special, Round 1 |
UK Series
| Main Series | Ansgar Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Did not enter |
| The Third Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fourth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Fifth Wars | Did not enter |
| The Sixth Wars | UK vs Germany Special, Round 1 |
| The Seventh Wars | The Third World Championship, Round 1 |
| Series 8 | Did not enter |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Entered |
| Series 2 | Did not enter |
Outside Robot Wars
After its appearance on Robot Wars, Ansgar 3 was converted to run on wheels, and was repainted black. It competed at the first cross-channel Roaming Robots event, albeit with static spikes in place of its spinning bar.
Trivia
- Ansgar was the last walker to fight in a televised battle on Robot Wars, having competed in the Third World Championship, which was aired after the Series 7 Featherweight championship.
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