- "Beta is this vicious electric hammer-- being hit by Beta's hammer is something like being hit by a washing machine that's been dropped off someone's roof!"
- — John Reid
Basher, otherwise known as Beta, was a heavyweight robot built by Team Robo Challenge and Team Hurtz. It exclusively took part in the unaired Series 8 pilot episode. Team Hurtz competed in the main competition with Terrorhurtz, while Robo Challenge were producers for the show.
Design
Basher with John Reid and Grant Cooper
Basher was armed with an 11kg rounded hammer, powered electrically. The hammer was extremely effective at causing trauma damage to robots, while also allowing the robot to self-right. It could even allow the robot to throw itself over or somersault while right-side up. Basher's front scoop was made of HARDOX, and ran extremely close to the ground, however it could be raised up and down before a match to help with driving and it featured its own shock absorbers. Basher's main weakness was its exposed hammer mechanism.
Robot History
Series 8
Although Basher did not participate in the main series of Robot Wars in Series 8, Team Hurtz were invited to attend filming of the pilot episode on March 1st, giving them the opportunity to have a head-to-head battle in front of a live audience as part of a camera test.
Basher first entered a four-way melee against Ka-Pow!, Tanto, and Turbulence. Basher was aggressive in its performance, where at the same time, Tanto became immobilised, knocking out its safety link by driving over Ka-Pow! Basher capitalised, and pitted the defeated Tanto, but in the process, overbalanced, and fell into the pit itself, eliminating both robots from the competition.
Results
| BASHER - RESULTS | ||
| Series 8 | ||
| Series 8 - Pilot Episode Round 1 | ||
| Pilot Episode, Group Battle | vs. Ka-Pow!, Tanto, Turbulence | Eliminated |
Series Record
| Main Series | Basher Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Entered with Killerhurtz |
| The Third Wars | Entered with Killerhurtz |
| The Fourth Wars | Entered with Killerhurtz |
| The Fifth Wars | Entered with Terrorhurtz |
| The Sixth Wars | Entered with Terrorhurtz |
| The Seventh Wars | Entered with Terrorhurtz |
| Series 8 | Pilot, Round 1 Entered with Terrorhurtz |
| Series 9 | Entered with Terrorhurtz |
| Series 10 | Entered with Terrorhurtz |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Did not enter |
| Series 2 | Entered with Terrorhurtz |
NOTE: John Reid also competed in Battle of the Stars as the mentor of Dee
Outside Robot Wars
Beta at BattleBots Season 5.0
Beta with its team at BattleBots Season 5.0
Due to exclusivity clauses, Basher competes outside of Robot Wars under the name of Beta. Beta was originally built to compete in Season 5.0. of BattleBots, as the successor to their previous success, Killerhurtz. John Reid was joined by George Francis in this season. Beta's scheduled fight had it take on Bender, but the magnets within Beta's hammer were continually pulling up the flooring of the BattleBox, and thus, Beta were forced to withdraw.
Beta with John Reid and Dave Moulds at BattleBots 2015
In 2015, Beta returned to BattleBots once more, in the new rebooted series, with John Reid and Dave Moulds forming the team. Grant Cooper was supposed to be part of the team, having been the original team captain for the robot who started its rebuild, but could not compete due to the delay of his son's birth. Beta was drawn up against the eventual runner-up, Tombstone, which had even placed a "Beta Blocker" atop the robot for extra defense against Beta's hammer. Unfortunately, over 25kg of Beta's components were lost during the flight between the UK and USA, and so, Beta was forced to withdraw for a second series in a row, where it was replaced by reserve robot, Counter Revolution. However, Beta's profile was still released on the BattleBots website.
Beta at a Robots Live! event
Beta returned to finally compete in the 2016 season of BattleBots. It did so under the entry of Grant Cooper and John Reid, while 2015 team member Dave Moulds entered with Cobalt. In Beta's first battle, it won a close Judges' decision over Lucky, and in the second round it became the second British robot in a row to defeat Overhaul. In the Round of 16, Beta faced and defeated Nightmare (a robot Killerhurtz defeated 17 years prior) via KO with four seconds left on the clock to reach the Quarter Finals, where it lost a close Judges' decision to the eventual champion Tombstone, the robot it was meant to fight in the previous series, after its hammer was dislodged. Beta was also released as a remote controlled model with an active hammer, under the BattleBots brand.
In the United Kingdom, Basher competed at a Robots Live event, which was the robot's combat debut. It was permitted to use the Beta name.
Trivia
- In 2017, Basher (under its BattleBots name, Beta) received an Honorable Mention in the The Combat Robot Hall of Fame, owing to its popularity, powerful hammer and Team Hurtz's attempts to enter it into earlier series of BattleBots.[1]
References
External Links
- Beta's profile on the BattleBots website (Season 1)
- Beta's profile on the BattleBots website (Season 2)
- Beta on BattleBots wiki
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