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Trouble 'n' Strife was the original machine from Team Forsey which competed exclusively in Series 5 of Robot Wars. In its only series appearance, Trouble 'n' Strife lost its first-round battle to the seeded Wild Thing following a very close Judges' decision, before being succeeded by Revenge of Trouble & Strife, and later M.R. Speed Squared.

Design[]

Trouble N Strife

Official photo of Trouble 'n' Strife

Trouble 'n' Strife was a tall, two-wheeled, box-wedge shaped robot designed to resemble an alligator, powered by four modified starter motors. Its weapons consisted of a CO2 powered flipper at the front and a two-toothed, 20kg, 1,000rpm spinning disc at the rear. The latter was positioned at the base of Trouble 'n' Strife's chassis, potentially making it a precursor to the modern 'undercutter' spinner seen in later series of Robot Wars. Both weapons proved very effective in Trouble 'n' Strife's solitary battle, allowing it to flip and cause substantial damage to the experienced Wild Thing. However, the robot suffered from a slow turning circle, while its shape and the design of its flipper left it with no self-righting capabilities.

Trouble 'n' Strife's biggest drawback was that it was rear-heavy, with much of the robot's weight (including the disc) being placed behind the front drive wheels. This prevented the wheels themselves from having any traction on the arena floor and may have contributed to its large turning circle.

"Trouble and strife was decent...(but) We decided to start again from scratch because the drive wheels had no traction as most of the weight was over the back..."
— Team Forsey Facebook page[1]

Etymology[]

The robot's name, Trouble 'n' Strife, is cockney slang for "wife." In 2021, Peter Forsey revealed the name was chosen simply because it sounded good, rather than being linked to the robot's design.

"Trouble n strife, well cockney rhyming slang for wife, but sounded a good name, that’s all!"
— Peter Forsey on the name[2]

The Team[]

Main article: Team Forsey
TASteam

Team Forsey in the post-battle interview

Trouble 'n' Strife was entered into Robot Wars by the Harborne-based Team Forsey, captained by Peter Forsey, a cardiologist by trade. Peter Forsey was the lead builder of the machine, and drove the robot in battle, also being responsible for its repairs. He was joined on the team by his young son Jake Forsey, and friend Mike Stokes. The team would later compete in Series 6-7 with Revenge of Trouble & Strife, and in the reboot with M.R. Speed Squared, during Series 8 and 9.

Qualification[]

TroubleandStrife pitsSeries5

Trouble 'n' Strife in the pits at Series 5

Trouble 'n' Strife attended the Manchester leg of the Series 5 qualifying tour. Its first opponent was Bee-Capitator. The match was very short, as both robots approached each other, and Trouble 'n' Strife defeated Bee-Capitator by getting underneath and flipping it over.

Trouble 'n' Strife's next opponent was Warrior's Revenge. As before, it won after Warrior's Revenge drove onto its flipper, allowing Trouble 'n' Strife to secure victory with a knockout flip as its opponent could not self-right. With two consecutive victories, Trouble 'n' Strife successfully qualified for the Fifth Wars.

Robot History[]

Series 5[]

As a series newcomer, Trouble 'n' Strife competed in Heat E, where it faced a tough draw against the ninth seed Wild Thing in the first round.

"I like the CO2 powered flipper combined with the 20kg 1000rpm disc and the four modified starter motors powering a solid machine. I don't like the sluggish turning circle."
— Jonathan Pearce
Wildthingtrouble

Trouble 'n' Strife flips Wild Thing

It slowly drove forwards as Wild Thing drove around and into its disc, causing Trouble 'n' Strife to spin away on contact. Trouble 'n' Strife's disc hit Wild Thing again a few more times, but was unable to aim its flipper in time before Wild Thing buffeted it away with its own disc. The two robots exchanged and withstood each other's blows with their discs, before Trouble 'n' Strife turned around and attempted to fire its flipper on Wild Thing. However, Wild Thing turned away just before it was able to flip it, and Trouble 'n' Strife was pushed back by the series veterans before both robots continued attacking with their discs. Eventually, Trouble 'n' Strife succeeded in flipping Wild Thing onto its left-hand wheel, but not completely over, and flipped it a second time before its disc clipped Wild Thing's wheel, buckling it and damaging its wheel hub. The limping Wild Thing proceeded to push Trouble 'n' Strife back before Trouble 'n' Strife flipped it again and hit it several more times with its disc; this time causing substantial damage to Wild Thing's wedge.

Trouble n Strife vs Wild Thing

Trouble 'n' Strife loses momentum

ShuntTNSMatilda

Matilda carves into Trouble 'n' Strife

In the process, Trouble 'n' Strife was pushed across the arena by Wild Thing, eventually into the wall and Matilda, whose flywheel caused severe damage to Trouble 'n' Strife's rear armour. Wild Thing then pushed it into Shunt's CPZ, with Shunt axing, dragging and spinning Trouble 'n' Strife into Matilda again just as 'cease' was called, resulting in more damage from the latter's flywheel. With both robots still mobile, the battle went to a close judges' decision, which in spite of the damage it caused, Trouble 'n' Strife lost due to Wild Thing being more aggressive throughout; a decision which Craig Charles immediately considered to be controversial. Trouble 'n' Strife was nevertheless eliminated from the Fifth Wars, and succeeded by Revenge of Trouble & Strife for the Sixth Wars.

Results[]

TROUBLE 'N' STRIFE - RESULTS
Series 5
The Fifth Wars - UK Championship
Heats, Round 1
Heat E, Eliminator vs. Wild Thing (9) Lost

Wins/Losses[]

  • Wins: 0
  • Losses: 1

Series Record[]

Trouble 'n' Strife

Trouble 'n' Strife in the arena

Main Series Trouble 'n' Strife 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 Heat, Round 1
The Sixth Wars Entered with Revenge of Trouble & Strife
The Seventh Wars Entered with Revenge of Trouble & Strife
Series 8 Entered with M.R. Speed Squared
Series 9 Entered with M.R. Speed Squared
Series 10 Not selected with M.R. Speed Squared
Robot Wars Extreme Appearances
Series 1 Did not enter
Series 2 Entered with Revenge of Trouble & Strife

Trivia[]

  • Trouble 'n' Strife was the only robot from Team Forsey not to lose a battle by being pitted.
  • It was also the only robot from Team Forsey not to be a full-body spinner of some sort, though it did feature a flywheel.
  • Trouble 'n' Strife was the only robot in Heat E of Series 5 not to appear in any other series.

References[]

  1. Private correspondence with User:Toon Ganondorf
  2. Private correspondence with User:Drop Zone mk2

External Links[]

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