Robotwars Series 4 Semi Final B Part 4

The fourth wars saw a new 3-way eliminator bout for round 1 and it was back to 6 contestants a heat. This series also saw the intorduction of the new house robot Refbot whose job it was to dispense justice and act as the only moral robot in the arena. The familiar faces of Craig Charles and Johnathan Pearce remain in the spotlight but Phillipa Forrester gives way for her replacement for the series, Julia Reed. The 8 robots in the second semi-final are Stinger, Mousetrap, Spawn Of Scutter, Panic Attack, Hypno-disc, Spinter, Wild Thing and X-Terminator.
LET THE FOURTH WARS BEGIN!
BBC 1998 All Rights Reserved

[@kartkidchun]

The Panic Attack team is one of my favourite teams ever. Such a pleasant bloke is Kim Davis!

[@Toffeehammer]

I was really glad for the Stinger guys having won this but personally I'd have given it to Panic Attack. Good fight though.

[@piffie4676]

How could people complain on Hypnodisc v Wild thing? Hypnodisc totally destroyed them while Wild thing managed to push them twice without any real succes...

[@r543Blitzsonic]

I would've given this one to Panic Attack as it had way more aggression, but it's forgiveable and both robots didn't do too much damage to the other, also Stinger was somewhat of a fan favorite.

[@seantrulock]

I thought that Panic Attack deserved to go through due to better control and and aggression although the battle was very close so putting Stinger through is forgivable. As for Wild Thing they were very unlucky. If it wasn't for the damaged wheel then I think they could've pipped it at the end, but it was too damaged to be a justifiable winner.

[@sirwoollyjumper4893]

Did you not see that the front right side of the bot was completely folded up onto them? Wild Thing were trashed. The only positive for them was that they were still going at the end.

[@RS14988]

you really have to give it to wild thing. while 101 and berserk 2 took hypno disc in stride back in series 3, wild thing is probably the only robot ever to actually get shredded by hypno dsic and still live to tell about it. even now, it amazes me how they took that much damage and they barely slowed down whatsoever

[@Komicklepto]

Are you forgetting Bigger Brother in the Series 5 grand final?

[@njgw1465]

By "you have to give it to them", he probably means in an admiration aspect.

[@dspencer8827]

That battle with hypnodisc vs splinter is worthy of a grandfinal decider

[@TheLegacyofHitchcock]

Brilliant performance from Wild Thing. It's my 2nd favourite robot and this is why- it just doesnt give up, charging at the likes of Hypno Disc and Chaos 2, surviving brutal attacks and usually finishing stronger than the other robot at the end. It deserved to reach at least one Grand Final, and I think they could have done it had they managed to pit Chaos 2 in series 5, or Hypno Disc here.

[@Jawseymeister]

@Tyranee Stinger's weapon is more of a bludgeon, think of it like a weighted axe. The idea is to clobber the robot, causing the electronics to rattle around and possibly foall out. But as you said, it's greatest strength is it's very unique shape and design. As shown in this battle, flippers and lifters are completely nullified by it For the record, I thought Panic Attack was the more aggressive and better controlled robot. Stinger is always a bit wild.

[@tourdeforce17]

This is why Wild Thing is one of my favourite robots ever- no matter how tough their opponent is, no matter how much damage they take, they never EVER give up and always give their opponent a run for their money, no matter how futile their efforts seem. Just look at their battles against Chaos 2 and Tornado. Like LegacyofHitchcock said, they deserved at least one grand final.

[@afc4life619]

All props to Stinger and Wild Thing. They knew they were facing tougher opposition, although Wild Thing were a little unlucky not to go through.

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

The first judges' decision of this semifinal after four decisive knockouts, and it's controversial one. I'm going to buck the trend of the comment field here and say that I agree with the decision, although it was basically inevitable by matchup- Stinger was just _designed_ to be almost impossible for Panic Attack to beat. You could see every time Panic Attack lunged at Stinger with the forks, Stinger just went into reverse and wheeled away, smashing Panic Attack with the mace as it went and even when Panic Attack _could_ get under Stinger they couldn't grip them the way they could other bots- Stinger could literally just drive over the top of Panic Attack, smashing as it went. I should also point out that this match is arguably Stinger's best _ever_ driving display, they're extremely effective and decisive, smashing the hell out of Panic Attack's sides, evading its attacks and looking far more in control than they usually do. I think the normally dependable Kim Davies was just mystified at what to do against Stinger and Stinger made Panic Attack look impotent against it. What I don't get is how it could be a 1-point decision when the judges were unanimous- since each judge awards their own scores, wouldn't it be technically impossible for a unanimous decision to be by less than 3 points? Still, if anyone thinks the judges made a bullshit call putting Stinger through over Panic Attack, I guess you can take some consolation when they made a BLATANTLY bullshit call in the grand final in the match against Chaos 2. I love Chaos 2 dearly, but Stinger got _robbed_ in that one. I'll expound more when we get to that video. 5:45 I just _love_ the effect when Killalot turns as the camera tracks past his closing claw, like a clenching fist signifying the start of the battle. This is easily one of my _all-time_ favourite battles. Wild Thing are favourites of mine and this battle exemplifies why- fearless, determined, almost indestructible even up against an opponent as _nightmarishly_ devastating as Hypno-Disc was in this series, they never slow down or stop coming back for more. While it wasn't a very close decision and I can't argue with the result, Wild Thing MIGHT have been able to win this fight. At around 6:45 you can tell that Jonathan is expecting Wild Thing to break down and go the same way as Splinter any second now- he's getting into his "defeat speech" mode, but Wild Thing never agreed to that and keeps fighting. At 7:36 I don't know why Isabelle didn't lower the lifting arm across Hypno-Disc's middle to try and pin them- it wouldn't give them a victory since, unlike in Battlebots, a robot isn't allowed to deliberately pin another robot to immobilise it, but it might have given them more control over Hypno-Disc. Still a FANTASTIC battle, living up to the standards set by this incredible finals series. Wild Thing vs Hypno-Disc was the Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed story (the match in the 1st film that is, not the 2nd one) of this series: they went the distance. This video is unfortunately missing the "next time on the GRAND FINAL" preview narrated by Jonathan Pearce where they displayed the four Grand Finalists that had been decided- Stinger, Pussycat, Hypno-Disc and reigning champs Chaos 2. I liked that bit.

[@Mech-Badger-Man]

Stinger won on aggression, but every time the bots touched it was by panic attacks action to close the distance, every time they span they would have just pulled out, but did not. I call bullshit on that, not the fact it won.

[@Threadoflength]

I think ppl are so salty over the decision because Craig says "it's down to aggression, they've gone for stinger" which is clearly not the case (he seems to says its aggression a lot, and usually incorrectly). Panic Attack was by far the more aggressive so i suppose seemed to be on the front foot, but as you said could do literally nothing to Stinger. There were a lot of controversial Judges decisions in this wars (perhaps the most ever) but this one was fair imo.

[@tehrubikz]

anyone else notice that Panic Attack has a bit of Diotor on it's back

[@Whoami691]

Stinger is a bit like 101. Not particularly threatening, but it is utterly relentless. It is reliable, doesn't break down and it always on the attack. It gives no room to breathe and just keeps on coming. you can't beat an opponent that refuses to go down.

[@MrKoiking1]

I'd say they are fairly threatening, if they get a proper good hit on you that mace can do a lot of damage

[@rhysepoos]

How I hated Stinger when I was a child! I can appreciate now what a clever concept it was, but it's no fun to watch. It seemed to just swing around by itself waiting for the opponent to come towards it, and then move out of the way as soon as they got attacked! It must have been a very frustrating robot to fight against.

[@magnusnord8353]

Brilliant driving by the wild thing

[@mruncommon1]

awwwww panic attack should've won that!

[@Tyranee]

How does Stinger keep making it through? The weapon is absolutely crap, the only thing it has to its advantage is that it's a weird shape to flip. I want to see Hypnodisc tear it to pieces!

[@MrKoiking1]

Nope that weapon can do pretty good damage when they manage to get a couple solid hits

[@IronSoul890]

I do agree with this. Comparing to a Robot like rambot that sort of flailed around the arena, Stinger's flailing was a means to an end to be unapproachable and unpredictable. I was admittedly surprised by Stinger winning, but there were definitely more offensive decisions...losses against Suicidal Tendencies and The Morgue...even as a Firestorm fan.

[@JackWalker12993]

Very close bout between Stinger + Panic Attack, both brilliant teams with great drivers and oooh I love when the audience get divided. Stringer's spinning technique did advantage them and it's pretty amazing for the 30th seeds to make the grand final after losing in first round last series, that kid with the 'Stinger for president' sign probably didn't like Bush or Gore at the time where US election was looming(which the winner who actually had less votes would totally screw up this world) Wild Thing were close to doing what they thought was impossible at the start but it was too late, Hypno-Disc is just legendary!

[@classicsportclassictiyl8547]

Stinger was the fairytale story of the fourth wars, they only got seeded because it was well made, a massive novelty robot and the producers trusted them that they would be better than their embarrassing showing in the third wars. You said it they got beaten in 50 seconds in the first battle of the third wars against Mace 2 so to come back and get to the grand final was something special

[@26eHDeP2]

Panic Attack was better...low judges

[@acenace24]

The only reason they gave it to Stinger is because of its horrible design that causes lack of pretty much everything

[@maxayson9386]

Choosing stinger over panic attack was a bloody joke, they must have had a few strong drinks over lunch to come to that conclusion

[@ufoash440]

I thought Wild Thing had their weapon raised so that they could clamp it down on the disk or around Hypnodisc, but they actually went for it and pulled it down :S Maybe they just wanted to make sure at least that bit survived lol

[@TheLegacyofHitchcock]

@Fireworkatheart The decisions looked dogy because the fights are edited. A Robot Wars match lasted 5 minutes, but we only see 2-3 on TV. Stinger may have launched more effective and aggressive attacks offscreen, and may have caused unseen damage to Panic Attack, like on the skirts. The FRA forums have said that editing is the reason why fights like Grim Reaper vs Big Niper and Mute vs Judge Shred seem controversial- many things we dont see.

[@MrKoiking1]

I'd rather see the unedited fights and less chatting in the pits

[@TheLegacyofHitchcock]

@Fireworkatheart I feel the same way. Along with the spoilers in the RW magazine and in the intros, I think that the Producers going a bit too far with 'controversy' may have alienated audiences.

[@SpeedBird6780]

I don't know what the judges are doing, but I almost call it "sleeping". :)

[@greenleaf6254]

Panic attack should have won that match.

[@walonsubi]

Some dreadful judging in this series. Panic Attack was better.

[@SkilledPepper]

Decision between Panic Attack and Stinger was farcical. I think the judges were swayed by the large cohort of Stinger fans. That said, as a judge you can't let yourself be prone to that so they should have no excuses for that total joke of a judgement.

[@MrKoiking1]

Nah Stinger deserved to win for sure, it panic attack over and over again and was pretty much immune to the forks

[@liogerzero]

is it just me or is it by this point in the series Matilda seemed like a joke

[@TheStrongestBaka]

She's not a threat compared to how she was flipping robots left and right in Series 2.

[@sael1337]

true, but they are suppose to judge using the 4 criteria, style, damage control and aggression, and panic attack was the aggressor all the way, never stopped attacking at any point. stinger just sat there spinning waiting to be attacked.' panic attack had better control over their robot, non stop aggression.

[@uhegbu]

That is a huge shock probably because Splinter is a fearsome robot.

[@angelburnley682]

Aaaah WTH :( Panic Attack is much better than Stinger :/

[@KevinDKomala]

literally one of the worst calls of the series, panic attack came back in that fight and were easily the more dominant at the end. i saw little style, 0 control and very little damage caused. all i can say is that they were more aggresive. sort it out noel.

[@SkilledPepper]

No, I really like Stinger and was actually rooting for it to be honest. However, I like Robot Wars and the integrity of the show for me is more important than individual robots.

[@acenace24]

Judges are snoring coke!

[@StFidjnr]

wild thing is the rocky balboa of robot wars series 4

[@mikehunters8]

8:40 almost thought that girl was flashing then.

[@TheDanny6114]

What complete bullshit, Panic Attack had more aggression and control. Stinger just flailed wildly without purpose.

[@livinglifeform7974]

Panic attacks control was actually quite poor, it would constantly miss its charges while stinger would dodge them.

[@Jimera0]

I think the judges decision wasn't really that bad... a lot of you are just old fanboys of panic attack me thinks. I love panic attack, but you can't take away from what stinger did. Very aggressive, and it was better controlled than it appeared. Just because it flails around wildly doesn't mean it's uncontrolled flailing. Hell, that's all part of it's strategy. I think the fight was very close and I'd be hard pressed to make a choice in the judges position.

[@Verminator4]

I'm not a fan of the judges, but there's nothing wrong with this decision. Panic Attack could do nothing to Stinger due to its design and got bludgeoned every time it approached.

[@Killadey]

That was a phenomenal performance by Wild Thing against HD. Showed far more skill than that lazy, boring spinning monstrosity.

[@ufoash440]

Just shows how unimpressive this semi final was to the last when you compare the number of judges decisions called upon with the fact that the judges weren't called in here at all in the first four rounds

[@tilopmcgee9780]

Wild Thing put up a great effort against Hypno-Disc, but a robot of their design was never going to win sadly.

[@Petrock508]

Two bad decisions, especially the first.

[@anakinsmith4770]

ive seen much worst they were correct on both hypno disc and stinger won clearly

[@Diotoir]

not at all

[@Petrock508]

+anakin smith no it just got pushed around the arena.