Summary:Team ARC made a surprise appearance to Maidstone to bring Big Dave 3 to the arena for the first time!

Reality:Team ARC made a surprise appearance to Maidstone to bring Big Dave 3 to the arena… only to find he (she? it?) is partial to eating its own tyres, so we didn’t get to test Big Dave 3 as much as we like.

Click here to see Big Dave 3 eating its own tyres.

However, this is not a total failure. We got lots of positives out of it, especially for Chris who got all our electrics working. Generally speaking many of the other roboteers seemed interested in seeing Big Dave 3 in action, and a couple have even expressed a desire not to face it in combat!! Once the wheels (thanks for all the recommendations guys) and the last bits of armour are sorted, we are ready to go for 2019!

Saturday saw the return of Aftershock to the arena. As always seems to be the case, Aftershock causes more problems for the arena than the roboteers. That’s not to say the roboteers were safe, they were just more likely to be fixed after Aftershock had nibbled them to death. Cyclone 360 may never see the light of day again as the biggest casualty of Aftershock’s hits (second only to the arena, that saw a lot of polycarb and railing damage!!). Cyclone donated its shell for an exhibition match to demonstrate how powerful Aftershock really is! The half term crowds roared into life as others, including Manta, Iron Awes 5,6,7 and their newest creation, Iron Awe 8, as well as Thor all saw action and generally put on their usual smashing displays to entertain the baying crowds. Despite not fighting, we signed some autographs, which is always a cool feeling to inspire the next generation into roboteering. Some kids even left with bits of our tyre as a gift.

Unfortunately Big Dave won’t be able to go to Gloucester XR as we have to check BD3 into the anorexia clinic for the tyre eating disorder. Mind you though, I feel more sorry for Cyclone 360 and the But as stated above, let’s get ready for 2019!!