S3

S3 (standing for Sting 3) was a competitor robot that appeared in Series 5 and 6 of Robot Wars as well as the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. It reached the Semi-Finals in both series it competed in, and won the "Most Original Entry" award in Series 5, although it lost in the first round of the Extreme 2 All-Stars Tournament.

Robot History

Series 5

Despite the team's appearance in previous wars, S3 was dubbed as a newcomer to the wars. Its first appearance was against another veteran team in Plunderbird 5. At the beginning of the fight, Plunderbird 5 pushed the 'hammer-head shark' shaped robot around the arena into the CPZ. However, The 1 Law Associates' robot ripped into Plunderbird 5's side. S3 attacked again, clipping Plunderbird 5's weapon with its flywheel, causing it to fall off of its external piston, rendering it useless. It then proceeded to rip off most of the armour protecting Plunderbird 5's right wheels, causing Plunderbird 5 to eventually stop moving near the top left-hand CPZ. Sir Killalot then picked up Plunderbird 5 and carried it over to the floor flipper, during which point part of the drivetrain, with two wheels and part of the frame still attached, broke off and fell out of Plunderbird 5's right side. It was then thrown on the floor flipper, and S3 got in one more hit before cease was called.

In the next round, S3 fought the 20th seeds Mousetrap 2. Mousetrap's arm immediately grabbed hold of S3. Both robots were then stuck together for a while. S3's blade was tangled in Mousetrap's spring. Mousetrap couldn't free its arm, so Refbot freed it towards the end of the fight and Mousetrap axed S3 again. With 4 seconds remaining S3 slammed into Mousetrap's side, causing damage to its panel. That damage allowed S3 to win the judges decision.

S3 was then through to the Heat Final, against 5th seeds Stinger, Grand Finalists in the previous war. Both robots made identical movements, driving forward, spinning in a circle, and halting. Stinger pounded its mace on the ground to little effect, S3 and Stinger reversed into each other, before S3 span and landed several powerful blows on Stinger, throwing the axlebot around with little effort. Stinger missed six consecutive attacks with its mace, before S3 interrupted Stinger's usual sit and spin technique with a well placed attack, once again hitting the wheels. Another blow sent Stinger flying into the side wall, where Shunt rammed it and harassed it before its escape. Stinger activated the pit before finally hitting S3 with its mace, but to no avail, as S3 knocked them with the disc again, flipping them over. Stinger slowed down, and S3 pushed Stinger against an angle grinder, where it stopped moving. This was because Stinger's main drive system had been buckled by S3's disc to the point that Stinger's gears could not mesh correctly. Stinger was counted out and thrown by the Floor Flipper, coming back to life on impact, but it was already eliminated.

In the Semi-Finals, S3 was drawn against Bigger Brother, the only other unseeded robot in the Semi-Finals. Bigger Brother drove straight at the body of S3, getting its body underneath the part that separated the blade from the arena floor. It began to push it aside, but S3's disc came into contact, and Bigger Brother was thrown away from it. S3 was unable to gain purchase before Bigger Brother recovered and slammed into it, almost flicking it out of the arena. The attempt beached S3 on the arena wall, activated the pit, and almost made an investigating Dead Metal descend into oblivion. S3 was flipped free, its disc tearing the pit release button away from the wall. Bigger Brother flipped S3 over again, and pushed it into the pit.

However, S3 was not out of the competition yet, as the Loser's melee had been introduced for Series 5. It was drawn against Wild Thing and Spawn Again The three robots darted around each other repeatedly, and S3 launched the first attack by slashing Wild Thing with its disc. Spawn Again then got beneath S3, but did not flip it over. S3 attacked Wild Thing, using its disc to propel it onto its side against the wall. Spawn Again closed in, meaning that Wild Thing could not pull away from the side wall. However, all three robots relented and moved away from the side wall. Wild Thing pushed Spawn Again across the arena, and S3 cut into its rear, before striking its sides. The impact sent Spawn Again flying a few feet away, and immobilised it. S3 and Wild Thing's battle moved away from Spawn Again, who fired its flipper but was unable to move. Refbot counted out Spawn Again, as S3's disc hurled Wild Thing away again. S3 struck Wild Thing, but Wild Thing pressed S3 against the side wall, stopping the disc, and then into Shunt's CPZ, where Shunt attacked both robots, and Wild Thing again caught itself on S3's disc and had damage inflicted. As Sergeant Bash pitted Spawn Again, Wild Thing slammed S3 into the side wall, and cease was called. On style and control, Wild Thing won, but the aggression inflicted damage from S3 was so great that the judges ruled in favour it.

Progressing through again, S3 fought world champions Razer for a place in the Grand Final. After a few attacks, Razer lifted S3 into the air. The two robots swiveled around each other as usual, but Razer was the one to attack, grabbing the wheel cylinder of S3, and avoiding the flywheel. Razer pushed S3 into Shunt, who axed it, and Razer crushed slowly through S3's armour. Pulling out of Shunt's CPZ, Razer raised its claw, and pulled S3 into the air with it. Razer held S3 over the flames, burning the rubber of its tires, before carrying it to Dead Metal, who carved long slashes in S3's rear armour. Finally, Razer released S3, and it frantically drove around, trying to attack. However, Razer caught it once more, pushed it into Dead Metal, and stopped the spinning disc. S3 was lifted nearly out of the arena by Shunt, Razer and Dead Metal, but finally escaped the clutches of Dead Metal. It was quickly caught again by Razer, who put the tip of its beak in the blade's holster in S3, and pushed it into the House Robots. As Razer carved into S3's back armour, the cease was called and the judges were consulted, but Razer was the clear winner.

At the end of the series, S3 won the Most Original Entry Award, and was also nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer Award, despite the team having fought before in Series 2 and 3, but lost to Fluffy anyway.

Series 6

7th seeds S3 went up against newcomers Roobarb and Armadrillo, and returning team Shredder. Despite being seeded and its performances in the last wars, the Roobarb and Shredder teams both claimed to not be afraid of S3, though the Armadrillo team claimed their robot was cannon fodder upon hearing they were drawn against S3. Almost as soon as activate was called, the impact of S3's spinning disc on its first attack made one of Shredder's blades fly out of the arena. S3 attacked Roobarb, which quickly became immobilised in Sir Killalot's CPZ. Shredder fought back against S3, pushing it into the side wall, which buckled because of the power of S3's armament. S3 came back on the attack on Shredder, almost flipping it, but was caught by Mr. Psycho's hammer since it was on the edge of the CPZ. S3 continued coming under pressure from Shredder and Mr. Psycho until the end of the battle, but both competitors went through since Armadrillo, the other robot in the opening round melee had been barely mobile and therefore lost the judges' decision.

S3 faced Sir Chromalot in the second round. Before the fight, S3 had to go through a lot of repairs. Sir Chromalot went straight for the pit release button and stayed near the pit of oblivion, attempting to draw S3 in. Sir Chromalot eventually drove away from the pit and was easily flipped over by the blade of S3. It self-righted, but S3 came on the attack again, tossing Sir Chromalot onto its back. S3 almost drove into the pit after another self-right from its opponent. S3 nearly pushed Sir Chromalot down, but instead managed to flip it onto its side before helping to right the Essex machine. Sir Chromalot, however was immobilised, allowing S3 to go through the Heat Final.

In the Heat Final, it met Shredder again. Both machines started tentatively, until S3 came on the attack with its weapon knocking Shredder aside. Shredder pushed back, but after activating the arena floor spinner, S3 was able to flay the side armour of Shredder and bend one of its pair of discs. This damage meant that Shredder's wheels would not touch the ground when flipped, which S3 duly did to Shredder, leaving the purple machine immobilised and S3 in its second consecutive Semi-final.

S3 faced Dantomkia in round one of the series Semi-Finals. S3 wasn't able to cause Dantomkia much damage because of the Surrey machine's shape. Dantomkia also struggled to get underneath S3 to use its flipper effectively. Dantomkia then drove into an angle grinder which had it stuck on the arena wall. S3 attacked once, before Refbot freed Dantomkia, which was immobilised and counted out.

Firestorm 4 was now the only machine that stood between S3 and the Grand Final. S3 was pursued early on, with Firestorm looking for chances to flip its opponent. When Firestorm did get underneath S3, the spinning disc of S3 once again shattered the arena wall, this time the plexiglass around the house robot entrance. The next attack by the third seeds on S3 flipped it onto the arena side wall, where the weight of the disc tipped S3 over the wall and out of the Sixth Wars.

Extreme 2

For finishing in the Semi-Finals of Series 6, S3 was able to enter the All-Stars Tournament of Extreme 2, and in the first round it was drawn against Firestorm 4 and Bigger Brother, two robots that had beaten it before. The team had added anti-flipper plates to combat being flipped, but these proved to be their undoing. Firestorm and Bigger Brother attacked S3 together and wedged it onto its side, where it was left spinning in circles: the "anti-flipper" plates preventing the robot from falling back onto its wheels. Bigger Brother then drove S3 towards the arena wall and flipped it over and out. This was S3's last appearance.

Live Events

Despite retiring from the show after Extreme 2, S3 competed at a Roaming Robots live event in April 2003. One particular battle saw it fight against Kan-Opener and Gyrobot where it won the battle. S3 was also used for demonstrations at a "Robot Crusade" 2003 event.

It was revealed in 2016 that S3 and Sting 2 are on long term loan to Enginuity Museum (where Sumpthing is on display), with both of them being in storage.

Results

Series	Event	Round	Opponent(s)	Results
UK Robot Wars Series 5	Heat C	Eliminator	Plunderbird 5	Won
		Semi-Final	(20) Mousetrap 2	Won
		Final	(5) Stinger	Won
	Semi-Final 1	Eliminator	Bigger Brother	Lost
		Loser's Melee	(9) Wild Thing (13) Spawn Again	Won
		Semi-Final	(4) Razer	Lost
UK Robot Wars Series 6 (Seeded 7th)	Heat D	Eliminator	Armadrillo Roobarb Shredder	Qualified
		Semi-Final	Sir Chromalot	Won
		Final	Shredder	Won
	Semi-Final 1	Eliminator	Dantomkia	Won
		Semi-Final	(3) Firestorm 4	Lost
Robot Wars Extreme 2	All-Stars Heat A	Eliminator	Bigger Brother Firestorm 4	Lost
Roaming Robots April 2003	Live Event	N/A	Gyrobot Kan-Opener	Won

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 9
• Losses: 4