Overview[]
Tombstone was a superheavyweight robot built by Hardcore Robotics which competed in the 2004 NPC Charity Open. It was a two-wheeled box-shaped robot armed with a large horizontally-spinning bar. It performed well in competition as it became the champion of the superheavyweight division at the NPC Charity Open in 2004.
Tombstone would later be succeeded by the heavyweight version, equally called Tombstone.
Robot History[]
BattleBots 2004 NPC Charity Open[]
After receiving a bye in the first round, Tombstone fought Zeus. At the start, Tombstone headed in as Zeus advanced plow first and the two connected blade-to-plow. Its blade was disabled on impact, leaving Tombstone vulnerable to the attacks from Zeus' discs. Nevertheless, Tombstone kept coming in to try and stop the discs, even ramming Zeus into the wall at one point. Fortunately for Tombstone, Zeus' discs stopped working for unknown reasons, leading to a pushing match that allowed the quicker Tombstone to out-push and outmaneuver Zeus. Thanks to this, Tombstone won the judges' decision and advanced to the next round.
Next up for Tombstone was Star Hawk. At the start, both robots went weapon-to-weapon. This favored Ray Billings' bot as the first hit caused damage to Star Hawk's left armor plate, and the second hit tore away armor from the other side of the bot. Tombstone then took a blow to the rear from Star Hawk's blade, before immediately swinging around and striking back with the blade of its own. After Star Hawk backed up up to face Tombstone's blade, Tombstone delivered a shot to the side of Star Hawk. Tombstone clashed with Star Hawk's blade yet again, damaging and bending the weapon mount on Star Hawk and then delivering a shot to the underside. Tombstone tore into Star Hawk's right side before landing two more shots in succession. Tombstone struck a blow to the same area coming face-to-face before striking the right side of Star Hawk. Tombstone eventually spun its blade back up, though it was not rotating at full speed. Despite this, Tombstone struck the left side of Star Hawk, whose right front was crippled. Tombstone attacked the rear of Star Hawk as it was reversing, before striking again, spinning its opponent around. Tombstone moved in as Star Hawk stopped in a corner facing a pulverizer. Star Hawk tapped out, giving Tombstone a win by TKO.
Now in the quarter-finals, Tombstone faced Mer Madd. At the start of the fight, Tombstone avoided Mer Madd's box rush and hit the wedge, spinning it around and peeling up part of the wedge. As Mer Madd rammed into the blade, Tombstone dealt a shot to the side before it got rammed again and narrowly avoided getting flipped. Tombstone then continued to deliver shots to the left side before backing off to get its blade back to speed, then striking the left front. This tore a piece from Mer Madd and and sent it across the box. Tombstone then delivered two more shots to Mer Madd's wedge, the second of which crippled the left side. Tombstone gave two more shots to the wedge, one tearing off another piece and the other causing the blade to get stuck momentarily. Tombstone then continued to attack the right side of its opponent before getting its blade halted by damage on Mer Madd. Tombstone moved away momentarily to spin its blade back up before striking the wedge of Mer Madd, disabling its drivetrain completely. Tombstone gave Mer Madd a tap before the team tapped out, giving Tombstone the win by TKO and advancing it to the fourth round.
Next up for Tombstone was The Judge. For this match, a thick Lexan plate was added to the top of Tombstone to protect its vital internals from The Judge's powerful hammer. When the match began, Tombstone's blade got struck by The Judge's hammer, before Tombstone dished out shots to the wedge of The Judge, one hit causing The Judge to miss the hammer shot and spin itself around. Tombstone then charged in and withstood a hammer shot from The Judge before striking the left side of it, sending sparks flying. After a bit of maneuvering around, Tombstone got to the back of The Judge and delivers a shot to the right side as The Judge backs into the wall. Tombstone then charged in and received a blow from The Judge's primary weapon, this time to the weapon frame, before getting under and delivering some shots to the left side. As tombstone moved across to the other side, it took another hammer shot from The Judge, this time to the Lexan plate, before delivering some more shots to The Judge's front. Tombstone then delivers some more shots to the front, while taking another hammer blow to the weapon frame. With The Judge on the wall after Tombstone swung around and dished out another shot to the right front, Tombstone charged in and ground away, shaving tons of sparks from The Judge's right side without retaliation from The Judge. Tombstone then delivered some more shots to the front of The Judge before it tried to retaliate with a hammer swing and miss. Tombstone then struck the left side of The Judge as it swung and missed once again, giving Tombstone the opportunity to strike The Judge in the rear end. As The Judge backed into the wall once again, Tombstone immediately took a hammer shot to the weapon frame before striking the left side as The Judge swings and missed again, allowing Tombstone to strike its rear end once more. With The Judge backing into the wall yet again, Tombstone delivers a shot to the front while taking a hammer shot to the lexan plate. With The Judge still on the wall, Tombstone came around and struck the right front and attempted to deliver a shot to the front when The Judge fired the hammer into the blade, causing it to spin around. After some more manoeuvring, along with Tombstone delivering a few more shots to the rear end as The Judge was mostly just moving back and forth, Tombstone delivered a shot to the front near the pulverizer. After some more manoeuvring, Tombstone gets its blade rammed into by The Judge moving in reverse, stopping the blade as it was no longer at full power. After getting the blade back to half-power speed, Tombstone gave a few taps on The Judge on the front and the left side, before taking a blow to the weapon frame that gets it under The Judge and striking the right side. Tombstone took some more hammer shots and delivered some more weak shots to The Judge as the weapon continued to lose power. After grinding the right side of The Judge, the match made the distance. Tombstone won by judges' decision, but since the Judge won its fight in the losers bracket final, Tombstone was forced to face it again.
Tombstone being separated from the hammer of The Judge in the Soutwest Division Championships.
As the rematch began, Tombstone moved to a corner to let its blade spin up as The Judge charged in, before turning around and striking the left front. Tombstone then moved to the other side, avoiding a hammer shot and giving a blow to the right front. After The Judge backed into the wall, Tombstone moved in and took a hammer shot to the weapon frame before immediately delivering a blow to the front while The Judge was in the air, causing it to spin around and face the wall. As The Judge attempted to push back with its rear end, Tombstone sparks flew as it made contact with its blade. When The Judge backed into the wall next to a pulverizer, Tombstone struck the front end and immediately took a hammer shot to the blade, which wound up flipping The Judge onto its back. As The Judge constantly tried to self-right using its hammer, Tombstone delivered a shot to the hammer and the rear end, which sent The Judge into the wall, while seemingly disabling Tombstone's blade. Tombstone then pinned The Judge against the wall as it tried to get its hammer back into firing position. This seemingly disabled the hammer, as The Judge was unable to fire it to right itself afterwards. The Judge was counted out, giving Tombstone the win by KO and the superheavyweight championship.
Results[]
| Series | Event | Opponent(s) | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROBOlympics 2004 | Super Heavyweight
Division |
Blue Max | Won |
| Robo Loco | Won | ||
| The Judge | Lost | ||
| OUCH!! | Won | ||
| The Judge | Lost | ||
| 2004 Southwest
Division Championships |
Super Heavyweight
Division |
The Judge | Won |
| Alcoholic Stepfather | Lost | ||
| Little Blue Engine | Lost | ||
| 2004 BattleBots
NPC Charity Open |
Super Heavyweight
Division |
Zeus | Won |
| Star Hawk 3.0 | Won | ||
| Mer Madd | Won | ||
| The Judge | Won | ||
| The Judge | Won | ||
| 2004 RFL Nationals | Super Heavyweight
Division |
SHOVELHEAD | Won |
| Alcoholic Stepfather | Lost | ||
| Blue Engine | Won | ||
| Super Megabyte | Won | ||
| SHOVELHEAD | Lost | ||
| RoboGames 2005 | Super Heavyweight
Division |
Kill Dozer | Won |
| Buster | Won | ||
| Super Megabyte | Lost | ||
| Star Hawk 3.0 | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 14
- Losses: 8