Strategy Opinion
 

I would like an opinion on our strategy for 2016.

We are going to be a breaching specialist using rhino treads and being able to go through all the defenses except the portcullis (the gate), and be able to go through the low bar as well. We will also score in the low goal, and scale the tower as a stretch goal.

Thank you

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

I think this is definitely a highly viable strategy for this year's game.

Also, you can potentially address the portcullis by making the top of either the front or back of your robot wedge shaped (if you have enough space), sort of similar in concept to the wedges on Ri3D team REDACTED's robot (video here: https://youtu.be/pOJLMLbW8DY, there might be a release video out later of their robot where you might get a better view of them). They pretty much work by fitting under the open gap of the portcullis and pushing it upwards as the robot drives forward.

Ideally, if you have enough space and confidence to do so, I would definitely go for the ability to scale the tower, since that definitely will be a trait that will set you apart from the other masses of breacher robots at competition.

If you think you can't make this goal, than make sure your drivers get plenty of time to get accustomed to driving with treads and crossing each defense, since experienced and practiced drivers will definitely give you an edge in competition, regardless if you have a climber or not.

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

This is basically our strategy, too. :) Seems like it will enable valuable game pts AND ranking points. Make for a valuable alliance member.

Also consider that your breaching robot can potentially deliver boulders to alliance members to can stay put in courtyard and focus on then scoring goals. That aspect seems important to me as only 1 defense bot is allowed. If there are 2 shooters (even if one is back and forth over the works), then one is free to line up a shot. Plus, the defense rules seem to prohibit more than general annoyance of the shooter so buying shooters time in the courtyard can help increase accuracy.

Why are you going to skip the portcullis? Just curious.

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

Great strategy. Look like many teams will have the same focus.

One of our concerns was having an alliance robot to stay in the courtyard while an other is a gopher bringing ball back and forth. Can the gopher just pass the defenses and drop the boulder in the zone or do they have to be in control somehow until the ball is in the opponent castle?

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

Sounds like a well thought out strategy.

I will say this, any team that can't do only 1 of the defenses should be prepared to have that defense appear in every match that the audience isn't choosing that category for your match. This isn't that big of a deal really as you only need to damage 4 out of the 5 to breach, but it is something to think about.

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

Ditto. If you want to be called a Breaching specialist robot, you need to figure out how to tackle all of the obsticles. Just because you COULD ignore one category if you can go under the bar, doesn't mean that you should.

It is still very early in the season and you already have a drivetrain that can go over most of them without extra work, I think your team should spend some more time prototyping how to tackle all of the ones in play to have the best chances of success this season.

Good luck!

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

So do the breaching specialists get to count Category C as crossable if they're expecting to do the robot conga line to breach it? Or do they need to be able to CROSS a defense solo to count it? The drawbridge especially is annoying to run solo for a low bot, because you pretty much have to have a separate mechanism for it.

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

Although it is clear the game animation =/= official rules, it does clearly show a "gentlemanbot" holding the door for alliance partners to damage the defense.

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

I would think that to call yourself a specialist, you have to be able to solo conquer all the obstacles.

Re: Strategy Opinion
 

Check out G40 and the examples provided. I think that it's pretty clear that you can knock a boulder into the courtyard provided you touch the boulder while on/in the outer works AND you complete the crossing. There is nothing I can find that says you have to maintain control while in the courtyard. Leaving the boulder for an alliance shooter should be AOK! :]