Re: defensive strategies
 

Tony Stewart-style?

Tradin' foam!

Re: defensive strategies
 

This discussion reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons where there are two settlers under indian attack crouched under a wagon with a burning arrow in the side. The caption on the cartoon is one settler asking the other "Are they (the indians) allowed to do that?" Good defense is not boring to those of us who like to come up with innovative ways to do it.

Re: defensive strategies
 

honestly, and please dont take this the wrong way...I personally dont consider pinning a ball against a piece of diamond plate for 2 minutes innovative. Making a robot that can knock off both balls and hit 5 lines is innovative, or makng a robot thats faster than everyone, but still controllable, thats innovative. Making a catapult that can throw the ball diagonally across the field is innovative. I dont see pinning a ball against a wall innovative.

My 2 cents..

Re: defensive strategies
 

How the ball is pinned can be innovative. That's just one part of our overall strategy and play book. We can also take the ball off the overpass on the move and make 2-3 lines during hybird. Depending on the opposition we can just run laps and herd as well in teleoperated. One thing for sure we won't do is roll over and let the opposition hurdle at will. If you want to see those kind of matches lobby the GDC to only have one robot on the field at a time. In addition to a retired engineer I'm also an ex Air Force fighter pilot and learned a long time ago the value of playing assertive (not agressive) defense.

Re: defensive strategies
 

only problem is most teams can change defensive plans, in match, hard to change hurdling idea's in match

defense is one bot, when you can protect 2 oppent trackballs, defeating defense becomes the whole alliance's problem

Re: defensive strategies
 

This is starting to sound like the infamous Intentionally Blocking in Hybrid thread.

You can't tell defensive players they can't play defense. Many offensive players still play defense while scoring offensive points (can't speak for anyone else's driving strategy, but for us, if we can wap the ball away from you while we're carrying a ball, we'll do it) and even purely defensive players make life interesting for purly (or partly) offensive players.

Again, as in the thread I mentioned previously, there's almost always another way around something such as defense... like... you could cut off the robot taking the ball from you... if a robot has just placed a ball on top of the overpass, you want to knock it off, and they wont move... go around the other side of the rack and knock it off from that side...

Think of it like Interpretive Driving. :rolleyes:

-q

Re: defensive strategies
 

If I understand your suggestion, that will draw you a ten point penalty.

Re: defensive strategies
 

So? How did your regional go?

Re: defensive strategies
 

"Rolling over" and letting the opposition hurdle at will is almost certainly something no alliance wants to do.

And I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree on the front that pinning a ball is innovative. I frankly, cannot see it as innovative.

Believe me when I say I know the value of defense (I am a "maverick" from the mid-atlantic/new england states). When our arm cracked off in the quarters of boston, the first thing we did was start playing defense by sitting in front of the other teams balls. However, I did not think that was an innovative strategy. Being able to fire diagonally across the field to hurdle, I see that as innovative.

Like I said, it appears we have different views on what is "innovative".

Re: defensive strategies
 

Hey, guys, check out Philly's Finals Matches!

Re: defensive strategies
 

I take it you didn't see the finals in Philly. Chuck played this card several times to slow down the #1 alliance and allow the slightly slower hurdling 341 and 365 to beat 103 and 272, but those three matches were anything but boring! There's nothing boring about a 114:114 tie being broken by a ball rolling across the line right after the buzzer.

Re: defensive strategies
 

I'm still willing to pay up to six Krispy Kreme donuts to the first team that picks up and possesses an opponent's track ball for an entire match. I want to see how referees would rule on this...

(Maybe someone could try it during practice at New York this week just to get a ruling?)

Re: defensive strategies
 

One might argue that this is "egregious" behavior that could earn a yellow card and subsequently, a red card or DQ. I wouldn't risk it.

Re: defensive strategies
 

An alliance I was helping at UTC discussed it this year. We had a friend, who didn't identify with any team, go up and ask 4 refs what they would say, including the head ref. One ref said DQ. Another said penalty once, and thats it (no warnings). 2 said that there would be a penalty and if they were to hold on to it for the whole match a warning (possibly a yellow card). 3 of the 4 said DQ if you were to do it more than once.

The alliance I was working with thought this would be a great strategy and would surely win each match that this was done in.

Re: defensive strategies
 

Im the driver for team 2604 and when we tried our D strat, we moved the ball and it was the most exciting part of the WMR for me.