[ThirteenOfTwo]

From our point of view, beating defense with a mecanum is not about avoiding the defense so much as it is about redirecting the defense. You have to accept going in that you will get hit.

If they ram you from the side, don't try to fight the ram, ride with it and circle-strafe so that the force of their robot actually ends up pushing you to where you want to go. If they come from the front, turn 90 degrees on the spot and drive a little to the side so that the brunt of their force knocks you back into a position where you face the goal (rather than shoves you backwards) and then get behind them as momentum carries them forwards.

So no, I don't believe a mecanum can run circles around a 6WD. In fact, it's likely that 6WDs will run circles round most mecanums. But I do believe that a mecanum drive can redirect impacts far more successfully than a tank can.

Also, I'd love to see a tank drive pull off the Vin Diesel maneuver coming out of the lane. A well-programmed and well-driven mecanum can turn a 180 while moving forwards and not slowing down. Tanks will either have a time drain when having to turn around or will have to be able to move the tube from one side of the bot to the other.