[timytamy]

The tooling build up that we've followed has worked quite well:

Hand tools + cordless drill
Drill press + disk sander
More hand tools
Band saw (combined horizontal + vertical)
More hand tools
Lathe
CNC Router

We've built quite competitive robots even in the years we only had up to the drill press/disk sander.

The other thing is to build up a good stock of parts. I like to always get 150% of parts we need, this gives us spares as well as stock on hand to quickly prototype/build things in the future.

IMO if you build stock around the Versaplanetaries and hex shaft/hubs/bearings, you'll be well prepared for future games.