[Billfred]

Step 1: Get driving. Probably something skinny, 6WD, thick plywood bellypan. Not going to fuss with pneumatic tires at this point, let's just get them running.

Step 2: Probably order the AndyMark wedge front piece, for a little more help with the static defenses.

Step 3: While shaking that down, add a short, low-bar-clearing arm (like Team Cockamamie did on Ri3D, though maybe not with the window motor depending on what's around) to manipulate the Portcullis and Cheval de Frise.

Step 4: Coach them up on playing smart D, the importance of the tower capture, and get them running drills over the defenses.

Step 5: Get it all super-clean, so they can get a fast inspection and start hitting the filler line at their event.

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Congratulations, you just built a robot that can attack 7/9 defenses and would be a worthy second pick at most smaller events if you drove it well. Leave the ball handling to teams that have been thinking about it for three weeks.

If I had still time and a little more resources, I'd probably figure out how to make that arm in Step 3 reach the floor so it can help boost the drivetrain over defenses. I like pneumatic tires for this game, but with the current supply situation I probably wouldn't steer a team this far in the weeds to them. That does put you one notch down from the pneumatic-tired teams, but I don't think it's insurmountable.