Defense v Offense

[bobosalad]

i started looking at the design and am having disagreements with teammates about the strategy of going about this design. his idea is to go and build a defensive robot that has the mini robot as well with no lift. i disagreed and said we need the lift. what are your opinions of defense v offense? is there really a defense this year? can defense be played with an offensive robot?

[theprgramerdude]

I haven't done any calculations yet about the rate of point scoring and strategy (let the game sink in for the weekend), but the general rule of thumb is that defensive bots only work well if your teammates can score. You also have to take into consideration just how wide this field is, as one robot cannot stop 3 attackers that easily, only slow them down, if at all.

[Koko Ed]

Take the California FIRST philosophy with this game:
The best defense is a good offense.

[BIGWILLI2081]

I believe mini bots are going to be a HUGE part of this game. If your robot will be able to play defense effectively and have a great mini bot, then this isn't a bad idea. You'd need to be able to hold your ground. It is true defense is limited this year with the pinning rule and no entering scoring zones, but defense will still be key. You could also block people from coming out of their lanes when they go and get their tubes. However, you have to score to win the game. If you can have both an effective tube manipulator and mini bot, offense is most likely the best strategy.

[bobosalad]

would people agree that generally, if you build a good offensive robot, it could still be used purely for defense if the occasion arises?

[artdutra04]

As someone who played through Triple Play (2005) game, where massive penalties simply from a minor driving mistake could easily swing matches, you better be extremely careful going on a primarily defense-robot route this year. The 1x penalties from home zone and lane incursions, as well as the 10x penalty for pinning means your team really has to walk a fine line without racking up penalties for your alliance.

[Molten]

Though it isn't the popular opinion, defense wins matches. Yes, you have to score something in order to win...but you don't have to score alot. You just have to score more then your opponents. I've always wanted to be on a defense-planned team(usually end up on a defense-improvised team). I think a team that has a good traction, maneuverable, fast drive train with a good driver and good mini bot would be nearly unbeatable. Admittedly, this sounds like a tall order, but if you cut out the manipulator you can put all of your weight into drive/mini bot.

Anyone can do defense, but only some can do it well enough to win with it. If you go in planning on offense, your probably not going to win by falling back to defense(Buckeye 2007 was a semi-exception for 1766 since we did make it to pick our own alliance with an improvised defense robot). If you want to do defense right, plan on doing defense. Every pound you spend on a semi-working manipulator could be used elsewhere more effectively.

[578robotsrock]

IF you can play defense well, you'll do good. Last year we put all our focuse on having a bot with manily defense and a decent kicker to clear balls. We didn't win any compositions besides an off season one, but we played on Saturday afternoon and even when we were ranked near last because of allence pairings in qulification matches, we were pulled forward to play. We are still in planning now, but I would vote for a similar staigy of making a mainly defensive robot that has some sort of scoring capabilities, either mini-bot or a claw.

[Ryan_Davis]

Originally Posted by 578robotsrock

IF you can play defense well, you'll do good. Last year we put all our focuse on having a bot with manily defense and a decent kicker to clear balls. We didn't win any compositions besides an off season one, but we played on Saturday afternoon and even when we were ranked near last because of allence pairings in qulification matches, we were pulled forward to play. We are still in planning now, but I would vote for a similar staigy of making a mainly defensive robot that has some sort of scoring capabilities, either mini-bot or a claw.

Ah remember the regional . You, Penfield, and ourselves. Yay malfunctions.

[GGCO]

Any robot with four wheels can be a defensive bot. It's that simple.

I think a minibot is a must have though, so personally if it came down to a sweet manipulator or a crazy fast minibot - I'd take the minibot hands down.

[dodar]

Originally Posted by GGCO

Any robot with four wheels can be a defensive bot. It's that simple.

I think a minibot is a must have though, so personally if it came down to a sweet manipulator or a crazy fast minibot - I'd take the minibot hands down.

Sorry Bomb Squad, you cant play defense. =] lol

[1168Programmer]

Partly, it can come down to your budget. If you have the money to make an awesome arm that works every time, then go for it, you'll be a valuable assert on every alliance.

It also depends on what type of wheels you're going to use. (Or maybe its the other way around.) Omni would make terrible defense but the manuverability would make amazing offense. KOP wheels could probably do either depending on how you build the bot.

[BuzzMathias175]

The only defensive tactic I could see is "traping" an opposing robot in their End zone preventing them from leaving it to get more tubes to score

[1168Programmer]

Originally Posted by GGCO

Any robot with four wheels can be a defensive bot. It's that simple.

Any robot with four wheels can be defensive, but not every robot with four wheels can be effectively defensive.

[1168Programmer]

Originally Posted by BuzzMathias175

The only defensive tactic I could see is "traping" an opposing robot in their End zone preventing them from leaving it to get more tubes to score

Or even just getting in the way out in the middle of the field. (You know, that awkward you-go-this-way-no-that-way thing when you almost walk into someone.) A few seconds of distraction could cost the opponent alliance a completed top row logo, definitely worth it. At least, as long as you can't do anything else to help your alliance score crazy amounts of points.