Defense v Offense

[Ian Curtis]

I think this is the best defensive game we've seen in a long time. Better practice your driving, because the "open field tackle" will be a big play this year (I think).

[Grim Tuesday]

This is also the first year with viable stealing of pieces, we'll have to see how that works out.

Also coupled with defenders being in a good position to release a minibot, this will be interesting.

[1168Programmer]

Don't forget the giant penalty for pinning another robot. That would certainly come into play on defense.

[BrendanB]

I agree with Koko and the westcoast 100%. Defense is the best offense. However that doesn't mean that is all you should do. Give yourselves a fast robot with some traction wheels and you have yourself a defender. But I would recommend you at least have the capability to place on the bottom row.

[Joon Park]

Stealing pieces that are already on the rack seems like a difficult idea to pull of, and one that probably will not be worth the effort. And the pieces on the ground are fair game to both alliances, unless of course, they are in the scoring zones of the opposite alliance.

In terms of defense, If the robot is agile and maneuverable enough, I think it could be very effective in preventing other robots from getting in a good position to hang the game pieces. I remember last year there were a few teams that had an insanely fast robot, and they could literally defend both goals all by themselves. If a similar robot is build this year, it could probably defend the scoring area all by itself, even without entering the area (an getting a penalty).

[davidthefat]

Offense wins games but the defense wins championships. As you get higher in the rankings, the chances are you are going against high scoring teams as well. It comes down to who can score more and prevent the other team from scoring more than you.

[1168Programmer]

If you're going to be quick and speedy like Joon Park said, you're still going to need to be careful to avoid penalties. Your drivers will probably need to practice driving accurately from a distance and trying to see through the opposing alliance's scoring rack (with pieces on it possibly).

[Hawiian Cadder]

you might consider building a robot that is capable of grabbing a tube off the floor, but not scoring it, this way you can "herd" tubes to teamates who can score eficently so that they do not have to waste time making a trip across the field.

[Nemisis]

This game doesnt seem entirely difficult apart from building two robots but honestly it just depends on the team opinion. Scoring will earn points and defense is always good but simply being able to play the game well could possibly lead to getting drafted so i would definitely suggest to consider all options, both defensive and offensive.

Nemisis
Team 2389

[1168Programmer]

Originally Posted by Hawiian Cadder

you might consider building a robot that is capable of grabbing a tube off the floor, but not scoring it, this way you can "herd" tubes to teamates who can score eficently so that they do not have to waste time making a trip across the field.

Hmm, that makes sense. (Hypothetically) Would you then design your bot to have an adjustable arm to make it easier to hand off to the other robot...? hmm...

Not planning this, just curious.

[bobosalad]

what happens when you go to regionals? you find many robots that arent completed. wouldnt those be a better defense considering they cant do anything besides defense? also... (paraphrasing) "any robot with wheels can be defensive" i agree more and more as i think about it. if you are a robot putting up tubes and you have to cross the field to get another one, just getting in the other teams way. i am now thinking that an offensive robot with a strong drive train will win.

[Nemisis]

Thats very true. But also a good driver will be necessary in order to get around a defensive Bot...

[Molten]

There is alot more to defense other then just getting in the way. In 2007 we did well due to a form of defense most didn't consider. Our arm could go up, but not down. It couldn't score because of this issue. However, we could knock pieces out of many robots arms by adding a bit of weight to the end of our arm. It wasn't nearly enough to do any actual damage to a robot, but knocked innertubes out of the best of manipulators. By the time the team picked up another tube, we'd knock it out again before they could score. There are ways around this sort of defense, but it is definitely a surprisingly effective method. Also, every good defense team knows that it comes right down to it pinning isn't the only way to control a robot. Push the corners to keep them turned and out of control of their own bot. I've seen a driver keep 3 bots in a corner without pinning any of them with this simple maneuver.

If your thinking about doing defense, you should do it right. A kitbot doesn't make for a solid defense.

[Grogen]

If several teams decide to make a defense only bot, what if three defensive bots are allied together? Defensive bots I think are out of the question. If a team could make an all around bot that could play mostly offense and some defense, then it could be an independant bot.

Several ideas are out there up for options. Maybe an offense/ defense hybrid bot is the best design?????

[SteveGPage]

As you determine your defensive strategy, please keep in mind <G49> which makes it illegal to try and get a game piece from a robot that already posesses it.

Steve