Rammer
Real Life Examples: Punjar, Doom of Babylon, Warmachine (at least how it is driven)
Game Examples: Roly Poly, Eye Poker, M.A.D
Rammers (or rams) do bear the name of the tactic used: ramming. The bot rams repeatedly his opponent, damaging him in the process. Fast and brutish.
You can also use it simply as a pusher. You then can drive the opponent against a wall (and you will do regular damage to him, especially useful against HS's) or in a hazard.
Have a high ADC.
Building a Rammer
Rams must be fast. That means at least Ztek drive for lightweights, generally HP Ztek drive for middles, and 4WD HP Z-tek drive or more for heavyweights. You also need an invertible bot. With the minimum height needed for fitting a Z-tek inside your chassis, you can use shiny wheels and get an invertible bot.
The weapon is simply a rack of weapons using extenders, or several weapons attached on several anchors, installed at the front of the bot.
You could use any good weapon but the best are maces, axes and pointy tips. I never used ice picks but they could be efficient.
A frontal static weapon, an invertible bot and a strong drive train is good, but you should consider putting on some more defense (extended rack of spikes for the sides, plows, ramplates), or eventually a wedge (but this is uncommon). It is very important to protect your wheels.
Ram hybrids are numerous. A hammer adds a way to bypass the enemy's defenses and weapons. A poker adds pushing power and damage, especially for a pusher. A flipper can be useful (as it helps you with a wedge) for incapaciting your opponent prior to ramming him. A wedge reduces your damage and turns your bot into a pusher, but gives you more defense agains some robot types (Notably popups). Several builders think the HS/Rammer hybrid is the king of hybrids, and it is possible.
PROS
- Usually the fastest bot class
- Extended pushing ability.
- Good frontal defense.
- Great damage when ramming (a HW can score over nine thousand), but does need to back up then. A little slow when pushing.
- Generally has the edge against an Horizontal spinner, and especially against a SnS.
CONS
- Don't like Hammers and most vertical spinning weapons - especially Sawbots and Drums (ramming them head on is the best way to get hit, lifted and Gut-ripped)
- Popups are your deadliest opponents (same, and you can't get a good hit if the popup has frontal armor)
- Hard to drive well, because of superior speed, acceleration and turnspeed.
- Rammers are one of the bot types who rely on their drive a lot to deal damage and be efficient. Don't let them get at your wheels.
Pushers
Game Examples: SnowJob, Da Dog, Big Dog.
Pushers are similar to rammers in design (although most often slower than rammers), but their tactic is different: you charge against an enemy and push it around, hopefully pinning it on a wall. No back-up for another charge like rams. Weaponed pushers make less damage, but continuous damage. Pushers can be more efficient against spinners because you can block their weapons continuously. Some pushers have no weapons, and rely on traps, pits or OOTA's to win.