Robot Wars - Second Wars tournament tree

The first challenge was called 'The Gauntlet' -- a maze with paths of differing obstacles from which to choose. In the Second Wars, one path led to 'The Sentinel' - a big robotic pushing arm, while the other led to a selection of the smaller house robots. The robots pushed as far down the 15-metre course as possible in the time allowed. The 'bot covering the least ground was eliminated.

The remaining five robots went on to the next challenge: 'The Trial'. This event varied from week to week with differing games. The Second Wars retained 'Sumo' and 'Soccer' from the First Wars and added:

• Skittles: knock over as many barrels as possible within the time limit.

• Tug of War: chain up to a House Robot and try to out-pull them, or at least stay out of the pit at the center.

• King of the Castle: stay on top of the raised castle while House Robots try to shove you off.

• Joust: charge along the raised path into a House Robot and push as far as you can get in 30 seconds.

• Pinball (semi-finals only): your robot is the ball -- hit as many targets as you can in one minute.

Again, the lowest scoring 'bot was eliminated. [See the Second Wars Rules for trial event details.]

For the final challenge of the heat, the four remaining robots paired off and fought in 'The Arena' - the familiar combat event that dominates the later wars. The two remaining robots then fought each other for the heat championship.

The Second Wars had two semifinal shows, each with six heat finalists reprising the heats with a Gauntlet and a Trial, followed by arena combat. The two semifinal winners met for a final arena match to determine the champion.

Winners: