Bale Spear

**Bale Spear** is a heavyweight robot built by Forge & Farm Combat Robots, which competed in World Championship III and V, as well as *BattleBots: Bounty Hunters*.

It is an invertible, box-shaped robot armed with an adjustable pneumatic spear made from 4130 steel, similar to that of DooAll, and called a "poker" by the team. The robot's name derives from this weapon, as bale spears are used in farming to raise hay bales onto truck beds and transport them with ease. It was initially made from 6061 aluminium tube frame, which proved weak in its debut season. As such, Bale Spear lost its rumble and both Tag Team matches, finishing winless.

The team were initially not planning on competing in 2020, however delays to filming due to the COVID-19 pandemic allowed for more time to build a new version of the robot.

For World Championship V, Bale Spear boasted a more robust design, chunkier wheels with improved grip and side armor to protect them from side attacks. The spear weaponry remained, but was now mounted at an angle with the intention of attacking from above once Bale Spear had clambered on top of its opponent. Protecting the pneumatic system was a long shield, shaped and designed to look like a farm silo. Bale Spear also sported flat panels on either side of the spear, designed to resemble barn doors. Each "door" had the robot's name written above in white. Despite the total redesign, Bale Spear went 0-2 in the regular season with KO defeats to Tracer and an unaired loss to Deadlift.

Team captain Earl Pancoast III intended to join the Red Devil team ahead of their 2021 revival, though this did not go ahead due to Red Devil's sudden retirement. However, he would instead partner up with Al Kindle's Blacksmith alongside former teammate Kyle Singer.

Bale Spear has made several appearances at Robot Ruckus in Orlando, Florida, both as a competing robot and static display. In 2019, it chalked up a win over non-BattleBots multibot Macaroni and Cheese, before losing in destructive fashion to Krusty Grab. However, it is now permanently retired and resides with Earl on his farm.

## Robot history

### Battlebots

#### World Championship III

Bale Spear first fought with Parallax in a Tag Team match against Double Dutch and Basilisk. Before the match, Bale Spear encountered driving issues, but the team managed to get it ready for the fight. Bale Spear started poorly as it was shoved into the arena screws by its own teammate, then had one of its tires snagged on Double Dutch's upper blade. This hindered Bale Spear's mobility greatly, but it continued to try and fight. It was unable to play a big role in the fight after ths, and eventually lost drive on all but one of its wheels. Time ran out, and the judges awarded a unanimous 3-0 decision to Double Dutch and Basilisk.

Bale Spear's next match was a three-way rumble involving Valkyrie and Predator. The battle started relatively evenly but once Valkyrie quickly knocked out Predator, they turned their attention to Bale Spear. The farmyard bot fought bravely despite not having the design capable of causing damage against Valkyrie. Bale Spear soon lost the front right wheel, then the left, leaving it down to just its two rear wheels. Valkyrie continued to attack, and Bale Spear soon had one of its rear tires dislodged, quickly followed by the other. Picked apart systematically by its opponent, Bale Spear could no longer move, so it and Predator were both counted out, giving Valkyrie the win by KO.

Bale Spear participated in another Tag Team match with its new partner Double Dutch, facing off against Predator (again) and Petunia during the USA vs. The World special. Bale Spear was quick to get on the attack but wasn't able to cause any damage to either opponent. However, they did collide with teammate Double Dutch's spinning bars and lost their right rear tire as a result. This seriously hindered their mobility, and Bale Spear eventually stopped moving. Predator also died during the match, and both sat immobile for the rest of the rumble, leaving the others to duke it out. Time ran out and the judges awarded a unanimous 3-0 decision to Predator and Petunia, and one point to The World.

#### World Championship V

Bale Spear's first fight of the 2020 season was against newcomer Deadlift. This fight was not shown in full during the main season, and was instead released among the Basement Tapes. The battle started with Bale Spear on the offensive, driving over Deadlift as the latter was late to use its lifting weapon. Bale Spear had activated its weapon, but struggled to retract it and was showing signs of drive issues. Deadlift itself was also struggling, with the two bots making glancing attacks at best during the first half of the fight. Deadlift then managed to hook its lifter under the protection for Bale Spear's right-front tire, setting it down and blasting its opponent with flames. Deadlift again got around to Bale Spear's side and made use of the flamethrower, before moving it to the screws and clamping its opponent against the wall momentarily. Bale Spear was now smoking and was inevitably counted out, leaving Deadlift to take the win by KO.

Bale Spear next fought another newcomer, Tracer. Bale Spear was not doing well as the first attack from Tracer sent them flying, only to land on top of Tracer's minibot of Needle, costing them a front attachment in the process. This left Bale Spear with little to do, but wait for the next hit, which sent them on top of their opponent, leaving them to get shoved across the arena floor into the screws. Bale Spear had very little movement left and was counted out, giving Tracer the win by KO and putting them to 0-2.

#### BattleBots: Bounty Hunters

Bale Spear also participated in Bronco's *BattleBots: Bounty Hunters* episode for a portion of the cash prize on offer. In this tournament, it was given a match with Zoe Stephenson and a greatly-updated Chomp. Bale Spear started off rather poorly as it took two hammer blows right off the start, but thankfully, neither seemed to cause any major damage as they were roughly near the gap in front of the back left wheel. Bale Spear then pushed Chomp into the corner where Chomp took multiple blows from the pulverizer. In this charge, Bale Spear had reached beneath Chomp's turret and knocked a fitting loose from its flamethrowers, causing fuel to spill into the machine. Bale Spear waited nearby while Chomp struggled to move and flames erupted from under its turret. Chomp couldn't move and was counted out, giving Bale Spear their first ever BattleBots victory, and a spot in the next round.

Fresh off their victory over the 500lb walker Chomp, Bale Spear met MadCatter in the second round. Immediately, Bale Spear were flipped over and unable to drive inverted. This led to them taking a barrage of hits from MadCatter and getting sent under the pulverizer. After one final hit that left them upside down once more, panels and batteries were strewn across the floor and Bale Spear was smoking. Earl Pancoast's machine was counted out, handing MadCatter the win by KO, eliminating Bale Spear from the bracket.