while true, NiCad's are much heavier for the same power. I used a 6 cell 2650mah Turnigy Nano-Tech pack in Nyx and it worked great. As long as you don't short it and protect it well, you'll save a ton of weight vs. NiCads.
Also, on Nyx, I used 4" wheels in high gear with a slight chain reduction (15t on drive, 19t on wheel, 1.267:1 ratio) making it perform closer to a 3" wheel (drive speed would match a 3.16" diameter wheel directly mounted to the dewalt shaft)
We finally got a picture of Mortis' insides, which is a big deal because they never explained how they got the tanto blade to fire so fast. ("I'd tell you but I'd have to kill you" was on the team's website.) So here's the picture, it looks like just a basic clutch mechanism, but I'm not really the authority on these thing, maybe someone else can explain it better:
Looks like it may work something like the system Team Hurtz used in beta-
Can't really call it IRL enough to merit the skirt hinge over the door hinge, but it's an amusing SHW that's pretty lethal if the other bot gets on top of it-
Another option would be to wrap the bot with car tires or thick rubber. If you get a long continuous strip covering the front and sides it should help a fair bit. Just make sure to keep the edges of the rubber away from the weapon so it can't get a really good bite and pull the whole thing off.
Motor City Massacre: 1-2, still working but probably getting a complete redesign/rebuild. My girlfriend wants something more destructive.
Kobalos: 6-2, placed second. Looking pretty rough but still running. I'm thinking it's new bot time.
Moros: 0-2, two self induced knockouts. Was still working, then I did a demo with a printer and managed to eject my motor controllers. Gearbox seems a bit stiff too, so I'll be doing a bit of a teardown and some rewiring.
Nyx: 2-2, performed pretty well. One loss was due to the drive motor wires unsoldering themselves, the other was my opponent balancing me on the wall. Overall, it did great and will be getting a few upgrades before Dragon*Con
Apollyon: 4-0, 12lb champion. It worked perfectly all weekend.