Bulldog Breed

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog"

- Tony Somerfield

Bulldog Breed was a robot that competed in Series 3 through 7 of Robot Wars, plus both series of Robot Wars Extreme. Originally using cutting discs, it eventually evolved into a successful wedge and flipper combination. As well as winning the Tag Team Terror championship in Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2, it reached the Series Semi-Finals of Robot Wars: The Seventh Wars.

Bulldog Breed (Series 3)
"It may look fearsome, but its a bit of a puppy!"

- Jonathan Pearce, during Bulldog Breed's poor performance in Series 3

The original Bulldog Breed took twelve weeks to build. It was a trapezoid shaped dual wedge robot, with one wedge tapering into a spike and the other featuring a pair of tungsten carbide body cutters. These cutters were capable of cutting through 2mm material, and also span at 325RPM upwards, assisting with traction for the robot and potentially flipping opponents up on impact. Bulldog Breed had electrical wheelchair motors that gave it the strength to pull a car with two people sitting in it.

The original Bulldog Breed was the most unreliable and by far the least successful version of the robot. Notwithstanding the steering problems that the team reported before the wars, it was slow and unresponsive in its only battle, easily outpushed by Robopig and eliminated by the house robots. Its armour was easily punctured by Shunt's axe.

Bulldog Breed 2
"British Bulldog spirit? Or barking mad?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Bulldog Breed 2 was designed very similarly to Chaos 2, eschewing the trapezoid for a more triangular shape and using polycarbonate armour to house the electronics. It retained the big-wedge and the rear spike, but substituted the spinning discs for a powerful pneumatic flipper. It was 1.3kg heavier than its predecessor, once again driven by a pair of wheelchair motors. It was as strong as its predecessor, capable of pushing a 2.5 tonne forklift at a top speed of 5 mph.

The flipper was powered by three CO2 cylinders. It reportedly threw two of Tony Somerfield's work colleagues 8 feet into the air. Unlike Chaos 2 and many other wedge flippers of its time, however, the flipper could only extend to a position parallel to the ground. This meant that when Bulldog Breed had a large weight on its flipper, it tended to lean forward with its back wheels lifting slightly.

Bulldog Breed 3
"We build 'em tough in Staffordshire!"

- Tony Somerfield

Bulldog Breed 3 gained almost 20kg from its predecessor. It substituted the dual wheelchair motors for a 24V electric motor, giving it a much quicker top speed of 15 mph, and was coated in significantly tougher aluminium dural plate armour, which varied from 10mm to 13mm in thickness.

Bulldog Breed 3 was less than half the height of its predecessors, at only 32cm tall. It changed from the Chaos 2 style triangle dual wedge to a Firestorm-style long wedge with rounded back, once again keeping the electronics visible through clear polycarbonate.

For weapons, it retained the hardened spike tail, and upgraded the flipper. It now featured a T-shaped flipper with a wide, ram-tipped plate to get beneath robots. The flipper was powered by twin cylinders that the team specifically built for competing in Robot Wars. The stem of the T lay between two humps on the wedge, and was now able to open almost ninety degrees from its resting position, giving Bulldog Breed 3 more flipping momentum than its predecessor.

Bulldog Breed 3's weakness was consistently listed as unable to self-right.

Bulldog Breed (Series 6 and Extreme 2, Series 7)
"We're going to push the boundaries, always."

- Tony Somerfield

Bulldog Breed reverted to its original name and created the smallest version of the robot yet for The Sixth Wars and the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. It now featured two 750W motors and removed the wedge humps and rear spike, but retained the T-shaped flipper and metal scoop.

Bulldog Breed featured a top speed of 10 mph and a 1 cm ground clearance. The robot also featured cast-nylon armour, a material that gets stronger in response to impact. The polycarbonate casing for the electronics was replaced with another armour plate. It was noticeably tougher than its predecessors, which had taken damage from Shunt - Kat 3 barely scratched the surface of the robot. The flipper was able to self-right and strong enough to throw Pussycat out of the arena and hoist both Dead Metal and Growler off the arena floor.

Bulldog Breed underwent very few upgrades before entering Series 7, with only minor dimension changes. It utilised a mesh buried inside the robot to protect its expensive and custom-made internal cylinders from damage, which caused controversy when Infernal Contraption snared the netting and tore it loose. Derek Foxwell investigated with Tony Somerfield on behalf of the judges, and ultimately gave Bulldog Breed a yellow card and permission to continue on the condition that the mesh be removed. Tony Somerfield said that in the future, they would devise other methods to protect the cylinders.

Series 3
Bulldog Breed was very sluggish and didn't last long in this opening battle. It waited by the starting spot until its opponent Robopig came towards them. It then finally moved, attempting to saw into Robopig's wheels but Robopig got away before any damage was sustained. It then appeared that Bulldog Breed had broken down as Robopig pushed it around near Shunt's CPZ. The discs were spinning but the robot itself was not moving. Robopig then pushed Bulldog Breed into the CPZ. Shunt then attempted to lift Bulldog Breed and axed a few holes into the top of the robot. Bulldog Breed then came back to life but Robopig slammed them again towards Shunt and again Shunt lifted and axed Bulldog Breed a couple of times. The arena spike then started spiking the under-body of Bulldog Breed. Matilda and Dead Metal closed in on the now immobile Bulldog Breed. Matilda attacked with her chainsaw and Dead Metal attempted to saw it but missed. Cease was called shortly after a few more axe blows from Shunt and a disappointing start for Bulldog Breed's Robot Wars career.

Series 4
In its first round melee, Bulldog Breed 2 was drawn up against newcomers Spikasaurus and the number 30 seeds Stinger.

It began with some promising flips on Spikasaurus, before lifting Stinger. However, both robots' shapes made them immune to flips. Stinger and Spikasaurus clashed, with Spikasaurus' rollcage taking damage. This damage allowed another flip from Bulldog Breed to land Spikasaurus on its back. However, the time ran out before Spikasaurus was officially immobilised, and the judges had to make a decision. They decided to put Bulldog Breed 2 through to the next round of the Heat along with the seeded Stinger, eliminating Spikasaurus.

In the second round, Bulldog Breed 2 fought the fourteenth seed, Bigger Brother. In this battle, Bulldog Breed 2 dodged the flipper of Bigger Brother, with the latter leaking CO2 gas as it tried to flip. Finally, Bulldog Breed 2 flipped Bigger Brother on its back, with the seeded machine unable to activate its flipper. With another seed crashing out of the competition early, Bulldog Breed 2 fought Stinger again.

Stinger spun up to speed, striking hard blows to Bulldog Breed. Damage was dealt to Bulldog Breed's armour. Bulldog Breed attempted to flip Stinger, but as it had been earlier, the flipper had no effect on Stinger. Stinger drove over Bulldog Breed, before it spun up again, hitting the insides of Bulldog Breed 2. One of these blows hit a CO2 canister, causing Bulldog Breed's flipper to jam open. Bulldog Breed was attacked by the House Robots after it broke down, before placing it on the floor flipper, and throwing it across the arena.

Extreme 1
Bulldog Breed 3's only appearance in the first series of Extreme saw it compete in a Mayhem qualifier battle where it went against Judge Shred 2½ and Spirit of Knightmare, this was for a right to fight in the second annihilator of the series. Bulldog Breed 3 was the most aggressive of the three robots, getting a few flips in on each opponent, until Spirit of Knightmare stopped completely. Just as it was being counted out, Bulldog Breed tossed Judge Shred who was unable to self-right. Judge Shred too was counted out and put down into the pit of oblivion by the house robots, just as Spirit of Knightmare was flipped by the arena floor flipper. Cease was then called and Bulldog Breed 3 was declared the winner, allowing it to go through to the annihilator, this was an outcome similar to that of Atomic 2's mayhem.

However, Bulldog Breed 3 was forced to pull out of the second annihilator after suffering damage from its heat final battle with Hypno-Disc in Heat B of Series 5, just like Atomic 2 had, so Spirit of Knightmare was allowed to qualify for the annihilator.

Series 5
Bulldog Breed 3's first round battle in Heat B of the Fifth Wars saw it go up against newcomers to the wars in Juggernot 2. Both robots started quite slowly, with the two of them circling each other for a brief period. This was until Bulldog Breed 3 charged and flipped the decidedly top-heavy Juggernot 2 onto its side, which dislodged a part of its rear armour. Bulldog Breed then flipped it onto its back and then onto its wheels. Juggernot 2 drove towards Bulldog Breed, but was flipped again. Bulldog Breed then pushed the pit release button, ripping it from the wall in the process. It then flipped Juggernot 2 towards the pit, but it couldn't push its opponent in. Meanwhile Juggernot 2's flipper had broken off. Shunt then pushed the defeated Juggernot 2 into the pit.

The next round saw the Bulldog against the Lamb, in the form of Lambsy. This battle started slowly as well, as Lambsy dodged Bulldog Breed and drove straight into the pit release button. As the pit descended, Bulldog Breed flipped Lambsy and the toy sheep flew off the top of it. Then as Lambsy was reversing, Bulldog Breed drove up Lambsy's wedge and got stuck, but with a helpful nudge from Refbot and using its flipper, it managed to escape. Bulldog Breed then flipped Lambsy a few more times, one of which put Lambsy onto the flame pit, but Lambsy escaped. Bulldog Breed then charged at Lambsy again and bounced off the wedge of Lambsy. Bulldog Breed attempted to flip Lambsy again, but the power of its flipper seemed to be waning. However it then pushed Lambsy into the house robots and Shunt axed numerous holes into Lambsy's top armour. The battle then went to the judges who put Bulldog Breed through to the Heat Final, where Bulldog Breed faced the Heat favourite and number 3 seed Hypno-Disc.

Unlike Bulldog Breed's previous two battles, this one started quickly with Hypno-Disc getting an early glancing blow to Bulldog Breed. Bulldog Breed managed to get its flipper under Hypno-Disc and flipped it onto its side, but Hypno-Disc recovered and slammed its disc into Bulldog Breed more times, but doing little damage, until it attacked Bulldog Breed's rear. This attack ripped out Bulldog Breed's safety link, which instantly immobilised Bulldog Breed. Hypno-Disc was merciful though and instead of destroying Bulldog Breed, it merely activated the pit and pushed Bulldog Breed down. However this damage meant that Bulldog Breed couldn't take its place in its Annihilator in Extreme Series 1, which was filmed at the same time as Series 5. "And then they sent the Bulldog to the doghouse!"

- Jonathan Pearce on Hypno-Disc's defeat of Bulldog Breed 3

Series 6
A new and improved Bulldog Breed returned for the Sixth Wars, unseeded. It was drawn up against former heat-finalists Kat 3, veterans Revenge of Trouble & Strife and newcomers Spin Doctor in its first round melee in the penultimate heat for the series. Bulldog Breed went straight into the fighting as it flipped Spin Doctor into Sir Killalot's crushing claw, but the impact with the house robot kept Spin Doctor on its wheels. Bulldog Breed then drove around Kat 3 and flipped Revenge of Trouble & Strife over, using Kat 3's jammed axe as a chock. Driving around Spin Doctor for a couple of seconds, Bulldog Breed went back to Revenge of Trouble & Strife and gave it a nudge as it had not self-righted. Bulldog Breed seemed like it was trying to flip Revenge of Trouble & Strife on to its wheels again but gave up and looked on as Refbot was about to count out the round robot out. Then, it slammed into Spin Doctor and flipped it into the Corner Patrol Zone and left it there at the peril of Sergeant Bash. The bulldog then flipped Kat 3 near the pit, nearly changing who was going to go out. After Revenge of Trouble & Strife drove into the pit and Spin Doctor was counted out, Bulldog Breed flicked Kat 3 into the pit.

In the second round, its luck was gone, as it had an unfortunate draw up against the number 4 seeds Hypno-Disc, for the second time in two series. At the start of the battle, Bulldog Breed managed to flip Hypno-Disc. Hypno-Disc managed to retaliate with 2 hits, both hit the front. A couple more hits and Bulldog Breed was driving in circles. Dead Metal started to attack Bulldog Breed because it was near the Corner Patrol Zone but the Bulldog managed to flick Dead Metal off. There was an evident rip in the side of Bulldog Breed which possibly caused it to be immobilised. Hypno-Disc hit it again and Dead Metal tried to slice into the bulldog but again it flicked Dead Metal. Bulldog Breed was counted out from lack of mobility and "Cease" was called, eliminating Bulldog Breed from the competition, at such an early stage, considering its capability as a machine.

Extreme 2
Bulldog Breed was the star of the Extreme Series 2 Tag Team Terror competition, where it was teamed up with Robochicken. In the first round, they had an unfortunate draw as they were drawn up against the reigning Tag Team Terror champions, Pussycat and Diotoir. The battle started with a huge shock, Bulldog Breed flipped Pussycat several times in the air before soon sending it flying out of the arena. Diotoir then sluggishly came out of the corner, before being flipped right over itself by Bulldog Breed. Bulldog Breed then flipped Diotoir onto its back right by the flame pit, only then did Bulldog Breed retreat to the corner to let Robochicken to position the immobilised Diotoir onto the flame pit, to burn just one last time. This was then when the Refbot came in to count out Diotoir. This easily put Bulldog Breed and Robochicken through to the second round of the competition.

In the Semi-Final round, Bulldog Breed and Robochicken were drawn up against newcomers to the televised show Lightning and previous Tag Team Terror finalists The Steel Avenger. Bulldog Breed had yet another bright start to a battle, as it threw Lightning over onto its back against the arena side wall, where Lightning could not self-right from. Bulldog Breed continued to flip it, propping it on the arena side wall, doing no more damage. The Steel Avenger ran in to free its team-mate, before Bulldog Breed attack Lightning again, leaving it on its back. Soon after, Growler ran up Bulldog Breed, who came very close to toppling the House Robot on several occasions. Bulldog Breed then flipped The Steel Avenger over onto the arena wall. Bulldog Breed continued to flip The Steel Avenger, whilst Lightning was counted out. However, it was Robochicken who ended the battle by immobilising The Steel Avenger by flipping it over right onto its back, from which The Steel Avenger couldn't self-right. The Steel Avenger was then counted out and Robochicken and Bulldog Breed were through to the Tag Team Terror Final. "And we look for hints in events like the Tag Team Terror for future UK and World Champions, and I'll tell you what, Bulldog Breed may go close in the future! They look terrific to me!"

- Jonathan Pearce

In the Grand Final, Bulldog Breed and Robochicken went up against what was considered as the best team for the competition, Hydra and Barbaric Response, although Bulldog Breed was still considered the best individual robot. Immediately, Bulldog Breed threw Hydra up and over, leaving Barbaric Response to come in and help its team-mate. However, Barbaric Response broke down, and Bulldog Breed flipped over Hydra once again to win the fight. Bulldog Breed had won the Tag Team Terror, alongside Robochicken, whom Bulldog Breed flipped over for amusement at the end.

Series 7
For the Seventh Wars, Bulldog Breed was seeded number 12 for the main competition, mainly due to its Tag Team Champion status as well as reaching two previous Heat Finals. In its first round battle, it was drawn up against veterans Infernal Contraption, and two newcomers in Mantis and Jabber. In this battle, the seeded machine started off very well, Bulldog Breed immediately targeted Infernal Contraption, and nearly got it out the arena, twice, after charging it into an unoccupied CPZ. Bulldog Breed then ran away and went for Mantis as Sergeant Bash closed in. Bulldog Breed tried to shunt Mantis around but got stuck underneath Mantis' lifting mechanism as Mantis was also lifting Jabber. Mantis then let go of Jabber and then engaged battle with Bulldog Breed. At one point, it reversed away after shoving Mantis into the pit release and what looked like a mesh-like piece of material fell out from underneath its flipper. It looked like Bulldog Breed were going to be disqualified from the wars for using a prohibited piece of material as it can get caught on spinners. The battle went to a judges' decision and the judges were given a while to decide about who had won and it was revealed that the mesh was not a weapon, it was used to protect Bulldog Breed's rams so it was given the benefit of the doubt allowing it to survive the judges' decision (on a yellow card) and go through along with Mantis. "It was buried within the robot, designed to protect £1200 worth of cylinders which we've had damaged in the past!"

- Tony Somerfield

In Round 2, it faced the Belgian machine, Hard. Bulldog Breed flipped Hard into the arena wall but was then slammed itself by the counter-attack, however Hard then suddenly broke down. Bulldog Breed was perfectly lined up to flip Hard out of the arena, but it could not breach the low ground clearance of the Belgian robot, and repeatedly failed to throw it out of the arena. Out of full-pressure flips, Bulldog Breed stood off and allowed Hard to be counted out, and attacked by Mr. Psycho. "Bulldog Breed wanted someone to pay, and the Belgium team from Kampenhout being made to pay."

- Jonathan Pearce

Bulldog Breed's Heat Final saw it drawn against Kat 3. Kat 3 landed a few axe blows on Bulldog Breed's top cover (including one which grazed it, causing sparks to fly). Bulldog Breed managed to toss Kat 3 around the arena and even over the top of Sir Killalot. Both robots were still mobile at the end which resulted in a judges decision. After the judges examined the damage on Bulldog Breed's top from the axe attacks and ruling them as superficial damage, Bulldog Breed was awarded the win by the judges, and for the first time in their history, it reached the Series Semi-Finals. "There were cats and dogs with metal paws, but the dog had its dinner, on Robot Wars!"

- Craig Charles

Bulldog Breed was then drawn up against the Dutch machine Tough as Nails in the first round of the Semi-Finals, who were considered the favourites before the battle began, even though Bulldog Breed was the seeded machine. The fight was very even with Bulldog Breed flipping Tough as Nails all over the arena and Tough as Nails dragging it across the flame pit. Tough as Nails tried its signature move on Bulldog Breed in grabbing it and trying to put it in the pit, but Bulldog Breed had good traction and held on. Bulldog Breed also nearly got Tough as Nails out the arena twice, and the fight then went to a Judges' decision as both were still mobile at the end. Bulldog Breed were declared the winner and went through to the next round.

Fighting for a place in the Series 7 Grand-Final, Bulldog Breed met the number 11 seeds, the newly improved X-Terminator. Bulldog Breed tried to get its flipper around the side of X-Terminator but couldn't because X-Terminator turned around so quickly that the flywheel hit the scoop front on and buckled it, severely hampering Bulldog Breed's ability to get underneath X-Terminator's already low ground clearance. X-Terminator began chewing lumps out of Bulldog Breed's armour. After several more bashes, Bulldog Breed found itself in the CPZ where it nearly went out the arena and lost a top panel. Much to the anger of Robert Somerfield, X-Terminator continued to hit Bulldog Breed and destroying it in its attempts to repeat the battle with Tsunami. Finally, Bulldog Breed was counted out and was eliminated from the Seventh Wars after such a promising series for the team. "Big Respect to Bulldog Breed, we have always felt bad for what we did to this robot, real heat of the moment stuff and not really realising how much damage we were inflicting while trying to fly them out of the arena. Since this fight I try and give other people's work a bit more respect. As a bit of Karma, Matilda did the same to us in﻿ the finals which cost me over 2 grand, so what goes around comes around."

- Marlon Pritchard on Youtube

Having entering in 5 series of Robot Wars, Bulldog Breed was one of many robots that was eligible to enter in the Series 7 All Stars Tournament at the end of the series. However, the damage caused to the robot by X-Terminator in the Semi-Finals was too severe to be repaired in time, so Bulldog Breed was unable to compete.

Results

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Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 13
 * Losses: 5

Series Record

 * Series 1-2: Did not enter
 * Series 3: Heat, Round 1
 * Series 4: Heat Final
 * Series 5: Heat Final
 * Series 6: Heat, Round 2
 * Series 7: Semi-Finals, Round 2
 * 2016 Series: Did not enter
 * 2017 Series: Did not enter

Robot Wars Live Events
In 2014, Bulldog Breed was sold to Shane Lale of Team Tilly. Bulldog Breed is now co-owned by Craig Danby. Craig and Shane returned Bulldog Breed to the circuit. Bulldog Breed is in need of a internal rebuild due to a previous owner making a mess of the insides, explaining why Bulldog Breed's flipper being so weak compared to how it was in Series 7. As of late 2014, Bulldog Breed has been reserved for Retro battles only, along with fellow old robots X-Terminator, Stinger, The Steel Avenger, Schumey & Mr Nasty.

Outside Robot Wars
In addition to Robot Wars, Bulldog Breed also took part in Techno Games under the guise of British Bulldog, and teamed up with Big Bro (Bigger Brother). The two robots entered the Football competition under the team name of Team BB. British Bulldog also competed in the assault course, Sumo and Tug of War.

The Bulldog Breed team also considered returning to the British Heavyweight Championships event at the O2 in 2011, but did not go ahead with it. In May 2012, Bulldog Breed was sold to Matthew Pearman of "Team Avenger". Matt had previously acquired and sold Grim Reaper so he could buy S.M.I.D.S.Y., which he then sold to obtain Bulldog Breed. He planned on bringing Bulldog Breed back to fighting condition to compete on the live circuit again. Bulldog Breed returned to the live circuit by competing at the Robots Extreme Wars Live Guildford event in June 2012, yet lost in its two fights due to mechanical malfunction. Since then, Bulldog Breed has fought in other live events, including the new live Robot Wars events.

The latest version of Bulldog Breed made an appearance on Dave TV show Storage Hunters UK in 2015, where it was "sold" to a bidder alongside Ripper, The Steel Avenger, Beast and more for £1400.

After the announcement of the Robot Wars reboot in 2016, Tony Somerfield confirmed they would not be competing stating that he had 'done that' and he was 'on to other things now' via Facebook.

Trivia

 * Bulldog Breed and Team KaterKiller fought in the same Heat of the main competition in the Third, Sixth and Seventh Wars. They also fell at the same stage in the Third and Sixth Wars, losing in the first round and Heat Semi-Final respectively, even being in the same first-round melee in the Sixth Wars. The two met in the Heat Final of the Seventh Wars, with Bulldog Breed being the victor.
 * Bulldog Breed is one of just two robots to compete in both series of Extreme and be undefeated in both, the other being Typhoon, making Bulldog Breed the only heavyweight that achieved this.
 * Bulldog Breed is one of 11 robots to have fought in 5 or more series of Robot Wars, having fought in Series 3 through 7. It shares this pattern with S.M.I.D.S.Y., X-Terminator, Team KaterKiller, Team Big Brother, Team Ming, Team Scutterbots, and Thermidor 2.
 * Bulldog Breed always lost to a seeded machine in the main competition, except for Series 3, where seeds were not present.
 * Team member Karl Alspin also entered his own robot, The Alien, in Series 5, 6 and 7. Despite not being credited on the stats boards or acknowledged by Jonathan Pearce, he was part of the team in Extreme 2 and Series 7, but did not appear on the team in Series 5 despite being credited on the stats board.
 * Bulldog Breed has a 100% success rate in judges' decisions, winning all five battles that it took to the judges.