King Buxton

"Good power and speed, that's what it's all about, this is an old metro sort of robot, you just get out there, and hit 'em hard"

- Simon Harrison

King Buxton was a long-time competitor in the UK robot combat game show Robot Wars, competing in Series 2-5, 7-8 and the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. In its first appearance, it reached the Semi-Finals of Series 2 by defeating Robo Doc, before losing to the reigning champion Roadblock in the Arena stage.

After this, King Buxton would continue to compete in Robot Wars with moderate success. It reached the Heat Final of Series 3, losing to Robo Doc's successor, 101, before teaming up with the latter to win the Series 4 Tag Team Terror tournament as King B3. However, in all of its other main series appearances, it was only able to reach the second round of its heat, while it and 101 lost their Tag Team Terror title in the first round of the Extreme 1 tournament.

Etymology
King Buxton was named after the character "Buxton" from the TV programme The Magic Roundabout. Harrison and Hornsby both found the series very creepy when they were kids, and had been discussing it just before the application process. When asked the name of his robot, Harrison blurted "King Buxton".

The "Powerworks" in King B Powerworks (alternatively capitalised as PowerWorks) is derived from the robot's usage of the highest voltage in its drive power that the rules would allow.

Versions of King Buxton
"The movable titanium spikes are menacing. Low, fast and highly manoeuvrable..."

- Jonathan Pearce describes King Buxton in Series 2

In all of its iterations, King Buxton was a flat-box invertible machine with four-wheel drive and armed with lifting forks, sometimes also featuring a cutting disc at the rear. In its subsequent interactions, King Buxton was known by derivatives King B3 (King Buxton 3), King B Powerworks (in reference to its 36 volt motors) and King B Remix. These derivatives lead to the robot being frequently but informally referred to simply as King B, which is also the name of the team's Facebook page. "Grant (the trouble maker) phoned up the Beeb/Mentorn and declared that after seeing the first couple of episodes of that dodgy new series 'Robot Wars' that his mate / work colleague Simon had a Robot to enter for series 2. He put me on the phone and I stutteringly replied to their first question "well whats it called then?" I blurted out "King Buxton" all of a sudden (and have regretted it ever since!)"

- King B Facebook page on the etymology of King Buxton

King Buxton
"King Buxton is quite small compared with most of the other RobotWars contenders. The case is only 26 inches front to back, but it still weighs just under the 79.4KB weight limit."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

The first iteration of King Buxton was armoured in 3mm aluminium armour with titanium lifting spikes, and two static spikes on the back. The spikes were made from bike handlebars with titanium sharpened points on the ends. It was powered by 9 6 volt cell batteries with 3 in parallel and 3 in series to give 18 volts. The team had 2 sets, swapping them after each round. "It turned out that one set was better than the other so we saved them for big battles ( like with RoboDoc )."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

Its 750W, 24 volt motors and four-wheel drive allowed King Buxton to reach 18mph top speed and gave it significant pushing power, enabling it to push through bricks, House Robots and even other formidable pushers like All Torque, Roadblock and 101. The radio was kept at the back of the robot to keep it as far from the motors as possible, thus minimising the risk of interference. "This first machine was mechanically engineered equally between myself and Steve Monk with Phil Brett contributing to the concept and final assembly. All electronics were 100% engineered from scratch by myself. We used scrap and reclaimed steel for the build where we could as the budget was near zero."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

The original version of King Buxton was the most successful, reaching the series Semi-finals before losing to the reigning champions Roadblock, in the arena stage.

It returned in Series 3 with several updates, especially to its electronics, which had caused problems in the last wars by catching fire. The chassis was cut and re-worked to allow replaceable axles. It also featured a rotary cutter at the rear and the spikes were upgraded to serve as more effective lifters, capable of lifting 80kg. The robot could reach 14mph. This version took 8 months to build. It reached the heat final, but lost in the heat final to its rival, 101. "That machine was built 90% myself and 10% Steve Monk."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

The aluminium King Buxton was prone to fire damage, visibly alight during Series 2. The team installed air cooled motors by way of ducted flow fans for Series 3, but the robot was notably smoking and slowing down during the heat final clash with 101.

King B3
"This was the first I built entirely on my own. The chassis was all new so as to accommodate a rear 40cc petrol engine to power a cutting disc The electronics was 100% re-designed to add current limiting to protect the motors from burning out. It was a much longer and slightly wider machine and handled well"

- Simon Harrison in 2018

King B3, also styled as King Buxton III (King Buxton the Third), entered Series 4 as a new machine which retained the same design, but was now armoured in clear perspex on the top panel. King B3's arsenal consisted of a simple electric lifting mechanism at the front, which had spikes on the ends, and a 9" cutting disc was added to the robot, powered by a petrol engine, with a top speed of 3000rpm. It took 11 months to build. "It's quite a mean little thing, it certainly wrecked my garage!"

- Simon Harrison on King B3's circular saw

Despite a new conductive cooling system to counteract the flame problems of the past, consisting of fan ducts to cool the motors, King B3 lost in the main competition by catching fire. However, it redeemed this by winning the first Tag Team Terror at the end of Series 4.

"This machine Is the first that had any real money thrown at it - being financed from my credit card, even then the cost was nowhere near the price stated on the show as everything was cut, welded built at home without outside engineering being bought in"

- Simon Harrison in 2018

The robot cost around £1500, lower than the £4000 it was said to have cost on the show. "... it was stated as costing more like £4000 ( i can’t remember now) but that was probably picked up in an interview somewhere - possibly we seid it would cost that if you bought in the parts and electronics that were made ourselves from scratch."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

King B Powerworks
"The name "Powerworks" comes from the fact that we're using the highest voltage that the rules will allow in our power system for the drive, we're also running the same system for our saw at the back, we actually run at 8000 rpm. We've had some reliability problems in the past, but when we're on a run, I think we're going to be doing quite well."

- Simon Harrison's introduction in Extreme 1/Series 5

With the weight limit increase, King Buxton became the 88kg King B Powerworks, named after its 36 volt motors; this was the highest voltage the rules would allow. It was later increased to 97kg for Series 7. The cutting disc could now spin at an upgraded 8000RPM. "Alan Gribble kindly made this ‘Pussycat’ style rear disk after he caught us admiring his machine."

- King B Facebook page

This version of King Buxton fought in Series 5, 7 and Extreme 1, but failed to replicate its past success against capable opponents such as Dominator 2, Dantomkia and The Steel Avenger. "The electronics design was new again As I planned to use LEM 130 motors which I had ordered and would have been a big power upgrade However! Lynch motors suddenly refused to supply the motors just a few weeks before auditions and I was forced to move everything around in the chassis to re-fit Bosch motors ( totally different shape) I never found out why I was denied those motors whereas Storm 2 later used them to devastating effect Because I moved the motors, I had trouble with the drive electronics which was now behind the lifter motors."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

King B Powerworks had a tendency to go berserk mid-way through battles; two of its losses in Extreme Series 1 were for this reason, although this problem was later resolved by Series 5. Notably, its Series 7 stat cards referred to the robot as King B "Powerworks", punctuation included.

The robot used a different chassis in both of its main series - the robot was box-shaped in Series 5, but used a new, angled design in Series 7.

For its attempted qualification in Series 6, optional attachments were developed for King B Powerworks which could be used instead of the spinning disc, such as a curved rear scoop which would replace the spinning disc, and the convex rear bodywork which was later used on King B Remix, but these were not brought to Series 7. "Powerworks took every minute of my life from the end of S4 to the beginning of S5 to build ( bad days) It was hard work and a lot of aggravation I remember. It never recovered to run really well for TV. It was my ‘unlucky’ chassis - even revived with updates as ‘Remix’ it had a lot of issues. I had stuck with it as I believed it had potential ( it won many fights after in Ireland after the first run of RW shut down) but it never really came right when it mattered"

- Simon Harrison in 2018

King B Remix
"A previous Robot Wars competitor, under the name King Buxton, King B Remix is a Flipper and Ram-bot which has been rebuilt using “the best parts and philosophies from each of its previous evolutions,” with 30% of its current make-up dating back to 1998."

- Robot Wars website

In 2016, the team created King B Remix, a robot similar in design to King B Powerworks, but with even greater internal strength, albeit with a rear bumper plate instead of the rear cutting disc. The armour was 16mm polycarbonate on top, with Maganese Steel on the front and rear and 16mm Ultra High Molecular Weight Polymer (UHMWPE) also on the rear. The robot was powered by a 40 volt Lithium Iron Phosphate battery, and could reach speeds of 14mph. The steel lifting spikes were also able to rotate, each acting like a small drill. However, the robot's primary weakness came from its drive chains, which snapped in more than one battle, and continually led to King B Remix's loss of mobility. "Remix was built in 6 weeks from Powerworks which had been revived from rusty scrap in 2015 to run again in Ireland just for fun - so I was lucky to have something ready for Robot Wars’ revival."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

According to the Robot Wars website, the team thought of the robot as a living entity and spoke to it in Japanese through team member Natsuko, who acts as King B Remix’s translator.

The Team
"The morning after I saw the first episode of series 1, I went into work and talked to Grant about what I’d watched. Told him I saw this robot fighting show and I’d like to enter. He’d seen it too and he said I MUST apply, as he thought I’d do a great ‘bot as he knew about my interests snd hobbies in this area. In fact he called Mentorn right then and told them I had an entry.... so I entered ! When they asked the name of the robot I was entering - I suddenly blurted out ‘King Buxton’ as it was a character from a rate children’s film that Grant and I were chatting about the day before ( we were discussing how we had never met anyone else who knew about the film)"

- Simon Harrison in 2018

The team captain was Simon Harrison, the only team member present in all the team's appearances. Originally, he was joined by Phil Brett and Steve Monk, two close friends of his that had helped to build King Buxton. "...when the original King Buxton was built, I had no facilities to do any construction- so I called on my friend Steve Monk and asked if I could use his workshop (as seen where we are building on ‘Robot Wars Revealed’) He did a lot of the machining of parts so he became a major team member. Phil Brett was a close friend then, as we had been engineering apprentice together after leaving school. He helped out organising parts- so was also on the first team"

- Simon Harrison in 2018

Steve Monk did not appear in Series 3, but was still listed on the stat board. Monk and Brett left after Series 3, and Grant Hornsby joined the team, along with Tony Sharp. Sharp was only part of the team in Series 4, though Grant Hornsby has been in the team in all their appearances since Series 4. "Grant Hornsby has in reality been the longest serving team member, before anyone else. He does not have the engineering skills to build anything ( though he is an engineering buyer in his career - so does understand the technologies) Grant is immensely exited by Robot Wars and being part of the show - and that feeling of excitement always helps me get things done and keep the vision alive. ... Grant wasn’t in the TV team at first as I needed then to call on friends with engineering skills to get the project off the ground and teams were limited to 3 members - but later on Grant got his chance."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

When the team returned in Series 8, Simon's wife Natsuko Hori and Martin Slattery were also team members.

Qualification
King Buxton attended the Series 2 auditions in an unfinished state, without the bodywork or motors for the lifter. Despite this, the robot ran the course well, impressing the judges enough to qualify. "I don’t remember many bots running very well but luckily we ran ok- just asked to run around some obstacles and hit a ball into a goal ( which we did easily compared to many others) and were promised a place on the show. We then had a few weeks to make the bodywork and complete the lifter electronics - but still I remember that we were still assembling the Robot until about 3:30 AM on the day of filming"

- Simon Harrison in 2018

To qualify for Series 3, King Buxton had to do the obstacle course. It attended the audition without its bodywork again, and ran the course well enough to qualify, but one of the concrete blocks fell on the electronics, causing an electrical fire. "We ran the obstacle course and were then asked to try to knock down a pile of concrete blocks. We obliterated the blocks! ( big gasp from the small audience) But one of the heavy blocks got thrown up and came down hard in the electronics ( as the body was not fitted) and caused a large short circuit / electrical fire. We qualified but it gave me an extra 2 weeks of work to repair the fire damage and meant that it was again difficult to be ready in time for the filming."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

King B3 qualified automatically for Series 4 due to its status as the 17th seed. King B Powerworks qualified for Series 5 through attendance at the touring qualifier events.

King B Powerworks suffered an unexpected failure to qualify for Robot Wars: The Sixth Wars. Simon Harrison had made a build error in his hasty rebuild of King B Powerworks and the robot had spent a week packed into the boot of his car. During a qualifier fight with Spirit of Scorpion, King B Powerworks' drive failed nearly instantly and the robot could not move. King B Powerworks was not damaged but was not given a discretionary place either, presumably having failed to make an impact on the producers. "Buxton was rather ‘faded’ as a feature by then, so had no chance to expect a discretionary. That was fair - I didn’t argue. I understood"

- Simon Harrison

After failing to qualify for Series 6, the team decided not to enter Extreme 2. "I do remember talking to the show’s producer at the time (Bill Hobbins) on the phone about Extreme II - but he was looking for new stuff or new ideas and I had to admit that I had nothing to offer that was different to Extreme 1. I was upset that Extreme 1 was such a disaster for King B so didn’t feel good about Extreme II - i worried that Buxton would struggle again- so just didn’t push to do it."

- Simon Harrison in 2018

King B Powerworks redeemed this in Series 7, facing M2, Pressure and Thunderpants in its qualifying battle. It opened the battle by ramming into Pressure, and then slammed Thunderpants into the arena wall. Afterwards, it caused terminal damage to a wheel of Thunderpants, immobilising it with damage which would not be successfully repaired in time for Thunderpants' appearance in Heat E, leading to the disqualification of Thunderpants. It pushed Pressure back, and was lifted up in response, but managed to slam Pressure into the arena wall, although this allowed M2 to launch King B Powerworks into the air, and then flip it a further three times in sequence. King B Powerworks drove over the ramp shape of M2 to sneak behind it, but could not land any major attacks, and fled, only attacking M2 when it was distracted by Pressure. It was flipped a further two times, but managed to push M2 into the wall. Retreating to the centre of the arena, King B Powerworks pressed its spikes into M2, but was thrown over, and M2 followed this up with four more consecutive flips. Pressure finally returned to the battle and lifted King B Powerworks, but it was quickly flipped over by M2, and immobilised. King B Powerworks could only drive in circles, and was repeatedly flipped by M2 until it was stranded on the arena wall. Although it escaped, King B Powerworks could not leave the side of the arena, and the battle ended after three minutes had expired. Although M2 had commanded the match, King B Powerworks still qualified for the Seventh Wars.

King B Remix would later qualify for Series 8 through open applications, with the vast competitive experience of the robot providing a case for its entry, while the team chose not to enter Series 9 or 10.

Rivalry
The King Buxton team had a long-standing rivalry with Team 101, which initially began after both teams fought each other in Series 2. Following King Buxton's victory against Robo Doc in that series, 101 avenged the grudge by defeating King Buxton when both teams met each other again in Series 3. Both teams put their rivalry behind them when they were paired together for the Series 4 Tag Team Terror competition. King B3 and 101 won the tournament, but ironically the alliance was cut short when both robots fought each other in the final round in celebration of their victory. In Extreme Series 1, King B Powerworks and 101 re-entered the Tag Team Terror as reigning champions, but lost in the first round after King B Powerworks lost control and Diotoir and Mega Morg kept attacking 101 aggressively and continuously. Both teams blamed each other for their loss, and settled their newly-rekindled grudge in a Vengeance battle, which 101 won after King B Powerworks again malfunctioned and went 'berserk'.

King B Powerworks submitted and acknowledged the superiority of 101, with the teams promising to continue the Tag Team partnership. However, neither King B Powerworks, nor 101's successor, Anarchy, took part in the second series of Extreme, so they did not have the opportunity to do so.

Series 2
"I don't believe they made this robot, because I've only ever seen them polish it."

- Philippa Forrester before the Arena stage

King Buxton fought in Heat I of the Second Wars. "What a nightmare ! We'd been having radio control problems from the start. In the test area we'd set things up nicely. As soon as we got into the arena it all went badly wrong. Had we moved the trimmers on the radio ? Had a speed controller reset and changed it's null point ? Was it external interference ? Too late now we just had to go."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

In the Gauntlet stage of the heat, it turned towards the ram rig route, shaking erratically, seeming to have control problems as it drove into a wall. It reversed towards the spikes, narrowly avoiding them. King Buxton turned around and after being blocked by the spikes briefly, tried to go over the ramp, but turned the wrong way and fell off halfway. It drove straight into a tank trap, then reversed away and charged at the sphere, only to be blocked by Matilda. The sphere rolled away, as King Buxton reversed for another charge. With a burst of speed, it shot past Matilda, but Sir Killalot caught it and lifted it up. Dropping down, Sergeant Bash (who was in the ramrig route torched it, then Killalot pinned it down with his lance against one of the spikes on the fence. Matilda rammed it from behind, while Bash) continued to burn it. King Buxton made no further progress, as Killalot and Matilda prevented finishing the run until cease was called. King Buxton managed a respectable distance of 10.6m, despite the team barely being in control, placing it third on the leaderboard overall. "We got power, when we get it under control, it'll be ... interesting."

- Simon Harrison

This was enough to qualify for the Trial. The team modified the robot to allow it to be reset if it suffered interference. "Test area running was fine after resetting the speed controller. That was it then ! Simon and I carried 2 reset prodders ( Alan Keys ) and a set of wooden blocks to put the robot on after that point. If the robot started acting up we'd just block it up off it's wheels, reset it and blast into the distance in perfect control ! Or so we planned."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

The Trial for Heat I was Joust, and the team planned to charge straight at Matilda. "This looked easy. We fitted a scoop on the front between the spikes too try to dive under Matilda's front. We'd just race up the ramp past the middle and meet her halfway down the other side. Speed was the key and we had lots of it."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

However, when Matilda's chainsaw was started, King Buxton began to jitter again, and was unable to move at full speed. It drove up the ramp, but drove into the side and briefly got caught on the side. It managed to get off the side and charged at Matilda in the centre, which lifted it up. Matilda turned King Buxton around, and pushed it off. It had managed 6.95 metres, enough to qualify for the arena.

Its Heat Semi-Final was against Robo Doc, beginning a long and storied rivalry between the two teams. "King Buxton is the quicker, lighter, smaller robot as you can see, by a long chalk"

- Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle

As Robo Doc charged at King Buxton, King Buxton drove around to atttack Robo Doc's side. Robo Doc tried to spin off King Buxton's spikes, but despite spinning the two together, could not get free. King Buxton pushed it into the PPZ, leaving it for Matilda. "This is good mobility, this is good style, this is good control..."

- Praise from Jonathan Pearce

Robo Doc was grabbed by Dead Metal, which dragged it around for a while, before letting it go. It got the lifting arm under King Buxton, only for King Buxton to push it into Shunt, then into the PPZ. Robo Doc was caught between Sir Killalot and Shunt, the latter of which axed it, until King Buxton carried it out as it reversed. King Buxton rammed into Robo Doc's front, but was unable to push it back, so instead drove around the side again, pushing it against Dead Metal. After letting Robo Doc escape, it drove at the side again, but failed to push it. Robo Doc almost reversed into the pit, and when it drove forward, it was blocked by Matilda, which was out of the PPZ. King Buxton pushed Matilda's rear, nearly getting Robo Doc into the pit. Robo Doc pushed back at Matilda, and King Buxton reversed. Robo Doc drove up Matilda, and King Buxton rammed it, overturning it. Robo Doc fell onto the flame pit, but drove off before cease was called. It went to a judges' decision, which after much deliberation resulted in King Buxton winning through to the Heat Final. "I have to say that it was made to look like we won with ease but this wasn't the case. Our battle with Robo Doc was fantastic. A full 5 minutes of fighting. The judges took over 10 minutes to make the decision. Ok we won it but it really was 50/50. If we had lost we would have been happy as it was such a good battle."

- Phil Brett commenting on King Buxton's semi final fight

In the Heat Final, it fought All Torque for a place in the Semi-Finals. "Two quick, powerful robots. All Torque is slightly the lighter but speedier. King Buxton seems to have more maneuvrability, with the spikes as well"

- Jonathan Pearce at the start of the fight

Both robots started by charging at each other, but King Buxton turned to the side just before the two made contact, so All Torque hit King Buxton's side and bounced off. The two ran past each other, then King Buxton turned around and attempted to get behind All Torque, but couldn't. Instead it rammed All Torque head on, All Torque began by pushing King Buxton back first but was shoved back itself soon enough. King Buxton pushed it all the way onto the edge of the pit, then rammed into it repeatedly, trying to knock it in fully. Sir Killalot soon came in to finish the job, knocking All Torque in with its lance. "Another bit of T.V. editing made another easy looking victory. Not the case again. At first WE got pushed back. But after a while All Torque's power seemed to drop off ( the speed controllers current limiting probably ). In the pit you go ! Still, not a bad fight. The worst bit is we had a fun time with the house robots afterwards but it wasn't shown. Never mind, we continue....."

- Phil Brett commenting on King Buxton's semi final fight

King Buxton progressed to the Series Semi-Finals. "We're confident, we'll just go out and see what happens"

- Steve Monk before the Gauntlet

In the Gauntlet stage of the Semi-Finals, King Buxton was the only robot to complete the course. It took the middle route, easily smashing through the blocks. Shunt pushed the sphere into King Buxton to block its path, but turned into the pit, giving King B a clear run through to Matilda. King Buxton pushed the sphere with no problem, but Matilda lifted it up with its forks. However, King Buxton quickly managed to get itself down, and get past. Dead Metal was waiting in the endzone, blocking King Buxton's path, but King Buxton drove around it, and reached the endzone in a very impressive time.

King Buxton finished first on the leaderboard. "With perfect control we dived under the big ball. This fazed the house robot so much he drove straight into the middle pit. 26 seconds later were in the end zone and through ! It looked easy and was ! We could go all the way. There was just a little problem in the background.... that would soon be in the foreground. But on we go."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

Before the subsequent Pinball round, the team filed the sides of King Buxton. "It's something to do, isn't it? I just thought we'd have a bit of extra clearance..."

- Simon Harrison explains to Philippa Forrester why he was filing

In the round itself, King Buxton started well, knocking over the blocks and barrels. One of the blocks became stuck on top of it, but this did not hinder its progress. It went for the see-saw, clearing it easily, the block falling off as it did so. However, King Buxton found Sir Killalot waiting on the other side of the ramp, so turned round and went back over the see-saw. "King Buxton, could be something of an underdog for the title. ... Certainly, confounding the experts here."

- Jonathan Pearce

King Buxton went for the other set of bricks and barrels, knocking many of them down. However, as it turned around to go for another target, it became stuck on one of the bricks. Although it managed to get down from the brick, this gave Sir Killalot time to come in and corner King Buxton. Sir Killalot became stuck on the bricks as well, but when King Buxton tried to get away, it couldn't drive over the bricks. It tried to push past the bricks, but failed to do so. After another attempt to drive over the bricks, King Buxton successfully drove over the bricks, and shot towards the 50 point target, guarded by Matilda, as time ran out. However, Matilda blocked King Buxton, and lifted it up before cease was called. Despite the problems, King Buxton had scored enough points to go through to the Arena stage. "We always disliked the non-power / fighting games and we didn't like the look of this at all. It was all too easy to get stuck on a brick or jammed under a house robot. To tell you the truth Id thought we'd gone out. 165 was a poor score. It didn't help that Steve the driver thought we only needed 120 for some reason and didn't go for it until near the end. But we were though again, just. All our optimism from the last round had gone. Now we were happy with every round we completed."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

King Buxton then fought reigning champions Roadblock for a place in the Grand Final. "Roadblock. It doesn't look like a great bit of engineering but it works very well. We didn't think we'd have too much trouble though. But the problem we'd been hiding from the world was going to be our downfall."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

King Buxton started faster and tried to get around to Roadblock's side, but Roadblock turned in time, and got its scoop under King Buxton. King Buxton drove over its opponent's wedge, and tried to get at is opponents side again, but Roadblock turned, preventing King Buxton from getting in a position to push. King Buxton drove up the side of the ramp, before falling off. It got one of its spikes in the top corner and pushed its opponent, but then turned to its opponent's front. The spike loosened, and King Buxton drove away as Roadblock pushed. Whilst escaping, it drove into Dead Metal. This allowed Roadblock to bring its saw into play, making sparks on contact. Dead Metal reversed, and King Buxton drove into the centre of the arena, but appeared to be moving erratically. Roadblock tried to use the saw, but King Buxton pushed it into the PPZ, where Shunt axed it and Dead Metal rammed into it. Roadblock escaped, and King Buxton drove at its front, trying to push it, but ended up driving up and over the wedge. It became stuck on the spikes, allowing Roadblock to use its saw some more. King Buxton drove away from the saw, before ramming into Roadblock in reverse. However, smoke then began to pour from King Buxton, a fire became visible, and King Buxton lost mobility. "The engines have gone! King Buxton in all sorts of trouble!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Roadblock pushed King Buxton onto the spikes, using the saw to damage the wheels. Dead Metal grabbed King Buxton just before cease was called. "Even in testing before RobotWars we had seen smoke coming from the motors. Just before the first program we had changed the speed controllers for much lower resistance ones. This meant that on full power the batteries were effectively connected straight too the motors, driving the 750W motors at more like double that ! Under stall the motors just got hotter and hotter. With Roadblock we could push him quite easily at first, but the already badly damaged motors just could not last. Smoke / Fire / end of RobotWars for us."

- King Buxton pages of Phil Brett's website

Series 3
"A little spinny thing, a little spinny thing, what good's that going to do?"

- Philippa Forrester commenting on King Buxton's new weapon

The King Buxton team returned for the Third Wars, and participated in Heat J of the main competition. King Buxton was placed up against newcomers Eric in its first round battle of the heat. The two robots met in the centre, with King Buxton getting at Eric's side and pushing. It quickly lost purchase on the smooth sloped side of Eric, and Eric turned away. King Buxton charged at Eric's front, but Eric fired its lifter and pulled King Buxton into mid-air, blocking the charge. Buxton pushed into Eric, but lost the tip of one of its prongs in the process. "Ooh! King Buxton's lost one of the tips to its front rams there. Somewhere on the arena floor is a steel tip."

- Jonathan Pearce

It drove away for another charge, but drove up the side of Eric when it charged at its opponent, who opened its lifter to keep Buxton suspended. King Buxton reversed down, then drove at Eric's front, so Eric flicked King Buxton up, but King Buxton managed to get behind Eric and nearly pushed it into the pit. However, King Buxton drove at the wrong angle, so two of King Buxton's wheels were suspended over the pit, along with one of Eric's wheels. and when Eric attempted to pit it, it freed Buxton and reversed itself in. "Eric towards the pit - oh goodness me! And King Buxton is left teetering on the brink of oblivion! And Eric - oh no! - has backed itself down into the pit! King Buxton spun away and Eric went down!"

- Jonathan Pearce

King Buxton was through to Round 2. In the second round, King Buxton went up against Weld-Dor.

"Love and peace? I'll give them a few technical traumas unless they get it on here!"

- Jonathan Pearce, on the friendly working relationship between King Buxton and Weld-Dor

King Buxton and Weld-Dor both attempted to push their weapons against the other, and King Buxton drove up the side of Weld-Dor. It reversed off; avoiding Weld-Dor's axe, and ran up it again, pushing it around. It recieved one axe blow doing this, but got its forks in a position to block the next. King Buxton pushed Weld-Dor towards the pit twice, driving up onto Weld-Dor on the second attempt. It circled around and pushed Weld-Dor towards the flame pit, pressing its fork into the wheel arch. King Buxton mistakenly drove onto the flames, but quickly got off and pushed and dragged Weld-Dor around the arena, its spike still lodged in the wheel arch. "That’s King Buxton dragging Weld-Dor across the arena for one purpose – to push it towards the pit. Towards the pit. Ooh, they’re trying – Simon Harrison there – just to turn Weld-Dor towards the pit."

- Jonathan Pearce

King Buxton attempted to pit Weld-Dor, but failed to do so. King Buxton then dragged Weld-Dor back and revealed damage had been inflicted to Weld-Dor's left wheel, before ramming it into the side wall. Shunt then crossed the arena and rammed its snowplough into the two, freeing King Buxton from the wheel arch. Weld-Dor seemed unable to move away from the wall, and King Buxton rammed into it. King Buxton charged again, but Weld-Dor's lifter raised King Buxton, smashing its charge against the rounded body and bending one of the prongs completely out of place. Despite the offensive move, Weld-Dor had broken down, and the House Robots attacked. "I don't know, but I think Weld-Dor here has been immobilised and it could be - moments ago, we saw a problem with the wheel on the left...oh look at Killalot! In with the pincers! Merciless! Off goes the ostrich feather. No weapons left then on Weld-Dor, and I’m sorry boys, very little hope."

- Jonathan Pearce

Shunt’s axe damaged the dome of Weld-Dor, and Killalot drilled into the shell, lifting it off the ground. Despite minor harassment from King Buxton, Killalot carried Weld-Dor around and placed Weld-Dor into the pit.

King Buxton was through to the Heat Final, where it fought 101, the new robot from Team 101, the team behind Robo Doc, which King Buxton had defeated in the last wars. "Who'd have thought it would come to this? We're going to have to fight like demons to beat him, but we must beat him. ... It's going to be so tough, it was tough last time, it was just the hardest thing. He's such a good robot, it's the best tracked robot here."

- Simon Harrison before the fight with 101

Both robots started by slowly driving around, trying to get into a good position to attack. The two met head on, and King Buxton drove up 101, and was pushed back until it drove off. King Buxton then met 101, which slid on top of Buxton, sitting on top. 101 managed to place part of its tracks on the ground, allowing it to get off King Buxton easily. 101 then drove into the single spike and was bumped, but met King Buxton again, knocking its opponent away with its automatic spike. King Buxton stopped briefly near the flame pit, and 101 kicked it over the flames and into Dead Metal. King Buxton was damaged by the circular saws mounted on the wall, but ended up knocking the circular saw out of position. King Buxton escaped and rammed 101 broadside once more. It lost its purchase briefly and ran into the side wall, only to recover quickly and slam back into 101. King Buxton pushed 101 into the side wall after escaping Shunt, but 101 drove on top of King Buxton and positioned itself behind its opponent, and pushed King Buxton into the side wall. The two robots crashed into Shunt whilst battling around the arena, and the House Robot axed King Buxton. Buxton escaped and ran back into 101, driving on top of one of the moving tracks, and being tussled by it before driving off. "Very very close this so far. A good old tussle, isn't it?"

- Jonathan Pearce

King Buxton drove onto one of the tracks, and sat there with smoke beginning to pour from the machine. Buxton had slowed down significantly by now, and time began to run out. 101 and King Buxton were both still moving when cease was called, and the match was decided by the judges, who put 101 through to the semi-finals.

In a scene shown after the credits, Simon Harrison explained to Philippa Forrester that the back engine had caught fire, and during the opening moments of the fight, he had broken his controller by accident. "First ten seconds, I was so excited, I broke the control stick of the steering! I had to turn it upside-down, jam it in, and then swiggle it about, so I got something out of it!"

- Simon Harrison after the battle

Series 4
"...we've been seeded, so I think everybody will be expecting the goods from us, and hopefully we're going to deliver!"

- Simon Harrison before Round 1

King B3, seeded number 17, was drawn against newcomers Attila the Drum and Medusa 2000 in its first round melee. King B3 started by slamming into Medusa 2000, pushing it around as Attila the Drum began spinning. Medusa 2000 drove under King B3, but the smaller machine simply drove over the side. King B3 spun and pushed Attila the Drum a little, then drove on top of Medusa 2000, before Attila the Drum knocked King B3 off the latter. King B3 then rammed Attila the Drum, piercing its opponent with its spikes and ramming the axlebot into the arena wall. Sergeant Bash set Attila the Drum's furry wheels alight, but Attila the Drum was able to escape. Attila the Drum spun on the spot, but King B3 was able to stop the spinning with another charge. Time ran out, and the judges had to decide which robot to eliminate. "For me, King B3 did enough; aggressive, causing damage, that's for certain..."

- Jonathan Pearce whilst reviewing the highlights

The judges eliminated Attila the Drum, putting King B3 through with Medusa 2000. King B3 was then drawn against another newcomer, Atomic, in Round 2. "We have already had a small fire, a very small fire and our small motors that drive the arm up and down at the front, so we've lost that now, but we've still got the spikes and we've still got the saw, we've repaired the saw, so we can still do some damage, and we've still got power. ... It could still go up, there could be a bigger fire!"

- Simon Harrison before the battle

King B3 started off avoiding Atomic, before slamming into its flipper. Both robots pushed each other, with King B3 the more successful at pushing and was able to avoid Atomic's flipper. Both robots edged into Dead Metal's CPZ, with King B3 then ramming Atomic from behind as the two evaded the House Robot. King B3 pushed Atomic into the arena wall, driving over its opponent's front. Atomic chased King B3 down and flipped it, then clamped the flipping blade down onto King B3, using it to shovel King B3 into Sir Killalot. As King B3 attempted to escape, Atomic tried to keep the pressure on King B3 by pushing it back towards the CPZ. However, the attack missed and the flipper clipped the arena wall, snapping the flipper in half and leaving Atomic weaponless. Atomic pinned King B3 against the wall, and smoke began pouring from King B3 and it became clear that an internal fire had caused the robot to become immobile. The right drives stopped working and Sir Killalot grabbed King B3, dropping it into the Pit of Oblivion.

King B3 also entered the Tag Team Terror Championship during the Christmas season of the Fourth Wars. It fought with its long time rival 101. In the first round, the two were drawn against X-Terminator 2 and Inverterbrat. Inverterbrat started off against King B3, which drove around behind King B3. Inverterbrat tried to use its lifter on King B3, but did not get the lifter under its opponent properly, and after attacking Inverterbrat with the saw, King B3 tagged 101. As 101 came out, Inverterbrat tagged X-Terminator. The two met head to head and 101 pushed X-Terminator 2 back. X-Terminator 2 used its axe again and again on 101, but was unable to cause any damage. "Well, they're abiding by the rules... remarkably!"

- Jonathan Pearce King B3 came out without being tagged, but when chasing after X-Terminator, ran into 101, being knocked on top of the team mate by Sergeant Bash. King B3 drove off and attacked X-Terminator, whilst 101 drove into the red zone to fight Inverterabrat, which was in the top CPZ. 101 left Inverterbrat and tried to get behind X-Terminator, which was still fighting King B3. However, 101 drove into Refbot by mistake when X-Terminator moved away, before going back to attack Inverterbrat, ramming it against the arena wall. "Rules, what rules? Refbot: dismiss him, sack him, he has no control over these robots!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Inverterbrat reversed away into a CPZ as 101 backed off, and King B3 pushed X-Terminator into that CPZ. 101 pinned Inverterbrat against the wall, but got caught by Dead Metal temporarily, who dragged it back and held it, before it escaped and shoved X-Terminator 2 into Inverterbrat in the CPZ. X-Terminator 2 moved away, but was ganged up on by both King B3 and 101. By now, it had become clear that Inverterbrat had been immobilised in the corner, leaving X-Terminator 2 to fight alone. Eventually, King B3 and 101 started having quick slams on each other. "With friends like that, who needs enemies?"

- Jonathan Pearce

Time ran out, and the judges were called upon, but with the blue team being up one team member, it was an easy decision in favour of King B3 and 101. This put them into the final against Firestorm 2 and Scorpion, both of which had suffered damage from the last round, and Firestorm 2 in particular had a lot of trouble getting going. "A united team!"

- Julia Reed optimistically describes the two rivals who have sorted out their differences

Scorpion started off against King B3. King B3 used its disc to cut into Scorpion and pushed it around, then retreated to the blue zone, so 101 came out and started attacking Scorpion. Firestorm 2 came out and lingered next to 101 and Scorpion before moving away. King B3 then came out and attacked Firestorm 2. Scorpion was clutched by Dead Metal, while the other three robots scuffled in the red zone. "And all of a sudden we've got all four robots on the arena floor! Yes! This is what we want! Scorpion may have gone blind and they've shown a blind eye to rules and regulations! It's gone mad in Robot Wars: Tag Team Terror!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm was still suffering from problems, as it struggled to move, even when King B3 and 101 both rammed it. However, King B3 then drove onto Firestorm's wedge and was flipped on top of 101, which took the opportunity to slam its team-mate and rival into the arena wall. Firestorm 2 broke down after this and was not seen again in the battle. "I think the Tag Team Terror has been won by 101 and King B3...and now we have what I thought we'd have, right from the first activate! We've got 101 against King B3, this is a massive grudge!"

- Jonathan Pearce

King B3 retaliated and pushed 101 back, before then pushing the wounded and limping Scorpion back towards the immobilised Firestorm 2. With both of their opponents no longer working properly, King B3 and 101 finally turned on each other for real, pushing each other all around the arena. "You are team members! Come together? Friends? You're having a laugh! You're still enemies, I'm sure......I repeat! You are supposed to be teammates, 101 and King B3"

- Jonathan Pearce, as the winning tag team reprise their rivalry

Dead Metal and Sergeant Bash finally managed to separate them, damaging them in the process. Cease was called, and King B3 and 101 were the Tag Team champions.

King B3 also competed in the Pinball Warrior Tournament during the Fourth Wars. King B3 drove started by knocking the barrels over, then rammed past Sergeant Bash to score points from Sergeant Bash's target. King B3 then hit the multiball release and drove through the car doors, before pushing Matilda out of the way to reach the house robot's target but ran out of time just as it reached Dead Metal's. "...and that's a super run by King B3, ran out of time a little at the end."

- Jonathan Pearce at the end of the run

It had scored 225 points, and eventually finished on the leaderboard in 4th place.

Extreme 1
King B Powerworks made a number of appearances in Extreme 1, with little success. Its first appearance was in the Tag Team Terror, where it teamed up with 101 again to defend their title. In the first round, they fought Diotoir and Mega Morg. "King B3 and 101 were worthy winners of the title, beating Firestorm and Scorpion in the final, quite easily I thought, but then best of friends? Best of enemies, they turned on each other! Is there friction in the camp? What's going to happen in this series of the Tag Team Terror?"

- Johnathan Pearce before Round 1

101 started out first against Mega Morg, and after a little pushing between the two, 101 tagged King B. As King B came out, Mega Morg tagged Diotoir. King B Powerworks appeared to stop for a moment, allowing Diotoir to ram into the side of King B Powerworks, but made no attempt to flip it, and King B soon reversed away. It then rammed Diotoir hard side-on, knocking off the inflatable sheep mascot. King B then got underneath Diotoir's raised scoop and pushed it towards the arena wall. It was close enough to the CPZ to allow Mega Morg to attack, but it reversed away before it could be flipped. "Be prepared for mayhem here, absolute confusion. I'm sure that it'll all just break down into an utter rumble"

- Jonathan Pearce foreshadows the inevitable

King B charged at Diotoir's side, before using its rear saw, but it only caused a few scratches on Diotoir's scoop. Diotoir missed a flip, and King B then attacked the inflatable sheep with its saw. Diotoir then pushed it back towards Mega Morg's CPZ, but Sergeant Bash suddenly came out of his CPZ and attacked Diotoir with his flamethrower, slowly igniting the fur. Mega Morg tried to defend its partner, but for some reason did not come out of the CPZ. Eventually, Mega Morg was able to come out of its CPZ and rammed into 101. Barely seconds later, all four robots joined in the battle, with King B pushing Mega Morg into the arena wall and 101 doing the same with the now burning Diotoir. "I warned you of this! ... Absolute confusion"

- Jonathan Pearce as all four robots fight

The two changed their targets and 101 managed to push Mega Morg, but Diotoir managed to pin King B against the top arena wall. King B was able to get away, but then started spinning around on the spot. 101 pursued Mega Morg towards the far arena wall, which allowed Diotoir to get underneath it and flip it over. As soon as 101 landed on its back, however, it became apparent that only one of its tracks was working. "And all of a sudden, the reigning champions are in trouble cos I think King B is spinning wildly out of control, and the reigning champions could be facing elimination here in the Tag Team Terror! There's no control on King B, and 101 in trouble too. This could be a shock!"

- Jonathan Pearce in the last few seconds

King B Powerworks, meanwhile, had driven into the CPZ and was still spinning wildly on the spot, apparently having lost all control. Diotoir pushed it around, and amidst the spinning, King B's forklifts tore off one of Diotoir's eyes. Time ran out and the judges made the decision. Mega Morg and Diotoir were put through to the next round. "It's very dismal, wasn't it? We've not gone like that before, it's very, very disappointing. We are very down about this now!"

- Simon Harrison on the team's performance after the battle

After the battle, both sides blamed each other for the loss, and Mike Franklin claimed he would like a grudge match later in the series.

King B Powerworks was chosen to act as a veteran against a Wild Card Warrior against Draven. This was arranged after Pussycat was forced to withdraw from the battle, and Draven's team wished to fight their inspirations. Pussycat was unable to compete as spinning weaponry was banned on this day - this also meant that King B Powerworks could not use its own spinner. "They are an unknown quantity, but I have been following them, and I've been talking to Martin [Gutkowski] who's the team captain, and I've always laughed at his robot, saying "Oh, it's so complicated, you've taken two years to get that going, you'll never get it going, it's going to fall over as soon as you get in there" and he HAS got it going and now it's frightening! And it actually looks quite nasty, it's little bit of a worry really 'cause we're just the sort of robot he'd like to take on, a nice low flat one that he can get his jaw around and crush it up"

- Simon Harrison on Draven

King B Powerworks started, but for the first few moments of the battle, the two robots simply drove around one another. Eventually, Draven caught King B Powerworks within its jaw, but failed to close it in time and instead pushed it around the arena. Draven took the advantage and pushed King B Powerworks into the CPZ, but the more experienced machine escaped. With its saw out of action, King B Powerworks attempted to use its lifting spikes to ram Draven's side, but no damage was caused. Draven eventually caught King B Powerworks again, but the jaw was too slow to catch its opponent, which escaped again. King B Powerworks then reversed into Draven again, before turning around and ramming into Draven's side with the spikes. With this failing, it attempted to use its spikes again and this time it was able to get underneath Draven and hook itself between its wheels. Draven attempted to escape by raising its lifting mechanism, but this only caused part of its armour to break off. Unable to escape, King B Powerworks took the immediate advantage and, in a decidedly Panic Attack-equse move, activated the pit and pushed Draven straight in. "And once again, it's the more experienced robot, King B Powerworks, that wins it!"

- Jonathan Pearce

As a result of their failure in the Tag Team Terror tournament, both 101 and King B Powerworks organised a Vengeance battle. "So who was to blame and who is the better robot of the two?"

- Jonathan Pearce, in the build-up for the vengeance battle

At the start, both robots charged at each other, but merely deflected each other away. After a bit of spinning, King B Powerworks pushed 101 from the side, before turning around and attempting to use its saw, but it caused no obvious damage. 101 then rammed into King B Powerworks, twice getting underneath it, but deflecting it away again. After a short while, it forced itself underneath again and pushed King B Powerworks into the arena wall. King B Powerworks escaped, climbing off 101's top. 101 pushed back King B Powerworks and, after some more driving around, pushed it into the arena wall once more, forcing underneath and then pulling back before driving King B Powerworks into the CPZ. Both Sergeant Bash and Shunt attacked King B Powerworks, the latter hitting it with his axe but causing no obvious damage. As Sergeant Bash pushed King B Powerworks back, it began to spin, which prevented Bash from pushing it any further. It continued to dart away from Bash, but 101 caught it side on. After another push, where it was attacked briefly, 101 let King B Powerworks go, but its opponent ran into the CPZ and began spinning again. When it suddenly charged into the opposite CPZ and began spinning again, it became apparent that King B Powerworks had lost control. "Are they in control? We've seen this before from them, when they lost the Tag Team Terror earlier!"

- Jonathan Pearce remembers the spin-drive rampage

With control now completely gone, King B Powerworks charged around the arena, crashing into the angle grinders, spinning around the floor flipper, crashing into Refbot and Shunt, before reversing into a CPZ and spinning there. "Let's go crazy for a while, shall we?"

- Jonathan Pearce watches King B in delight

Eventually, Shunt and Sergeant Bash managed to trap King B in the corner, and Sgt. Bash was able to restrain it using his pincer. As the pit was activated, the House Robot attempted to drive King B Powerworks into the pit, but very nearly drove in himself instead. However, as Sgt. Bash dropped King B Powerworks into the pit, he fell in anyway. After the battle, King B Powerworks concluded that 101 was the superior robot, and the teams shook hands, pledging to continue their Tag Team partnership in the future. "History is made!"

- Craig Charles, as the King Buxton/101 rivalry is finally brought to an end

However, 101 was retired, and neither King B Powerworks nor Anarchy entered Extreme 2, making this the last contact between the pair

King B Powerworks' final appearance in Extreme was in a Mayhem qualifier battle, for a right to fight in the second annihilator of the series. Here, it was placed up against Tornado and The Steel Avenger. "I've lost count of the amount of times someone has said to me "You copied Tornado!", but we didn't, we were here first, they're the young upstarts, so we're going to punch them down!"

- Simon Harrison before the battle

At the start of the battle, The Steel Avenger drove between Tornado and King B Powerworks, dodging attacks by them, but failing to land an axe blow. Tornado used its drum to get under The Steel Avenger and push it around, but The Steel Avenger was unharmed and pursued, dodging a small ram by King B Powerworks. Tornado and The Steel Avenger drove at each other, before Tornado ran at The Steel Avenger's front, resisting an axe blow and pushing underneath it again, but failing to overturn it. King B Powerworks attempted to push into The Steel Avenger, but the attacks caused no issues as The Steel Avenger went after Tornado again. The resulting axe blow missed, but The Steel Avenger dodged to the side before Tornado could push it. Next it pushed into King B Powerworks, but did not fire the axe. After driving around the arena for a while, Tornado charged from the other side of the arena, drove around The Steel Avenger and rammed into it again, resisting another axe blow and pushing it towards the top-left CPZ. As the two continued their battle across to near where the flame pit was, King B Powerworks was struggling to keep up with the other two, only managing to get the occasional small ram as they ran around the arena. "It's basically trying to catch the others. It's almost like a game of tag. "Come on, try to catch us if you can!""

- Jonathan Pearce on King B Powerworks

Eventually, Tornado managed to land a side slam on King B Powerworks, before landing an even more powerful slam on the side of The Steel Avenger. As they attacked each other, King B Powerworks finally landed an attack, pressing into the side of Tornado which appeared to stop moving. King B Powerworks then launched a stronger ram, penetrating the side of Tornado with its lifting spikes, and pushed Tornado towards the floor flipper and, as it reversed away for another push, Tornado did not move; its link had popped out. King B Powerworks took advantage and continued to push Tornado around, with The Steel Avenger landing minor attacks on the red robot. Eventually, the two robots broke away to fight each other, with The Steel Avenger lifting up King B Powerworks. As the two clashed with their rear weapons, Tornado was counted out. Meanwhile, King B Powerworks had gotten underneath The Steel Avenger with its lifting forks and pulled it into the pit release button. As The Steel Avenger broke away, King B Powerworks attempted to push Tornado into the pit. This proved to be a crucial mistake, as The Steel Avenger rammed hard into King B Powerworks's front-right wheel whilst it was distracted, and under the pressure, the wheel broke off. "And there are three wheels on that particular wagon now!"

- Jonathan Pearce

As Matilda pushed Tornado into the pit, King B Powerworks desperately tried to use its saw on The Steel Avenger, but caused no damage. The Steel Avenger landed a few more axe blows on King B Powerworks as time ran out, but in the last three seconds, The Steel Avenger missed a crucial charge and nearly drove into Matilda's CPZ. It began to reverse, but Matilda hit it with her flywheel anyway, throwing it upside down. The judges decided, however, that The Steel Avenger had not quite crossed into the CPZ and that the attack should not have happened. Judging the battle up until that point, The Steel Avenger was given a very close win on damage points, though the Judges did commend the fight as the best Mayhem in Extreme. "The most important thing though, Tornado, he was out, that's all I care about"

- Simon Harrison after the decision

Series 5
"Experienced, quick, manoeuvrable, worth watching closely."

- Jonathan Pearce introduces King B Powerworks to Series 5

King B Powerworks returned for the Fifth Wars and was placed up against Kronic 2 in the first round of the heat. King B Powerworks initially dodged Kronic, but whilst avoiding its opponent, it paused for a moment, allowing Kronic to get underneath it and flip it. King B Powerworks landed on its wheels, and drove up Kronic's side, reversing away when Kronic fired its flipper. After driving at Kronic's front and backing away before Kronic could flip, King B Powerworks turned and reversed towards Kronic with the saw, but merely drove over Kronic's wedge. Kronic 2 turned and moved away, but King B Powerworks was close behind it, reversing into it and pushing it past the flame pit, slamming it into the arena wall. Kronic reversed over the flame pit, but seemed to stop outside a CPZ, where Shunt and Sergeant Bash were. It slowly moved away, only for King B Powerworks to ram it side-on, pushing it against an angle grinder, then the wall, then ramming it towards Sergeant Bash. Kronic 2 lumbered away, but then stopped again. King B Powerworks got side-on against Kronic, getting one its lifting spikes to puncture Kronic's side and lifted it, pushing it around the arena and into Sergeant Bash. Kronic was nudged by Bash, then Shunt came out and axed King B Powerworks, freeing Kronic as King B Powerworks reversed away. However, King B Powerworks continued pushing Kronic's side, and Kronic was making little movement. Struggling to move, Kronic 2 reversed onto the flame pit, and its spikes caught fire. For the rest of the fight, King B Powerworks rammed into Kronic a couple of times, whilst Kronic only twitched a little. As it was not counted out, the fight went to the judges, who unsurprisingly voted for King B Powerworks.

King B Powerworks was then placed up against the number 11 seeds Dominator 2 in the second round. "Very good battle, this. Dominator 2 possibly more impressive in its earlier fight, King B Powerworks needed a judges' decision to separate it from Kronic..."

- Jonathan Pearce at the start of the battle

Dominator 2 drove straight towards King B Powerworks, which turned away, before turning around and driving up Dominator 2's wedge, and Dominator 2's axe crashed down onto the top of it. Dominator 2 pushed it into a CPZ, then released it, allowing King B Powerworks to get off Dominator 2, and it darted away, with Dominator 2 close behind it. Both machines bumped into Sir Killalot, which was out of his CPZ, but the House Robot did not attack either of them before they escaped. King B Powerworks reversed across the arena, but was pushed into a CPZ by Shunt, who was also out of his CPZ. King B Powerworks managed to drive around Shunt and escape the CPZ, and dodged Dominator 2 for a while, driving up the arena. "...very quick to turn and get away at 16 mph top speeds, manoeuvrable around that arena."

- Jonathan Pearce on King B Powerworks

Dominator 2 eventually caught up with King B Powerworks, pushing it towards the wall and axing it a couple of times. King B Powerworks turned itself off the wedge and used its saw on Dominator 2's side, but caused no damage. Dominator 2 tried to axe King B Powerworks, but missed, then pushed it around, with King B Powerworks stuck on the side of the wedge. "How can it damage Dominator 2, though? It's a major problem. Side by side, no place to duck or hide!"

- Jonathan Pearce

King B Powerworks was able to get down after Dominator 2 fired the axe, which missed its target, but as it tried to escape, Dominator 2 caught up with it almost instantly, and after missing one axe blow, caught up with it again, and the next axe blow pierced through King B Powerworks' plexiglass top, right above the forks, and was able to push it around. It retracted the axe, and King B Powerworks tried to escape, but Dominator 2 was right behind it and axed it again. King B Powerworks drove at the Dominator 2 with the saw, only for Dominator 2 to axe it again, dragging it back. The match ended with Dominator 2's axe buried in King B Powerworks. The fight went to the judges, who went for Dominator 2.

Series 7
King B Powerworks was drawn against the 5th seeds Dantomkia, Hassocks Hog 2 and Rick in the first round.

King B Powerworks started by charging at Hassocks Hog 2, but when it reached it, Hassocks Hog 2 dodged and King B Powerworks bumped into Rick, which missed a flip. King B Powerworks held back as Dantomkia got under Hassocks Hog 2 and flipped it over, from where it was unable to self-right. Rick tried to flip it, but didn't get the flipper under King B Powerworks properly, so failed to flip it again, and Rick turned on Dantomkia. Dantomkia flipped Rick over and started pushing it, so King B rammed into the side of the seeded robot. It tried to lift it, but Dantomkia slid off as the forks where not under it properly, so King B Powerworks backed off and Dantomkia carried on pushing Rick, ramming it to the other side of the arena, where it unsuccessfully tried to flip it out of the arena. King B came charging after them, hitting the side wall, and turned to face Dantomkia. However, Dantomkia easily got under King B Powerworks, so Team B quickly reversed away before Dantomkia could flip. Dantomkia flipped Rick back up against the wall, and got under it, but before it could flip, King B Powerworks rammed into the side, so Dantomkia turned on it. Whilst Rick got itself off the wall, Dantomkia got under King B Powerworks and flipped it onto an angle grinder. King B Powerworks quickly got itself down, but drove straight onto the front of Dantomkia, which pushed it towards the CPZ, and flipped it to Mr Psycho. Meanwhile, Hassocks Hog 2 was counted out. Dantomkia pushed King B Powerworks to the bottom arena wall, with King B Powerworks having got caught under the flipper blade after the last flip, but recieved a hammer blow from Mr Psycho. After pushing King B Powerworks into the arena wall, King B Powerworks escaped, driving up the arena. However, Dantomkia was close behind it, and soon caught up with it, flipping it over again. It then turned on Rick, flipping it up against the arena wall again. Rick fired the flipper to get off the wall, but fell onto Dantomkia's flipper, which flipped it again, but Rick did not go over the fence because Dantomkia was not in the right position or angle, instead landing by the immobile Hassocks Hog 2. As it tried to escape, Dantomkia got under it, and King B Powerworks reversed in, blocking Rick's escape and pinning it against the wall. "This is a very, very good overall display from the seeded robot ... King B isn't a bad machine either. It was a Semi-Finalist way back in Robot Wars 2"

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia tried to get under King B Powerworks, but its rear retractable castor was in the wrong position, so instead of getting under its opponent, King B Powerworks got under Dantomkia and reversed it against the wall. Both machines darted away as Mr Psycho came in to attack Hassocks Hog 2. Dantomkia flipped King B Powerworks over close to Growler's CPZ, and the two fought in the centre of the arena. Dantomkia sped under King B Powerworks again, but Mr Psycho, who was carrying Hassocks Hog 2, reversed into Dantomkia, as it was trying to get to the Drop Zone. This allowed King B Powerworks to get off Dantomkia, causing Dantomkia to miss its flip. King B Powerworks started pushing Rick, but reversed away to avoid Dantomkia. Dantomkia chased King B Powerworks down the arena, and though King B Powerworks was able to evade the seeds for a time, Dantomkia soon got under it again. Dantomkia started spinning, which caused King B Powerworks to slip off the side, so Dantomkia missed its flip. King B Powerworks hurried away, bumping into Hassocks Hog 2 as it did so. Dantomkia initially chased King B Powerworks, but then turned on the immobile Hassocks Hog 2, flipping it onto King B Powerworks as it passed. This distraction allowed Rick to get under Dantomkia and swiftly flip it over. Dantomkia immediately self-righted, and King B Powerworks charged at it. Dantomkia turned around, trying to get under King B Powerworks, so King B Powerworks turned, pushed past Dantomkia, and escaped. After Hassocks Hog 2 was dumped out of the arena by Mr Psycho, Dantomkia turned on Rick again, as the three robots fought at the top of the arena. Dantomkia tried and failed again to flip Rick over the fence, and King B Powerworks rushed in as Dantomkia pinned Rick against the wall, preventing Rick's escape. "Dantomkia and King B together, almost like a Tag Team, on poor old Rick."

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia flipped Rick onto King B Powerworks, which used its forks to pull Rick away, before Dantomkia pushed it against Mr Psycho. King B Powerworks rammed into Dantomkia from behind, pushing it against the House Robot, before pulling it away, then driving over Dantomkia's front just before cease was called. The Judges were called upon to decide which robot of the remaining three would be eliminated. "We know the Hassocks Hog 2 went out, Rick I think will be the other decision to be excluded by the judges, because Dantomkia and King B Powerworks just looked too strong"

- Jonathan Pearce reviewing the highlights

The Judges decided, in a 2-1 split decision, that King B Powerworks would continue alongside Dantomkia, over Rick.

King B Powerworks was then placed up against Team Vader and their new IG-88 machine in the second round. "Well, I think our robot was conceived at a rather more gentle age, probably a bit cruel to stick it in there with IG-88, but I saw an aerial sticking out the side, in a great big loop, so I think if that comes off this thing, we're alright. If not, we're not."

- Simon Harrison before the battle

King B Powerworks turned away from IG-88 at the start, as its opponent closed in, trying to keep its distance, but made a wrong turn and received a glancing blow from IG-88's blade. It turned away, nearly driving into the wall, before driving around IG-88, then drove away from it, with Team Vader's machine following it. King B Powerworks turned and drove at the front of its opponent, only to receive another glancing blow from the spinning axe, then reversed down the arena, down by the pit release button. "King B very tenacious, it's a stayer, dancing away, speeds up to 18mph, by far the quicker of these two."

- Jonathan Pearce

King B Powerworks did not open the pit, instead waiting for IG-88 to follow it, then driving away. It drove around the area, before turning and driving at the spinning blade again. "...a little blind, a little dummy, got away from IG-88, "catch me if you can". No, we're not playing kiss chase here boys!"

- Jonathan Pearce

This blow knocked King B Powerworks up, and it sped into the arena wall, its forks sticking up. After hitting the wall, King B Powerworks stopped moving, and IG-88 closed in, landing blows on its immobile opponent, ripping off one of the back panels. Smoke began to pour from King B Powerworks, and Refbot came in to count it out. "King B: dethroned. ... Oh what a shame, that had the makings of a great battle."

- Jonathan Pearce as King B Powerworks is counted out Shunt axed King B Powerworks a couple of times, but failed to pierce the top. Sgt. Bash grabbed King B Powerworks' side with hits claw, crumpling through it easily. Sgt. Bash then led King B Powerworks to the floor flipper, where Shunt positioned it. It was thrown, the Shunt finished King B Powerworks off by pushing it into the pit. "...There wasn't much chance anyway, it's a very old robot now, you won't see it again. ... I can't tell you [what we're planning], but it's gonna be fantastic!"

- Simon Harrison after the battle

King B Powerworks, as one of the oldest competing robots in the Seventh Wars, returned for the All-Stars Tournament at the end of the series. In the first round, it was placed up against Pussycat, Behemoth and Dantomkia.

In the battle, Pussycat chose to target it with its twin four-toothed blades, which was added mainly in the hope of slicing King B Powerworks' armour right off. Pussycat occupied King B Powerworks' attention for much of the battle, and snapped its right drive train on the first hit. After this, King B Powerworks could only drive in circles. Pussycat continued to land blows on it with the disc as it moved back and forth. As Dantomkia defeated Behemoth by flipping it out of the arena in the opening stages, Dantomkia then targeted the struggling King B Powerworks, which fruitlessly tried to ram Dantomkia. However, Pussycat intervened, hitting both robots with its disc. This freed Kinb B from Dantomkia, but it did not move away, and Simon Harrison's original fear was met as Dantomkia then carried King B Powerworks over to the arena side wall and then threw the Series 2 Semi-Finalists out of the arena, thus eliminating King B Powerworks from the competition. "We went straight after King B3, which we planned, and we jammed their wheel up while Dantomkia took on Behemoth, and then King B was dead, and we knocked their chain off their weapon, and then they got rid of King B in the end."

- Stuart Barnwell after the battle

Series 8
King B Remix appeared in Heat 3, where it was once again drawn into a melee with Dantomkia, as well as newcomers Glitterbomb and Overdozer. The team decorated their bench in the pits with a disco ball. King B Remix went for the wooden Overdozer first, and its high ground clearance made it easy to push. King B Remix rammed it over the raised pit, with the rear lawnmower blade falling off. "Glitterbomb being pushed away and attacked by King B Remix, on Overdozer and has left the boarded armament of Overdozer ruptured ... pieces, splinters I dare say, flying off!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Overdozer stopped moving after this, and King B Remix pushed it some more. King B Remix then left Overdozer, and drove around the remaining two opponents as they fought. It charged at Glitterbomb, but drove up its sloping side, flipping itself over as Glitterbomb moved away. After a pause, it drove at Glitterbomb again, but Glitterbomb drove straight past it, attacking the immobile Overdozer, ramming it into a wall. King B Remix chased after Glitterbomb, but upon catching up with it, drove up the side again, landing on Overdozer. King B Remix got itself down, and reversed into the corner. Dantomkia came in and flipped Glitterbomb over, then bumped into King B Remix, before driving away to flip around the immobile Overdozer. King B Remix reversed into Glitterbomb, which self-righted using its axe. Hoever, Glitterbomb's axe became stuck in the down position, leaving it without a weapon. King B Remix pinned it against the wall as the two fought in the corner, and Dantomkia came in and flipped Glitterbomb over again. With the axe not working, Glitterbomb was unable to self-right. "Now, King B Remix here are being clever. They've stayed out of trouble largely, they know those tyres are exposed."

- Jonathan Pearce after Glitterbomb was flipped

King B kept away from Dantomkia until Cease was called, leaving it to flip the remains of Overdozer around.

King B Remix was through to the Head-to-Heads.

Its first battle at this stage was against Dantomkia. "King B Remix weren't really tested in the Group Stage, so this could really be a rude awakening for the Portsmouth them."

- Angela Scanlon before the battle

At the start, Dantomkia charged at King B Remix, but Simon Harrison's machine turned and got at Dantomkia's side. Dantomkia turned away before King B Remix could ram it, then tried to get under King B Remix, but it was at the wrong angle, so King B Remix drove over the side. King B Remix drove at Dantomkia's front, but bounced off. "Good driving by King B Remix, and they came in on the attack with those front spikes"

- Jonathan Pearce

Dantomkia turned and drove to the other side of the arena, before turning to fight King B Remix, which slowly moved towards Dantomkia. However, Dantomkia got under King B Remix, but turned the wrong way, so King B Remix slid off. Dantomkia drove onto the arena spikes, one of which lifted it up, but Dantomkia soon got down and tried to get under King B Remix again. Dantomkia got under King B Remix again, but this time King B Remix reversed off. However, King B Remix then drove back onto the flipper, which proved to be a fatal mistake. Dantomkia drove it to the side wall where the pit button was, and tried to flip King B Remix out of the arena. King B Remix didn't go over the wall, but it landed in a gap between the pit release button and the wall, where it became stuck. "Well, one mistake by King B Remix, they open themselves up to the flip! And they're not going to get out from there!"

- Jonathan Pearce

Matilda came in, and finished King B off by flipping it from the position it was stuck in, over the fence.

After the battle, the team found chain had snapped off during the battle. "We broke it by just giving it too much throttle, basically. ... We have clean snapped the chain with power. I whizzed up the power to maximum and that's what happened. That's 1.6 tons of breaking force on that chain."

- Simon Harrison

With no points to its name, King B Remix needed to defeat Big Nipper to stand a chance of qualification.

King B Remix drove straight at the pit release, opening it straight away, before ramming into Big Nipper, pushing it a little before it escaped. Big Nipper drove over the arena spikes, one of which lifted it up. King B Remix took advantage, getting in position so that when the spike lowered, Big Nipper fell onto it. King B reversed Big Nipper towards the pit, but stopped and turned too soon, so Big Nipper fell off without falling into the pit. Big Nipper tried to use its spinning disc on King B Remix's side, but King B Remix escaped, keeping away from Big Nipper, before reversing into it. King B Remix tried pushing Big Nipper back, but kept being knocked upwards by the disc, and Big Nipper pushed it against the wall. King B Remix pushed back, but Big Nipper's disc kept knocking it up, with pieces falling off as it did. Big Nipper got a blow on the rear, which caused King B Remix to stop moving. Big Nipper span in celebration and Cease was called. After the battle, it was revealed that King B Remix had stopped moving because its removable link fell out.

King B Remix was left unable to progress to the Heat Final after its second loss, but still had to fight TR2. This fight was recorded a day later than scheduled, due to difficulties with repairing King B Remix.

King B Remix started by charging straight at TR2, driving up the flipper, then driving over the side. After a pause, it drove up the front again, turning off before TR2 could flip. TR2 chased after it, and King B Remix fled, but TR2 soon caught up with it, and TR2 flipped it against the arena wall. TR2 got under King B Remix again, pinning it by the wall and flipping it up. King B Remix could not get away, and TR2 flipped it over. TR2 got the flipper under King B Remix, span around and flipped again. "...and there goes another flip on King B Remix. Pointless in the competition so far, but still full of heart."

- Jonathan Pearce

TR2 flipped King B Remix against the arena wall by the trench. King B Remix slowly reversed, but did not get away, and TR2 got under it again, flipping it onto the claw of Sir Killalot. King B Remix quickly reversed off, but drove back into the CPZ as TR2 opened the pit. Sir Killalot grabbed it with the claw, picked it up and carried it to the flame pit, where it dangled it over the fire, then dropped it. "Not the flame pit, please! That's cruel! That's horrible! I'll tell you what, we love it!"

- Jonathan Pearce

King B Remix was pushed off the flame pit, but it became clear it was not moving. TR2 nudged it towards the pit, then flipped it in. "You see the robots that are out there now, it's scary! It's incredible technology nowadays!"

- Grant Hornsby after the battle

Results

 * }


 * }


 * }


 * }

Wins/Losses

 * Wins: 11
 * Losses: 12

Outside Robot Wars
At a Live Event at Oundle Mill in 2001, King B Powerworks was armed with a ramming scoop at the rear.

King B made an appearance at the London MCM Expo in 2007 where it fought Merlin. It also fought Tiberius and lost, requiring Sam Smith to jump on King B in order to separate King B Tiberius' crusher when it pierced the polycarbonate and a motor, locking both robots together.

It returned in January 2015 after a seven year hiatus at the Mechatrons robotic combat event in Dublin, where it fought Beast 2 and Ripper. "It was great to be back - thanks so much to the whole Robots Live crew for putting on such a great show, felt good to be driving King B for an enthusiastic UK audience again!"

- Simon Harrison on Facebook

King B participated at the same event in 2016, where it lost to Beast again, but performed well against Meggamouse.

It was King B Remix that competed at Mechatrons Dublin 2017, having been reconstructed for the event. It fought Mangler, winning the battle on a Judges' decision, and then defeated Dozer by flipping it over. It then qualified for the semi-finals when the battery connection fell out of Harpy, allowing King B Remix to place third overall, after consecutive losses to Iron-Awe 7 and Ripper.

The latest version of King Buxton, King Buxton 20, was completed in winter 2017-2018 after two years of construction. A brand-new robot with a design following faithfully to those of its previous incarnations, King Buxton 20 features a brushless drive system offering between 3 and 3.5kW of power on each side, as well as new lifting forks with duplicate drive systems and a 220 degree reach. Its name marks the twentieth anniversary of the original robot's completion and combat debut.

"King Buxton 20 was designed before Robot Wars came back ( and befor anyone was expecting it to come back) as suddenly I had the feeing the time was right to build a King B that fixed all of the Powerworks problems. Unfortunately it could not be ready for S8 and as it turned out, not ready for S9 or S10 either Quite literally I had to re-remember how to build robots from scratch- and it took me 4x the time I ever imagined !"

- Simon Harrison in 2018

King Buxton 20's actual debut was at the Dublin-based event Mechatrons. In its first fight, King Buxton 20 fought Dozer, but faced difficulties with turning left due to motor sensor timing issues, and ultimately lost the battle. King Buxton 20 then won its second battle against Rusty, as the latter had not enabled its gas supply. King Buxton 20 also immobilised Shelala by attacking its exposed wheels. For its third Mechatrons in a row, King Buxton 20 fought Team BEAST, and their robot Harpy. King Buxton 20 was initially thrown into the air repeatedly, but was able to hook its forks into the framework of Harpy to use its new brushless drive to ram it around the arena, causing it to lose mobility, and King Buxton 20 won the resulting Judges' decision. King Buxton 20 was finally eliminated by Iron-Awe 7, which was being driven by Peter Redmond. Regardless, King Buxton 20 also fought in a whiteboard match against Coyote, and won by stranding it on the wall, then eventually immobilised it altogether. It defeated Harpy for a second time in another whiteboard match, rupturing its gas supply before flipping it over. King Buxton 20 competed in the heavyweight division at RoboGames in 2018, and was the first confirmed competitor for that event. It received a bye in the first round, and fought Touro Maximus in the second round. It initially started with an advantage against the experienced Brazilian machine, with Touro Maximus only operating on one wheel. However, King Buxton 20 drove into its opponent's drum, damaging one of its wheels, and later both of its lifting forks. Eventually, Touro Maximus became mobile again, and removed the front wheel of King Buxton 20, then immobilised the machine fully, putting King Buxton 20 in the losers' bracket, where it faced Megalodon. However, King Buxton 20 had not been fully repaired, entering the arena without one of its wheels, and it was quickly immobilised when slamming into Megalodon.

Trivia
"Nothing comes close"
 * Team captain Simon Harrison became a crew member during the filming of Extreme Warriors Season 2.
 * King Buxton was profiled in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide.
 * King Buxton was originally named after the main antagonist of the same name from the 1972 Magic Roundabout film Dougal and the Blue Cat, or Pollux et le Chat Bleu in its original French dub.
 * Simon Harrison's favourite fight on the show was King Buxton's Series 3 Heat Final against 101, despite King Buxton losing.

- Simon Harrison in 2018


 * Only a single trophy was produced for the winners of the Tag Team Terror in Series 4, so Simon Harrison admitted to taking the trophy for himself. Eventually a second trophy was built for Team 101, although Simon Harrison claims it was smaller and inferior.
 * During Series 2, King Buxton suffered from interference caused by the spark plugs in the motor powering Matilda's chainsaw, which meant that every time the chainsaw started, King Buxton jumped forward.
 * Initially, the cost of the motors was sponsored by Dominion Computers. Team captain Simon Harrison claimed to have put up "99.9%" of the money it cost to build King B3.
 * King Buxton was one of 23 robots to have completed The Gauntlet. Similar to Killertron, it failed to complete it in the heats, but succeeded in the Series Semi-Finals.
 * Within two series of Robot Wars, King Buxton fought Dantomkia in three different first-round melees.
 * King B3 is one of only seven robots to break 200 points in a Pinball tournament. The others to have achieved this are Gemini, Killerhurtz, Spawn of Scutter, Panic Attack, Roadblock and Razer.
 * King Buxton was one of five seeds for the Fourth Wars that reached the heat final of the Third Wars but fell in the second round of the heat in this series, it shares this statistic with Dreadnaut, Aggrobot, Berserk 2 and the Dartford Girls Grammar.
 * King B Powerworks was one of only two previous Semi-Finalists that was not seeded for the Seventh Wars, the other being Black and Blue, thus making it the only robot, as Black and Blue only reached the Series Semi-Finals in the form of Mousetrap.
 * King B3 had a brief cameo on the sitcom Spaced in the episode "Mettle."
 * King B Remix was the first robot to fly the flag of two different countries, in its case the United Kingdom's Union Flag, and Japan's national flag, Nisshōki.
 * In an unused take when King B Remix entered the arena in 2016, the announcer erroneously pronounced the robot's name as "King Bremmix".
 * Simon Harrison was part of The Steering Committee, and was the first roboteer to bring this to the public eye, in July 2018.
 * Captain Simon Harrison once built hi-fi speakers so large that they could not be moved.
 * King Buxton is the only robot to go from having more wins than losses to having more losses than wins after returning for the reboot.
 * The battles between King Buxton and Robo Doc/101 marked the first instance of two teams reaching a semi-final by defeating the other. This pattern would be repeated by Team Scutterbots and Team Knightmare in Series 4 and 7, and Pulsar and Ironside3 in Series 8 and 9.