Sergeant Bash

"Something that could be, in sort of 2000 years time or something, patrolling a planet, and keeping the locals in order"

- Chris Reynolds describes the inspiration for Sergeant Bash's design

Sergeant Bash (often known simply as Bash) was one of the original four House Robots, designed to look like a military vehicle with its green army colours and flamethrower turret weapon. The original design for Sergeant Bash had steel armour with a battering ram weapon at the front of the robot and a saw at the rear. In Series 3, the steel armour was changed for fibreglass armour, and the battering ram was removed in place of a hydraulic claw similar to the claw used by Sir Killalot. Sergeant Bash was one of only two robots in Robot Wars to have a flamethrower weapon, the other being Growler; indeed, the said weapon was banned under normal circumstances. In the Sir Killalot and the House Robots edition of the Ultimate Warriors collection, it was stated that the inspiration for Sergeant Bash' design came from the idea of a futuristic army patrol vehicle.

Sergeant Bash was powered by four batteries running in parallel. His weapons required the inclusion of gas bottles to power the flamethrower, in addition to valves and numerous carbon dioxide reservoirs. The flamethrower and hydraulically driven pincers all contributed to Sergeant Bash's increased weight and he required an extremely long wheelbase to support the mass of internal engineering. He also possessed a petrol powered grinder/circular saw weapon at the rear. After Series 3, the rear saw could be seen buckled at Bash's rear, and was purely ornamental. The flamethrower was originally powered from gas tanks that were positioned in the frontal compartment, whilst the motors for the saw were positioned in the rear section just behind the flamethrower turret. With the introduction of the pincers, the gas bottles were moved back and did not allow enough room for the saw motor, resulting in that weapon being scrapped and left purely as a superficial decoration.

Armament
"There's more going on inside Sergeant Bash than in any of the other house robots"

- Chris Reynolds in Series 1

Sergeant Bash's weaponry consisted of a propane-fuelled flamethrower mounted on a 360 degree turret, front-mounted hydraulic pincers that can exert eight tonnes of pressure and a rear-mounted, extremely meaty, circular saw (scrapped after Series 3). Notably, flamethrowers were normally against the rules in Robot Wars, with Bash apparently being the exception. In Series 1 and 2, the front pincers did not exist, and in their place was a vicious-looking hooked ramming and cutting spike. "...will certainly leave all opponents hot under the collar!"

- Jonathan Pearce commenting on the flamethrower

Noticeable Appearances

 * Almost every time Sergeant Bash came up against Diotoir, his flamethrower provided fantastic entertainment because of Diotoir's highly flammable fur. This was so popular and entertaining against the team's previous robot Nemesis, that a special Inferno Insurrection was arranged in Series 2, featuring Bash against Nemesis and Ramrombit, a "sacrificial robot" driven by George Francis. Both robots were doused in flammable liquid and set alight for the entertainment of the audience.
 * Sergeant Bash's flamethrower also contributed towards Granny's Revenge catching fire of both of the battles that the latter fought in.
 * Sergeant Bash even accidentally set fellow house robot Sir Killalot alight during Oblivion 2's pinball run in Series 3.
 * In Heat A of the New Blood Tournament, during the battle between Mute and Mr Nasty, Sergeant Bash started to attack Refbot for unknown reasons, chasing Refbot around the arena spurting fire. However the Refbot gave Sergeant Bash a yellow card and then a red card, but this didn't stop the Sergeant. He then used his flamethrower again, but Refbot countered this with his fire extinguisher, putting out Sergeant Bash's pilot light and rendering the flamethrower useless for the rest of the battle.
 * Sergeant Bash's crusher was still of good value. It crumpled Paul Bunyan's disc in a Robot Rebellion first round match against Snake Bite, and also immobilised Wowot and Thermidor 2 with his pincers. In Series 7, Sergeant Bash used his pincers to chew deeply into the armour of certain robots such as King B Powerworks and Mean Streak.

Worst Moments

 * In the very first heat of Series 1, when his saw made impact with Killertron, it shattered and flew off. This happened twice more throughout the first series, when he attacked Elvis and Wedgehog.
 * In Series 2, Wheelosaurus attacked Sergeant Bash as it came over a ramp in the Gauntlet, tearing off the gas canister for its flamethrower.
 * During the "Internet Insurrection" Grudge Match, Griffon used its lifting arm to flank the Sergeant and turn him onto his side almost immediately. The immobilised Bash did however play a key role in the elimination of Corporal Punishment in the battle, as he ended up pinning Corporal Punishment underneath it with his weight, rendering it unable to move.
 * In the Flipper Frenzy, Bigger Brother, Chaos 2 and Thermidor 2 ganged up on Sergeant Bash and flipped him repeatedly, eventually knocking off large chunks of armour and crushing his flamethrower. Although they attempted to flip Bash out of the arena, he was too big and heavy to make it, even with three machines involved in the attack.
 * After its loss to Chaos 2 in Series 3, The Big Cheese attacked Bash by spearing him in the wheelguards with its lifting arm and lifting him up high into the air, causing his armour to fall away. After Sir Killalot caused Big Cheese to overbalance and fall onto its side, the jolt caused Sergeant Bash to fall back down and cause his propane gas bottle to disconnect and fall out onto the floor.
 * In the Commonwealth Carnage battle between Panic Attack and Firestorm, Firestorm went after Bash after beating Panic Attack, flipping Bash and soon after flipping Mr Psycho as well.
 * In the Robot Rebellion in the second season of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, Sergeant Bash was accidentally flipped over by fellow house robot Sir Killalot while they were attacking a beaten Paul Bunyan.

Appearances in Merchandise

 * Sergeant Bash/Pullback
 * Sergeant Bash/Minibot
 * Sergeant Bash/RC
 * Sergeant Bash/Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem
 * Sergeant Bash/Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction
 * Sergeant Bash/Robot Wars: Advanced Destruction
 * Sergeant Bash/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (GBA)
 * Sergeant Bash/Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction (PC/Xbox)

Trivia

 * Sergeant Bash is one of only two robots in the whole of Robot Wars to feature a flamethrower, the other being fellow house robot Growler.
 * Due to Matilda being deemed less of an easy target for competitors with flippers, after having a new flywheel weapon, Sergeant Bash was flipped by competitors in the first series of Extreme more than any other house robot.
 * Sergeant Bash broke down more times than any other house robot in Robot Wars.