Knightmare

Knightmare
Participation Information
UK Series	4, Extreme 1
Other Names	Spirit of Knightmare (Extreme 1)
Team Information
Team	Team Knightmare
Team Members	Nigel Paget Lee Summers Malcolm Summers
From	Coalville
Robot Statistics
Weight	100kg
Dimensions	1.25m x 0.70m x 0.45m
Top Speed	8.5mph
Power	2 x 24V electric motors
Weapons	Pneumatic front-hinger flipper, Spikes, Cutters
Statistics correct as of its most recent show/competition appearance, or if not applicable, qualification attempt.

"Will the pneumatic flipper give house robots their worst nightmare? Tossing and turning in its sleep? You bet!"

— Jonathan Pearce introduces Knightmare

Knightmare was a wedge-shaped robot entered by Team Knightmare into Series 4 of Robot Wars. It underwent a weight increase and name change with different aesthetics before entering the first series of Robot Wars Extreme under the name Spirit of Knightmare. Both versions of the robot were long wedge shaped robots with small, pneumatic front-flippers. The robot enjoyed mild success, reaching the Heat Final of Series 4 and finishing as a runner-up in one of the Extreme 1 Annihilators.

Versions of Knightmare

Knightmare

Knightmare

Knightmare was a wedge-shaped robot with a front flipper. The bodyshell was made from motorway roadsigns and parts from a bed, and the robot could travel at 10mph. The flipper was said to be able to serve as a srimech, though it showed very little range when used and was barely half the size of the robot's length. However, Knightmare was also able to run inverted, whereby it would act as a ramming wedge. The bottom of the robot featured a logo that read "Who needs a srimech?".

Spirit of Knightmare

"An amazing array of lethal weapons and the ability to run upside down makes Spirit of Knightmare a real threat in the arena. Totally rebuilt with only the motors and electronics surviving from Knightmare, the twin "blender" saws are awesome in operation. The flipper can lift 80kg, but will that be enough now that the robot weights are all closer to 100kg?"

— Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide

Spirit of Knightmare in the arena

Spirit of Knightmare retained nearly the exact measurements to its predecessor (it was only 10cm longer). Its top speed was 1.5mph slower than its predecessor, but it was 20kg heavier. Spirit of Knightmare was armed with a 9cm full width ramming cone, a 70cm wide pneumatic lifter, twin high speed blending discs, twin pneumatic piercers and four ramming spikes. The lifter was said to be able to lift 80kg, but in practise was able to flip over the 100kg Steel Avenger easily.

Like several other robots in Extreme Series 1, Spirit of Knightmare tried to enter Series 5 of Robot Wars but failed to qualify, despite winning its qualifier battle.

The Team

Main article: Team Knightmare

The team in Extreme

Team Knightmare was made up of three friends based in Coalville, Leicestershire. The roster was comprised of Nigel Paget, Lee Summers and Malcolm Summers. Although the team entered the Fourth Wars as newcomers, they would become highly experienced over the course of Robot Wars, later competing with Raging Reality and the Seventh Wars semi-finalist, Raging Knightmare.

Qualification

Knightmare fought Inverterbrat at the Series 4 qualifiers. The two fought an entertaining battle, so both were selected to compete.

"Both teams tried every trick in the book to win. The crowd liked them so much they both qualified!"

— Robot Wars Magazine on the qualifier battle

Spirit of Knightmare fought Chompalot at the Series 5 qualifiers. Chompalot had only been finished the night before, and was having control problems and had one wheel not working. Spirit of Knightmare also had problems due to their ground clearance being set too low. Spirit of Knightmare won the battle after Chompalot broke down, but was not selected to compete in Series 5. However, it was chosen to compete in Extreme 1.

"During the Series 5 qualifying event, Chompie seemed sluggish and difficult to turn, Spirit of Knightmare also had difficulties, having set their ground clearance so low, that they could barely move, so consequently Chompie couldn’t get his lower jaws under them. After failing to get a hold of them I opted to ram them, taking runs across the arena to build up speed. Unfortunately the impact loosened some of the control cables to the motor controllers and then, fatally another one of the motors magnets became detached, jamming the motor. Spirit of Knightmare eventually managed to nudge the inert Chompie towards and then into the pit."

— Cookie Monsters, Chompalot's team, on the Series 5 Qualifiers

Robot History

Series 4

Julia Reed: "Is it called Knightmare because this is part of a bed, isn't it?"

Malcolm Summers: "Well, it was a nightmare to build as well."

— Julia Reed noting how robots can be made from anything

Knightmare fails to breach the ground clearance of Banshee

Knightmare shepherds Spawn of Scutter into a CPZ

Knightmare was drawn against seeded Spawn of Scutter and Banshee in the first round. It started off slowly, letting Spawn of Scutter attack Banshee. Knightmare then got into the fight, bumping Spawn of Scutter. It attempted to drive under Banshee, but failed to breach its ground clearance. However, it assisted Spawn of Scutter to slide under Banshee by blocking the latter's path, before Spawn of Scutter used its flipping spike to topple Banshee. Knightmare drove into the wedge of Spawn of Scutter, but drove up its wedge and was pushed back. While the House Robots attacked the defeated Banshee, Knightmare drove under Spawn of Scutter from its side, and drove it into an empty CPZ, and briefly lifted it up against the wall with its flipper. Knightmare and Spawn of Scutter continued to duel until 'cease' was called, and both robots advanced.

Knightmare about to topple Plunderbird 4

Knightmare was then drawn against the 26th seed Plunderbird 4 in the second round. Knightmare got away quickly, trying to flip Plunderbird 4. It did this a few more times but never was able to flip Plunderbird 4. Knightmare then got stuck on top of Plunderbird 4 and Refbot had to separate them both. Finally, Knightmare came in on a side attack and flipped Plunderbird 4 onto its side, immobilising it. The house robots then came in to do damage before Sir Killalot put Plunderbird 4 in the pit of oblivion.

"They do! They'll be wanting to get down on their hands and knees and pray!"

— Team's reaction to being asked if they needed any last-minute prayers.

Knightmare is pushed back by Spawn of Scutter

Knightmare was then up against Spawn of Scutter in the heat final. It was a quick start both robots rushing together. Spawn of Scutter got underneath Knightmare and pushed it into Shunt. Spawn of Scutter used its spike to propel Knightmare into the House Robot. Knightmare was immobilised by the first attack and Shunt put it on the floor flipper, which flipped it over onto its back before the House Robots attacked it doing a lot of damage. Finally, Sir Killalot dropped Knightmare on the edge of the pit and then Shunt bulldozed it in, eliminating Knightmare at this stage.

Extreme 1

Spirit of Knightmare participated in a Mayhem qualifier battle against Judge Shred 2½ and Bulldog Breed 3 for a right to fight in the second Annihilator of the series.

"Watch for the underside design when it gets flipped. It's rather comical!"

— Jonathan Pearce before the battle

Spirit of Knightmare rams Judge Shred

Spirit of Knightmare is counted out

Spirit of Knightmare's underside is revealed by the floor flipper

Spirit of Knightmare got under Judge Shred 2½ at the start, but couldn't flip it. Spirit of Knightmare then got underneath Bulldog Breed 3 and pushed it into an angle grinder, still failing to flip, instead just pushing Bulldog Breed 3 into Dead Metal's CPZ. But Bulldog Breed then escaped the House Robot's clutches. Spirit of Knightmare then suddenly stopped moving, and it was counted out by Refbot before being axed by Shunt and placed on the Arena Floor Flipper. The Floor Flipper exposed the design on the bottom of Spirit of Knightmare, which had started moving again, only to break down slightly later on.

However, Bulldog Breed 3, which won the Mayhem by flipping Judge Shred over, broke down irreparably in Series 5 after fighting Hypno-Disc in the Heat Final. This meant that Spirit of Knightmare participated in the Annihilator instead.

"Our middle name is damage!"

— The team pre-match

Spirit of Knightmare wedges under Napalm

In the Annihilator, Spirit of Knightmare went up against Disc-O-Inferno, Panic Attack, The Steel Avenger, Napalm and Fighting Torque. At the start of the first round, Spirit of Knightmare wedged under Napalm. Napalm was damaged by The Steel Avenger. Spirit of Knightmare then wedged under Fighting Torque before attacking Disc-O-Inferno. Disc-O-Inferno immobilised Fighting Torque, before Spirit of Knightmare pushed it into Matilda's flywheel. Disc-O-Inferno was immobilised in the impact, before Spirit of Knightmare was lifted by Panic Attack. However, Spirit of Knightmare qualified for the second round as Fighting Torque was eliminated after they were counted out for being smashed up and immobilised by The Steel Avenger and Disc-O-Inferno.

Spirit of Knightmare flips The Steel Avenger

Napalm then withdrew from the second round due to the damage that it took in the first round, meaning Spirit of Knightmare was through to the third round of the Annihilator, where in this battle, Spirit of Knightmare started by flipping The Steel Avenger. Spirit of Knightmare did the same again, before wedging underneath Panic Attack. Spirit of Knightmare was nearly put into the pit by the Second Wars champion, but escaped. Spirit of Knightmare then attacked Panic Attack, before flipping Steel Avenger on its side and then flipping Disc-O-Inferno onto it. The Steel Avenger never self-righted after this due to a failure of its srimechs, they were counted out and eliminated, putting Spirit of Knightmare through to the fourth round of the Annihilator.

Spirit of Knightmare meets its match

Disc-O-Inferno damages Spirit of Knightmare's flipper

Spirit of Knightmare is counted out

The remains of Spirit of Knightmare

Panic Attack then withdrew from the Annihilator as well after being badly damaged, despite being given a lot of time for repairs. This left Spirit of Knightmare and Disc-O-Inferno to fight it out in the final. Spirit of Knightmare flipped its opponent twice, but Disc-O-Inferno damaged the flipper. Spirit of Knightmare pressed the pit release, before being hit repeatedly by its opponent. Spirit of Knightmare was counted out and placed on the floor flipper by Shunt before being pushed into the pit.

"Spirit of Knightmare just had an awful dream! It dreamt it'd just been battered on Robot Wars Extreme!"

— Craig Charles' sign-off, referring to Spirit of Knightmare's defeat

Results

Wins/Losses

• Wins: 4
• Losses: 3

The second round and fourth rounds of the Annihilator, skipped because Napalm 2 and Panic Attack withdrew from damage, are omitted from the wins tally.

Series Record

Main Series	Knightmare Series Record
The First Wars	Did not enter
The Second Wars	Did not enter
The Third Wars	Did not enter
The Fourth Wars	Heat Final as Knightmare
The Fifth Wars	Failed to qualify as Spirit of Knightmare
The Sixth Wars	Entered with Raging Reality
The Seventh Wars	Entered with Raging Knightmare
Series 8	Did not enter
Series 9	Did not enter
Series 10	Did not enter
Robot Wars Extreme	Appearances
Series 1	Entered as Spirit of Knightmare
Series 2	Entered with Raging Reality

Trivia

The "Who needs a srimech" sign on the underside of Knightmare

• The original Knightmare was the only robot to fight a seed in every battle, and win at least once.
• The Series 4 version of Knightmare is the only robot from Team Knightmare not to fight in an Annihilator. (Spirit of Knightmare fought in the Extreme 1 Annihilator, Raging Reality fought in the Extreme 2 Annihilator and Raging Knightmare fought in the Series 7 Annihilator).
• Knightmare's successor robot Raging Knightmare would go on to avenge Knightmare's defeat in Series 7 by defeating Spawn Again. This meant that Scutterbots/Knightmare became the second of three rivalries (after Team 101/King Buxton and followed by Pulsar/Ironside3) where both teams reached a semi-final by defeating the other.
• Knightmare was the only robot from Team Knightmare to never thrown an opponent out of the arena.