Lieutenant Bam

Lieutenant Bam

**Lieutenant Bam** (Chinese: **巴姆中尉**, romanized as **Bā mǔ zhōngwèi**, referred to occasionally in Mech+ subtitles as **Lieutenant Ba Mu**) was a robot from the United Kingdom which competed in the one-off 2018 series *This is Fighting Robots*. It was entered by Harry Lloyd, who previously acted as the mascot of the Griffin team.

Although Lieutenant Bam was not initially selected by any of the celebrity team managers, it was chosen by Sa Beining during its preliminary group battle after demonstrating its self-righting capability. Thus, it entered the main competition as part of the Yellow team, where its durability and aggression allowed it to earn a Judges' decision over Tungsten in the Freestyle Combat stage. However, Lieutenant Bam would then lose a 2v2 Alliance War battle to *King of Bots* Season 1 champion Spectre and South Korean spinner ORBY Blade, provisionally eliminating it from the competition.

Lieutenant Bam fought again in the subsequent eight-robot Rumble, but became partially immobilized after losing one of its tracks during the battle. Although surviving to the end, Lieutenant Bam was considered fully immobile by the Judges, resulting in it losing the Rumble to Polar Opposite and not being reinstated.

## Design

Lieutenant Bam was a distinctive green and black tracked robot designed to resemble a military tank. Its weapon was a large cylindrical arm modelled on a tank gun, which swung 180 degrees in either direction to function as an overhead weapon and allow the robot to self-right. Lieutenant Bam’s arm featured interchangeable heads, including a plain head and a spiked club, the latter of which was used in its debut battle. The robot also featured a large angled wedge at the front, to help get underneath opponents and offer defence against spinning weapons.

## Robot History

### This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)

Lieutenant Bam was not initially selected by the celebrity team managers, so it was required to fight a preliminary group battle in order to impress them. There, it faced fellow UK entry Griffin Mk II, *King of Bots* Season 1 returnee Unlimited Numbers and Indian competitor Yesaji.

"*Lieutenant Ba Mu outside of the ring is using the strategy of colliding with the mace on purpose and flipping itself. Successfully stealing his thunder. Like rags to riches. Landing on the floor steadily. Sa Beining has chosen Lieutenant Ba Mu.*"
— Wang Tao's commentary for highlights of Lieutenant Bam's group battle (Mech+ subtitles)

Highlights of the battle were shown as part of Episode 2; immediately, Lieutenant Bam drove towards and rammed Yesaji while the latter scooped Unlimited Numbers off the arena floor. Some time afterwards, it drove itself into one of the spinning maces, which flipped it onto its back; the Mech+ subtitles for Wang Tao's commentary suggest that this action was potentially deliberate. Lieutenant Bam was forced to self-right using its spiked club, impressing Sa Beining in the process and compelling him to select it as part of the Yellow team. As a result, Lieutenant Bam’s place in the main competition was secured, with Harry Lloyd later explaining to Beining the key advantage of its overhead arm weapon during the 'learning' process.

For its first battle as a Yellow team member, Lieutenant Bam fought Greedy Snake (Zhang Yishan), Mr Hippo (Wu Chun) and Team Carbide's Tungsten (Zheng Shuang), in a Freestyle Combat melee aired in Episode 3. It was initially hesitant to engage in battle, maneuvering across the arena with its arm raised while deliberately avoiding its three opponents. Lieutenant Bam made a lunge at Greedy Snake as it hoisted Tungsten aloft next to the wall spikes, but bumped into the spikes instead, and retreated, spinning over the fire pit and surviving a side-on ram from Mr Hippo. Lieutenant Bam attacked Mr Hippo with its arm, seconds before the latter was catapulted across the arena by Tungsten. A few moments later, it drove into Mr Hippo and repeatedly slammed its spiked club onto the now-immobile drum spinner.

Lieutenant Bam attempted to push Tungsten from the side and swung its arm down – sparks flew as the arm made contact with Tungsten’s flywheel, with Lieutenant Bam being carried up and off the arena floor simultaneously. However, it landed upright, and despite driving head-on into the circular saws, hit Tungsten several more times with its arm until time ran out. Both UK machines survived to a Judges’ decision, which went in favor of Lieutenant Bam, giving it and a delighted Sa Beining one point for the Yellow team. Lieutenant Bam’s victory ensured that Beining gained a one point advantage over Green team captain Zheng Shuang heading into the next team battle.

"*Tungsten did all the damage – this big army tank was still moving and didn’t have any damage, so he won the fight.*"
— Megabyte's John Mladenik comments on Lieutenant Bam’s first victory

In the first 2v2 match of the Alliance War, Lieutenant Bam was partnered with a fellow British machine, Switch (Blue team). There, both machines faced the reigning *King of Bots* champion Spectre (Green team), and powerful South Korean spinner ORBY Blade (Red team). At the start of the battle, Lieutenant Bam's wedge sustained two big hits from the bar spinner of ORBY Blade, with many sparks thrown. In response, Lieutenant Bam dropped its hammer in the path of ORBY Blade's weapon, briefly stopping the bar spinner while causing ORBY Blade to recoil away. Lieutenant Bam continued to chase ORBY Blade, almost causing it to drive into the open pit. Spectre changed its focus to Lieutenant Bam, grabbing it from behind, and crushing down onto the top. Lieutenant Bam swung its hammer around in retaliation, but Spectre swerved it around, and dropped it directly into the pit. Lieutenant Bam was not rendered immobile, but it could not contribute to the battle again until the pit was raised, and over this time, its teammate Switch had been immobilized.

When Lieutenant Bam was freed from the pit, it swung is weapon aimlessly. Off-screen, Lieutenant Bam was struck by the bar spinner of ORBY Blade, and was reversed into the Grinder by the South Korean machine. After striking the floor, Lieutenant Bam's turret became stuck in Spectre's open jaw, and while attempting to retract the weapon, Lieutenant Bam pulled itself over in the grip of Spectre. It quickly self-righted and fled, also managing to land a light blow onto Spectre's jaw using its turret, but the quicker Spectre machine chased it and gripped Lieutenant Bam. Finally, Spectre put Lieutenant Bam back into the descending pit for the second time, where Lieutenant Bam swung its weapon around at no target, and was rendered immobile through the arena hazard. The win was therefore awarded to Spectre and ORBY Blade, and Lieutenant Bam was eliminated from the competition.

"*Obviously against Spectre, I thought it was a silly decision to choose us, they took control of us and threw us in the pit, which I kinda thought they would.*"
— Harry Lloyd

For a chance to be potentially reinstated for later stages, Lieutenant Bam also fought in the Eight-robot Rumble, as one of Sa Beining's representatives for the Yellow team. There, it fought Anchor and Shield, Golden Hoops, Megabyte, Polar Opposite, Spectre, Two BBQ and Wrecker. There, it immediately started by attacking Polar Opposite, but was otherwise a background fighter for the most part. Lieutenant Bam made a few more attempts to attack Polar Opposite, but it was targeted by Megabyte as well. Eventually, Lieutenant Bam would have one of its tracks ripped away following an untelevised attack, although the robot still had some degree of mobility, allowing it to progress further into the battle.

The partially immobile Lieutenant Bam was unable to retaliate when it found itself under attack by Megabyte once more. It did get some degree of revenge later though, when it managed to hit the American machine using its turret after Megabyte broke down. Lieutenant Bam remained uninvolved with the rest of the battle until the seven-minute time limit expired, and the rumble was sent to a Judges' decision. The Judges declared that Lieutenant Bam had been immobilized during the battle, and the winner was ultimately revealed to be Polar Opposite.

## Results

### Wins/Losses

* Wins: 1
* Losses: 2

*NOTE: Lieutenant Bam’s group battle is not considered to be a win or a loss.*

## Outside King of Bots

Harry Lloyd's previous appearances on *King of Bots* and the UK show *Robot Wars* saw him dress as the mascots for Team Tomco, which saw him dress as a large red tooth on *Robot Wars* with **Bucky the Robot**. The robot itself was a tall, two-wheel driven robot inspired by chattering teeth, armed with a pneumatic clamping jaw. Bucky the Robot was eliminated in the first round after losing its Group Battle to Rapid and Robot Redemption battle to Vulture respectively.

For more information on Team Tomco's excursions outside of Lieutenant Bam, including their *BattleBots* entry **Jasper**, see the Griffin article.

## Trivia

* In Lieutenant Bam's first battle, Harry Lloyd faced his own entry from Season 1, Griffin.