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Geo / Armada / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Banshee gunships

Geo builds an early Aircraft Plant and commits to Banshee gunships from 5:10, paired with a Stork transport drop, fighting mostly in the middle instead of bringing the usual T2 land units to front.

#air #drop · 19 distinct matches · 5 players · 1% of Armada Geo games · team won 47% of 19 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • BansheeT1 air gunships from 5:10 · 1% of role by thenFrom the Aircraft Plant. Only 1% of Geo games have it by then; others who build it get it around 7:02
  • Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant in 100%3% of all Geo games by then
  • StorkLight transport in 89%4% of all Geo games by then
  • BansheeBanshee in 63%1% of all Geo games by then
  • FalconFighter in 58%4% of all Geo games by then

Where those units first fight, in 19 games with kill data: in the middle 68%, on their own side 32%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,232 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into blitz (13% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Aircraft Plant by 4:31

  1. Open standard mex and wind, but drop a Bot Lab immediately.
  2. Build Aircraft Plant right after geo instead of rushing T2 con.
  3. Get a light transport (Stork) from air to move gunships fast.
  4. Commit to Banshee gunships and harass with fighter support from Falcon.
  5. Transition into Vehicle Plant and normal T2 Starlight push to front.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 19 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD GEO
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:11 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

  1. 1

    Up to the Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind+2 vs standard
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 2 mex, 4 winddone ~0:59, middle half 0:57–1:11

    By 0:41 in all: 2 mex · 4 wind (standard 2)

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind ×4
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:57 · typical 0:59
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to T1 air gunships

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    • Energy Converter9Converter
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Geothermal PowerplantGeo after 4 mex, 6 wind, 1 energy storage
    2. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant after 4 mex, 7 wind, 9 converter
    3. BansheeT1 air gunships after 4 mex, 7 wind, 9 converter
    Builders
    • Construction Turret4 Con turret −2 vs standard
    • Lazarus4 Lazarus
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot for allies
    • Lazarus1 Lazarus for allies

    Some games also: tick (32%)

    By 5:10 in all: 4 mex · 7 wind · 1 geo · 9 converter · 1 energy storage · 4 con turret (standard 6)

    The example game in this phase · 28 steps
    1. Wind
    2. LazarusLazarusfor Beach sea
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Wind
    5. Construction BotCon botfor Beach sea
    6. PawnPawn
    7. Mex
    8. PawnPawn ×3
    9. Wind
    10. PawnPawn
    11. Wind
    12. Mex
    13. Wind
    14. PawnPawn
    15. Wind
    16. PawnPawn ×4
    17. Wind
    18. PawnPawn
    19. Wind ×2
    20. PawnPawn ×4
    21. LazarusLazarus ×2
    22. Construction BotCon bot
    23. Wind ×6
    24. Geothermal PowerplantGeodone 4:36 · typical 3:14
    25. Con turret ×2
    26. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 5:10 · typical 4:39
    27. Con turret
    28. BansheeBansheedone 5:16
  3. 3

    T1 air gunships to Vehicle Plant

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine7Wind+2 vs standard
    Order
    1. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant after 18 wind, 11 converter, 7 con turretdone ~8:47, middle half 8:16–9:40
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    Army
    • Banshee11 Banshee +11 vs standard
    • Stork1 Light transport

    Some games also: converter (42%) · fighter (37%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 5 converter

    By 8:49 in all: 4 mex · 19 wind (standard 14) · 1 geo · 10 converter (standard 14) · 1 energy storage · 7 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 28 steps
    1. BansheeBanshee ×2
    2. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexnot finished by 15:00 · typical 6:41
    3. BansheeBanshee ×2
    4. Converter
    5. BansheeBanshee ×2
    6. Converter
    7. BansheeBanshee
    8. Converter ×2
    9. BansheeBanshee
    10. Converter ×2
    11. BansheeBanshee
    12. Converter
    13. BansheeBanshee
    14. Converter
    15. OspreyHeavy transport
    16. Converter ×2
    17. Con turret
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    19. Con turret
    20. Converter ×3
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    22. Converter ×5
    23. Energy storage ×2
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. Con turret
    26. Wind ×5
    27. Con turret
    28. Wind ×2
  4. 4

    Vehicle Plant to 15:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine10Wind−10 vs standard
    • Energy Converter6Converter+4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret5 Con turret +4 vs standard

    Some games also: con vehicle (47%) · con aircraft (42%) · Advanced Vehicle Plant (37%) · scout plane (37%) · metal storage (37%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 5 Jaguar · 3 Starlight

    By 15:00 in all: 4 mex · 44 wind · 1 geo · 21 converter · 1 energy storage · 1 metal storage

    The example game in this phase · 50 steps
    1. Wind ×8
    2. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    3. Wind ×10
    4. PrudePrudedone 10:08
    5. Wind
    6. Con turret
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 10:11
    9. StorkLight transport ×3
    10. BlinkScout plane ×3
    11. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    12. Advanced Aircraft PlantAdvanced Aircraft Plantdone 10:58
    13. Wind
    14. Converter
    15. Wind
    16. AbductorAbductor ×2
    17. Converter
    18. Wind
    19. AbductorAbductor
    20. Converter ×2
    21. AbductorAbductor
    22. Wind
    23. Converter ×2
    24. Wind
    25. LicheLichedone 12:24
    26. Wind
    27. BeamerBeamer ×2
    28. Wind ×2
    29. BeamerBeamer ×2
    30. Wind ×3
    31. BeamerBeamer
    32. Wind ×3
    33. AbductorAbductor
    34. Wind ×2
    35. BeamerBeamer
    36. AbductorAbductor
    37. Wind ×2
    38. AbductorAbductor
    39. Wind
    40. AbductorAbductor
    41. Wind
    42. AbductorAbductor
    43. Wind
    44. BeamerBeamer ×2
    45. AbductorAbductor
    46. BeamerBeamer ×2
    47. AbductorAbductor
    48. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    49. AbductorAbductor ×2
    50. Bot LabBot Labnot finished by 15:00

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is UsurpeR's (47 OS, 13/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Lazarus1 Lazarus to Beach sea or Frontfirst at 2:08 · in 74% of games
  • Construction Bot1 Con bot to Beach sea or Frontfirst at 2:53 · in 89% of games

You get

  • Hercules1 Light transport from Airfirst at 5:17 · in 32% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 5:21 · in 74% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

  • This build
  • Standard geo

Metal produced

020k40k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

05k10k15k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02.5k5k7.5k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

19 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard geoEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard geoOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard geo
1:003333330000
2:007368250000
3:00155615230000
4:00274427000000
5:003715372600420
6:005359572900710
7:007587813084107120
8:0091551145918030156921
9:0012285144892043511745130
10:00144041740529105652161280
11:001782220377387220742452790
12:0020235233054296394027111940
13:0023191260624748596130893304
14:0026045289884748832143034785
15:00277213149763031017256806196
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won less often than the standard build and destroyed less enemy metal by 15:00 despite big early kills.

  • + Destroyed 2910 metal by 10:00 vs 624 for standard build.
  • − Lost 2161 metal by 10:00 vs only 334 for standard build.
  • − Team win rate 47% vs 53% for standard build.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

UsurpeR

47.0 OS · 13/09/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
2187 metal received · 79502 energy received

Allied construction assistance is unknown. Timings are observations, not a promise of solo reproducibility.

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:59Middle 50%: 0:57–1:11 · n=19
Geothermal Powerplant3:14Middle 50%: 3:00–3:25 · n=19
Aircraft Plant4:39Middle 50%: 4:21–6:05 · n=19
Advanced Metal Extractor6:41Middle 50%: 5:51–7:53 · n=16
Vehicle Plant8:47Middle 50%: 8:16–9:40 · n=11

Played most by

UsurpeR14games of this buildHandicapping_mySelf2games of this buildIMBALANCED1game of this buildKuchy1game of this buildNutzz1game of this build