BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
Front / Armada / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Gauntlet defence

Armada Front build order · Supreme Isthmus

Economy-first start that commits early to a Gauntlet from around 5:14, well ahead of the role norm, using its area-control plasma to anchor the middle before transitioning into the usual T1 army mix.

#defence #artillery · 161 distinct matches · 77 players · 6% of Armada Front games · team won 51% of 164 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • GauntletEarly defence from 5:09 · 8% of role by thenOnly 8% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 11:01

Where those units first fight, in 146 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 655 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into rocketeer (14% of army), blitz (11% of army), Rattlesnake (8% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Gauntlet by 5:28

  1. Open mex and Vehicle Plant as standard economy-first Front.
  2. Add early Sentries and Beamers to hold the wider gap.
  3. Rush a Gauntlet well before the usual 11:13 timing.
  4. Reclaim Vehicle Plant in a third of games to pay for defence.
  5. Push into Blitz and Rattlesnake army as T2 approaches.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 161 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD FRONT
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:09 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
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 2 mex, 1 winddone ~0:43, middle half 0:33–0:51

    Some games also: wind (46%)

    By 0:27 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:26 · typical 0:43
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Early defence

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine3Wind
    Order
    1. GauntletEarly defence after 6 mex, 5 winddone ~6:21, middle half 5:41–6:51
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot +2 vs standard
    • Lazarus1 Lazarus
    Army
    • Sentry1 Sentry
    • Rocketeer8 Rocketeer +2 vs standard
    • Tick1 Tick

    Some games also: con turret (40%) · Beamer (38%) · centurion (37%) · Radar Tower (37%) · pawn (34%)

    By 5:08 in all: 6 mex · 6 wind · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 29 steps
    1. TickTick ×5
    2. PawnPawn
    3. Mex
    4. LazarusLazarus
    5. Construction BotCon bot
    6. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    7. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    8. Mex
    9. RocketeerRocketeer ×4
    10. Mex
    11. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    12. Mex
    13. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    14. Mex
    15. RocketeerRocketeer ×4
    16. SentrySentry
    17. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    18. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    19. RocketeerRocketeer
    20. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    21. RocketeerRocketeer
    22. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    23. RocketeerRocketeer
    24. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    25. RocketeerRocketeer
    26. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    27. RocketeerRocketeer
    28. SentrySentry
    29. GauntletGauntletnot finished by 15:00 · typical 6:21
  3. 3

    Early defence to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine17Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret

    Some games also: Dragon's Teeth (47%) · energy storage (45%) · Beamer (45%) · rocketeer (44%) · Sentry (43%) · eat Vehicle Plant (30%)

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 24 wind · 1 energy storage · 4 con turret (standard 2)

    The example game in this phase · 197 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot
    2. SentrySentry
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. LazarusLazarus
    5. CenturionCenturion
    6. GauntletGauntlet
    7. CenturionCenturion
    8. Wind ×2
    9. Construction BotCon bot
    10. Wind ×2
    11. LazarusLazarus
    12. Wind
    13. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    14. Wind
    15. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    16. PawnPawn
    17. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    18. PawnPawn
    19. Wind
    20. PawnPawn
    21. BeamerBeamer
    22. PawnPawn
    23. Wind
    24. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    25. PawnPawn
    26. Wind
    27. PawnPawn ×2
    28. Wind
    29. TickTick
    30. PawnPawn
    31. Wind
    32. TickTick ×2
    33. Wind
    34. TickTick
    35. SentrySentry
    36. TickTick
    37. Wind
    38. TickTick
    39. SentrySentry
    40. TickTick ×2
    41. Wind
    42. SentrySentry
    43. TickTick
    44. Mex
    45. TickTick
    46. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    47. Wind
    48. TickTick ×3
    49. Wind
    50. TickTick ×4
    51. Wind
    52. TickTick
    53. BeamerBeamer
    54. TickTick ×2
    55. Wind
    56. TickTick ×4
    57. Wind
    58. TickTick ×3
    59. Wind
    60. TickTick
    61. SentrySentry
    62. TickTick ×3
    63. SentrySentry
    64. TickTick
    65. Con turret
    66. TickTick ×8
    67. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    68. TickTick
    69. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    70. LazarusLazarus
    71. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    72. TickTick
    73. Con turret
    74. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    75. TickTick
    76. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    77. TickTick
    78. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    79. Mex
    80. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    81. Converter
    82. TickTick
    83. Energy storage
    84. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    85. TickTick ×2
    86. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    87. TickTick
    88. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    89. TickTick
    90. Mex
    91. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    92. TickTick
    93. Converter
    94. TickTick
    95. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    96. TickTick
    97. Converter
    98. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    99. TickTick ×2
    100. Con turret
    101. Mex
    102. Converter
    103. TickTick ×3
    104. SentrySentry
    105. TickTick
    106. Con turret
    107. TickTick
    108. Mex
    109. SentrySentry
    110. Construction BotCon bot
    111. Wind
    112. SentrySentry
    113. Converter
    114. Wind
    115. Construction BotCon bot
    116. SentrySentry
    117. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    118. Wind
    119. Metal storage
    120. Wind
    121. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    122. TickTick
    123. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    124. TickTick
    125. Wind
    126. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    127. Wind
    128. TickTick
    129. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 13:56 · typical 8:59
    130. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    131. TickTick
    132. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    133. TickTick
    134. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    135. Converter
    136. Wind
    137. TickTick
    138. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    139. TickTick
    140. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    141. TickTick
    142. Wind
    143. TickTick
    144. Wind
    145. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    146. TickTick
    147. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    148. TickTick ×2
    149. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    150. Wind
    151. TickTick
    152. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    153. TickTick
    154. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    155. Wind
    156. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    157. TickTick
    158. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    159. Wind
    160. Construction BotCon bot
    161. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    162. Wind
    163. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    164. Construction BotCon bot
    165. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    166. Wind ×3
    167. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    168. Construction BotCon bot
    169. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    170. Wind
    171. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    172. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    173. TickTick
    174. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    175. Construction BotCon bot
    176. Wind ×2
    177. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    178. Wind
    179. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    180. TickTick
    181. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    182. TickTick
    183. Wind ×2
    184. TickTick
    185. Wind
    186. Converter
    187. TickTick
    188. Converter
    189. TickTick
    190. Converter
    191. TickTick
    192. Converter
    193. Wind
    194. TickTick
    195. PawnPawn
    196. Wind
    197. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Blover's (37 OS, 14/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:18 · in 72% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:25 · in 59% of games

How it plays out

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

  • This build
  • Standard front

Metal produced

010k20k30k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

164 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard frontEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard frontOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard front
1:003333330000
2:0085284021213131
3:001626161913013595110
4:0027212700402522282333
5:00388438477381128597782
6:00513250341299193411581425
7:00632662541884272417362301
8:00761875382705354724693173
9:00908489813600433031764071
10:0010855105534081501337994808
11:0013057123884560553845615547
12:0015734145405383597657106401
13:0018135168985987647766146999
14:0021314192756592720579397829
15:0024691218927526787087608701
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Lower team win rate than standard despite better metal production, suggesting the early Gauntlet reacts to pressure rather than prevents losses.

  • + Metal production reaches 25200 vs 22627 standard by 15:00.
  • + Own metal lost stays close to standard by 15:00 (8904 vs 8940).
  • − Team win rate drops to 53% vs 62% standard.
  • − Enemy metal destroyed trails standard at every checkpoint.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

Blover

37.3 OS · 14/10/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
869 metal received · 20193 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:43Middle 50%: 0:33–0:51 · n=124
Vehicle Plant0:49Middle 50%: 0:44–7:11 · n=95
Gauntlet6:21Middle 50%: 5:41–6:51 · n=134
Advanced Metal Extractor8:59Middle 50%: 8:14–10:02 · n=127

Played most by

Leohvm14games of this buildTheGeneraI11games of this buildDRM9games of this buildGodmother136games of this build[crd]sisa4games of this build