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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 · 159 distinct matches · 77 players · 6% of Armada Front games · team won 52% of 162 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • GauntletEarly defence from 5:14 · 9% of role by thenOnly 9% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 11:01

Where those units first fight, in 143 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 625 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 159 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD FRONT
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:14 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 0:33–0:50

    Some games also: wind (47%)

    By 0:27 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:38 · typical 0:43
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Early defence

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine3Wind−2 vs standard
    Order
    1. GauntletEarly defence after 6 mex, 5 winddone ~6:23, middle half 5:46–6:53
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot
    • Lazarus1 Lazarus
    Army
    • Sentry1 Sentry
    • Rocketeer8 Rocketeer
    • Tick1 Tick

    Some games also: con turret (41%) · Beamer (40%) · Radar Tower (39%) · centurion (38%) · pawn (35%)

    By 5:13 in all: 6 mex · 6 wind · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 29 steps
    1. TickTick
    2. PawnPawn
    3. TickTick
    4. LazarusLazarus
    5. Construction BotCon bot
    6. Wind
    7. Construction BotCon bot
    8. Mex
    9. PawnPawn ×3
    10. CenturionCenturion
    11. Mex ×2
    12. Construction BotCon bot
    13. SentrySentry
    14. RocketeerRocketeer
    15. Mex
    16. LazarusLazarus
    17. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    18. SentrySentry
    19. RocketeerRocketeer
    20. PawnPawn
    21. RocketeerRocketeer
    22. Construction BotCon bot
    23. RocketeerRocketeer
    24. BeamerBeamer
    25. RocketeerRocketeer
    26. Wind
    27. RocketeerRocketeer
    28. Wind
    29. GauntletGauntletnot finished by 15:00 · typical 6:23
  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 (46%) · Beamer (44%) · rocketeer (43%) · Sentry (43%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 126 steps
    1. RocketeerRocketeer
    2. Wind
    3. RocketeerRocketeer
    4. Wind
    5. BeamerBeamer
    6. CenturionCenturion
    7. Wind ×2
    8. SentrySentry
    9. CenturionCenturion
    10. Wind
    11. Construction BotCon bot
    12. Wind
    13. BeamerBeamer
    14. Wind
    15. GauntletGauntlet
    16. Construction BotCon bot
    17. Energy storage
    18. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    19. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    20. Con turret
    21. RocketeerRocketeer
    22. Con turret
    23. RocketeerRocketeer
    24. Converter
    25. RocketeerRocketeer
    26. Wind
    27. Converter
    28. CenturionCenturion
    29. Wind
    30. Converter
    31. Mex
    32. Wind
    33. RocketeerRocketeer
    34. Converter
    35. Wind
    36. RocketeerRocketeer
    37. OverwatchOverwatch
    38. Converter
    39. Wind
    40. RocketeerRocketeer
    41. Converter
    42. Wind
    43. RocketeerRocketeer
    44. Converter
    45. Wind
    46. RocketeerRocketeer
    47. Wind
    48. Construction BotCon bot
    49. Wind
    50. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:48 · typical 8:58
    51. Mex
    52. RocketeerRocketeer
    53. Wind
    54. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    55. Wind
    56. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    57. Wind
    58. Con turret
    59. Wind
    60. RocketeerRocketeer
    61. Wind
    62. RocketeerRocketeer
    63. RattlesnakeRattlesnakedone 11:41
    64. Wind
    65. TickTick ×2
    66. Wind
    67. TickTick
    68. Wind
    69. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    70. TickTick ×2
    71. Wind
    72. TickTick
    73. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    74. TickTick
    75. Wind
    76. TickTick
    77. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    78. Wind
    79. TickTick
    80. Wind
    81. TickTick ×2
    82. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    83. TickTick ×2
    84. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    85. TickTick ×9
    86. Wind
    87. TickTick
    88. Wind
    89. TickTick
    90. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    91. TickTick
    92. Con turret
    93. Wind
    94. TickTick
    95. Wind
    96. TickTick ×3
    97. Wind
    98. TickTick ×2
    99. RattlesnakeRattlesnake
    100. TickTick ×2
    101. Wind
    102. TickTick ×11
    103. Wind
    104. TickTick
    105. BeamerBeamer
    106. TickTick ×3
    107. Wind
    108. TickTick ×4
    109. Wind
    110. TickTick ×4
    111. Wind
    112. TickTick ×4
    113. Wind
    114. TickTick
    115. Con turret
    116. TickTick ×4
    117. Wind
    118. TickTick ×4
    119. Wind
    120. TickTick ×4
    121. Wind
    122. TickTick ×4
    123. Wind
    124. TickTick
    125. Metal storage
    126. TickTick ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is nhs_lover's (31 OS, 29/08/2026); 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 7:20 · 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

162 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
2:0085384021213131
3:001627161913013493108
4:0027272700402522294333
5:00389038477441127603787
6:00514850351327193311431427
7:00634462531898272217362302
8:00761875352727354525123173
9:00907089733652432931994069
10:0010860105354210500939254807
11:0013159123724688553645815546
12:0015780145275394598857866402
13:0018135168576033646966366999
14:0021314192206667719180457826
15:0024557218547480786989048687
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

nhs_lover

31.2 OS · 29/08/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
556 metal received · 49497 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:43Middle 50%: 0:33–0:50 · n=122
Vehicle Plant0:49Middle 50%: 0:44–7:31 · n=93
Gauntlet6:23Middle 50%: 5:46–6:53 · n=132
Advanced Metal Extractor8:58Middle 50%: 8:13–9:51 · n=124

Played most by

Leohvm13games of this buildTheGeneraI12games of this buildDRM9games of this buildGodmother136games of this buildEpicTyrannus5games of this build