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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 52% of 164 · 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 145 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 610 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 6:15 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 ~0:44, middle half 0:33–0:51

    Some games also: wind (48%)

    By 0:27 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind ×2
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Early defence

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine3Wind−2 vs standard
    Order
    1. GauntletEarly defence after 6 mex, 5 wind, 1 con turretdone ~6:24, middle half 5:46–6:54
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot +2 vs standard
    • Lazarus1 Lazarus
    Army
    • Sentry1 Sentry
    • Rocketeer9 Rocketeer
    • Tick1 Tick

    Some games also: con turret (42%) · Beamer (40%) · Radar Tower (39%) · centurion (38%) · pawn (36%)

    By 5:14 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 21 steps
    1. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:49 · typical 0:49
    2. RoverScout
    3. Wind ×2
    4. RoverScout ×4
    5. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    6. JanusJanus
    7. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    8. Mex
    9. JanusJanus
    10. Mex
    11. JanusJanus
    12. Mex
    13. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    14. Mex
    15. SentrySentry
    16. ShellshockerArty
    17. SentrySentry
    18. ShellshockerArty
    19. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    20. ShellshockerArty
    21. GauntletGauntletdone 4:52 · typical 6:24
  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 (45%) · rocketeer (44%) · 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 · 69 steps
    1. ShellshockerArty ×2
    2. SentrySentry ×2
    3. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    4. BlitzBlitz ×3
    5. BeamerBeamer
    6. BlitzBlitz ×2
    7. BeamerBeamer
    8. JanusJanus ×2
    9. Wind
    10. JanusJanus
    11. Wind ×2
    12. JanusJanus
    13. Wind ×3
    14. JanusJanus
    15. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:05 · typical 9:00
    16. Wind ×2
    17. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    18. Con turret
    19. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    20. Con turret
    21. Wind
    22. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    23. Wind ×2
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    26. Wind ×2
    27. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    28. Wind ×2
    29. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    30. Wind ×2
    31. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    32. Wind ×2
    33. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    34. Wind ×16
    35. BlitzBlitz
    36. Wind
    37. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    38. Wind ×3
    39. BlitzBlitz
    40. Wind ×5
    41. BlitzBlitz
    42. Wind ×6
    43. BlitzBlitz
    44. Wind ×5
    45. BlitzBlitz
    46. Wind ×4
    47. BlitzBlitz
    48. Wind ×6
    49. BlitzBlitz
    50. Wind
    51. BlitzBlitz
    52. Wind
    53. BlitzBlitz
    54. Wind
    55. BlitzBlitz ×5
    56. Wind
    57. BlitzBlitz
    58. Wind
    59. BlitzBlitz
    60. Wind
    61. BlitzBlitz
    62. Wind
    63. Con turret
    64. BlitzBlitz
    65. Wind
    66. BlitzBlitz
    67. Wind
    68. BlitzBlitz
    69. Con turret

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is BigJohnny2's (32 OS, 12/10/2026); 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 71% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:18 · 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
2:0085484021213131
3:001627161813013595108
4:0027232700402522294333
5:00389038477471128597787
6:00514850351327192811431428
7:00634462501898272017362303
8:00761875352751354624693173
9:00907089733662433031764071
10:0010860105424220501139254810
11:0013159123754690554045815548
12:0015780145285394599858406409
13:0018135168596033647066367001
14:0021314192176637718680457827
15:0024597218497448787089048694
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

BigJohnny2

32.3 OS · 12/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
54 metal received · 9931 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:44Middle 50%: 0:33–0:51 · n=124
Vehicle Plant0:49Middle 50%: 0:44–8:12 · n=94
Gauntlet6:24Middle 50%: 5:46–6:54 · n=134
Advanced Metal Extractor9:00Middle 50%: 8:14–9:48 · n=126

Played most by

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