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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 · 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 5:14 · 9% of role by thenOnly 9% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 11:03

Where those units first fight, in 145 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 161 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 ~0:42, middle half 0:33–0:49

    Some games also: wind (46%)

    By 0:26 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 1 step
    1. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:20 · typical 0:42
  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 ~6:23, 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 (42%) · 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 · 35 steps
    1. Mex
    2. TickTick
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Mex
    6. Construction BotCon bot
    7. Mex
    8. CenturionCenturion
    9. Construction BotCon bot
    10. LazarusLazarus
    11. RocketeerRocketeer
    12. Mex ×2
    13. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    14. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    15. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    16. SentrySentry
    17. RocketeerRocketeer
    18. Mex
    19. CenturionCenturion
    20. SentrySentry
    21. RocketeerRocketeer
    22. Wind
    23. RocketeerRocketeer
    24. SentrySentry
    25. Construction BotCon bot
    26. Wind
    27. Construction BotCon bot
    28. Wind
    29. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    30. Wind
    31. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    32. Wind
    33. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    34. Wind
    35. 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 · 85 steps
    1. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    2. Wind
    3. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    4. Wind
    5. RocketeerRocketeer ×6
    6. Con turret
    7. RocketeerRocketeer
    8. LazarusLazarus
    9. Con turret
    10. LazarusLazarus
    11. RocketeerRocketeer ×9
    12. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:31 · typical 9:00
    13. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    14. PawnPawn
    15. LazarusLazarus ×2
    16. Con turret
    17. LazarusLazarus
    18. RocketeerRocketeer
    19. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    20. RocketeerRocketeer
    21. Wind
    22. RocketeerRocketeer
    23. Wind
    24. LazarusLazarus ×2
    25. Wind
    26. PawnPawn
    27. Wind
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    29. PawnPawn
    30. Wind ×2
    31. PawnPawn
    32. Wind
    33. PawnPawn
    34. Wind ×2
    35. PawnPawn
    36. Wind
    37. PawnPawn
    38. Converter
    39. PawnPawn
    40. Converter
    41. Construction BotCon bot
    42. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    43. Converter
    44. Wind ×2
    45. Construction BotCon bot
    46. Wind
    47. LazarusLazarus
    48. Wind
    49. Converter
    50. LazarusLazarus
    51. Wind ×2
    52. LazarusLazarus
    53. Wind ×2
    54. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    55. LazarusLazarus
    56. Converter
    57. Wind
    58. Construction BotCon bot
    59. Wind ×2
    60. Construction BotCon bot
    61. Wind
    62. Con turret
    63. Wind ×3
    64. PawnPawn
    65. Wind
    66. Con turret
    67. Wind
    68. PawnPawn
    69. Wind ×2
    70. PawnPawn
    71. Wind
    72. Con turret
    73. PawnPawn
    74. Converter
    75. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 14:47 · typical 0:49
    76. PawnPawn
    77. Converter
    78. Wind
    79. PawnPawn ×2
    80. Wind
    81. PawnPawn
    82. Wind
    83. PawnPawn
    84. Wind
    85. PawnPawn

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is fanboi's (33 OS, 05/10/2026); 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 73% 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
2:0085484021213131
3:001628161913013595109
4:0027272700402522294333
5:00389038477441126604783
6:00514350351327193711561427
7:00633662501886272617482302
8:00760975352727354825123173
9:00907089753635433231994071
10:0010855105504176501538334810
11:0013126123844610554045815547
12:0015734145375383599857866404
13:0018135168895987649466366999
14:0021314192606592721780457829
15:0024557218557526787389048701
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

fanboi

33.3 OS · 05/10/2026

Open source match ↗

8 received units · includes a constructor
74 metal received · 7432 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:42Middle 50%: 0:33–0:49 · n=123
Vehicle Plant0:49Middle 50%: 0:44–7:21 · n=94
Gauntlet6:23Middle 50%: 5:46–6:53 · n=133
Advanced Metal Extractor9:00Middle 50%: 8:14–9:55 · n=126

Played most by

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