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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 around 5:30 for static area-control defence at the front, well ahead of the usual time, holding the middle while eco continues behind it.

#defence #artillery · 114 distinct matches · 54 players · 6% of Armada Front games · team won 54% of 117 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • GauntletEarly defence from 5:27 · 9% of role by thenOnly 9% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 11:11

Where those units first fight, in 102 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 600 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into blitz (13% of army), rocketeer (11% of army), Rattlesnake (8% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Gauntlet by 5:30

  1. Open 3 mex into wind and a vehicle plant, economy first as usual.
  2. Add radar and early defence (Sentry, Beamer) toward the coast gap.
  3. Commit to a Gauntlet well ahead of schedule to anchor a forward line.
  4. Reinforce the line with Blitz and Rocketeer around the Gauntlet.
  5. Upgrade mex to advanced and transition into the normal t1 mix.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 114 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD FRONT
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:27 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 Turbine1Wind
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 3 mex, 1 winddone ~0:45, middle half 0:39–8:37

    Some games also: Vehicle Plant (39%)

    By 0:28 in all: 2 mex · 1 wind

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:27 · typical 0:45
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Early defence

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind−2 vs standard
    Order
    1. GauntletEarly defence after 6 mex, 6 wind, 1 con turretdone ~6:30, middle half 6:00–7:03
    Builders
    • Construction Bot2 Con bot +2 vs standard
    Army
    • Sentry1 Sentry

    Some games also: rocketeer (49%) · tick (47%) · Lazarus (44%) · con turret (44%) · Radar Tower (41%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 con vehicle · 3 janus

    By 5:27 in all: 6 mex · 7 wind · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 39 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    3. Wind
    4. Mex
    5. Wind
    6. PawnPawn ×2
    7. Mex
    8. PawnPawn
    9. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    10. LazarusLazarus
    11. Mex
    12. RocketeerRocketeer
    13. Con turret
    14. RocketeerRocketeer
    15. PawnPawn
    16. RocketeerRocketeer
    17. Wind
    18. RocketeerRocketeer
    19. Converter
    20. Wind
    21. Mex
    22. LazarusLazarus
    23. Wind
    24. RocketeerRocketeer
    25. Wind
    26. Mex
    27. Converter
    28. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    29. RocketeerRocketeer
    30. Wind
    31. RocketeerRocketeer
    32. Wind
    33. LazarusLazarus
    34. RocketeerRocketeer
    35. Wind
    36. PawnPawn
    37. Converter
    38. LazarusLazarus
    39. GauntletGauntletdone 5:08 · typical 6:30
  3. 3

    Early defence to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine16Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret

    Some games also: Dragon's Teeth (46%) · energy storage (45%) · Beamer (45%) · Sentry (39%) · converter (36%) · eat Vehicle Plant (32%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 blitz

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 26 wind · 1 energy storage · 4 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 125 steps
    1. Wind
    2. RocketeerRocketeer
    3. Wind ×2
    4. RocketeerRocketeer
    5. LazarusLazarus
    6. Wind ×4
    7. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    8. Con turret
    9. Wind
    10. LazarusLazarus
    11. Con turret
    12. Wind
    13. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 5:42 · typical 0:47
    14. BlitzBlitz ×3
    15. Converter
    16. BlitzBlitz
    17. Converter
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:11 · typical 8:58
    19. BlitzBlitz
    20. Mex
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2
    22. BlitzBlitz ×4
    23. RoverScout ×2
    24. BlitzBlitz ×2
    25. Bot LabBot Labdone 8:50
    26. BlitzBlitz ×3
    27. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    28. BlitzBlitz
    29. TickTick ×2
    30. LazarusLazarus ×3
    31. TickTick
    32. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    33. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    34. Wind
    35. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    36. Wind ×6
    37. Construction BotCon bot
    38. Wind ×4
    39. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    40. Wind
    41. Con turret
    42. Energy storage
    43. Wind ×4
    44. Converter
    45. Wind
    46. TickTick
    47. Wind
    48. TickTick
    49. Converter
    50. Wind
    51. BlitzBlitz
    52. Wind
    53. Converter
    54. BlitzBlitz
    55. Wind
    56. SentrySentry
    57. BlitzBlitz
    58. TickTick
    59. Wind
    60. SentrySentry ×2
    61. Converter
    62. TickTick
    63. BlitzBlitz ×2
    64. SentrySentry
    65. Wind
    66. LazarusLazarus
    67. Converter
    68. BlitzBlitz
    69. LazarusLazarus
    70. BlitzBlitz
    71. LazarusLazarus
    72. BlitzBlitz
    73. Wind
    74. Radar TowerRadar Tower ×2
    75. BlitzBlitz
    76. Wind
    77. Converter
    78. BlitzBlitz
    79. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    80. Wind
    81. BlitzBlitz
    82. Converter
    83. BlitzBlitz
    84. Wind
    85. Converter
    86. BlitzBlitz
    87. Wind
    88. BlitzBlitz
    89. Wind
    90. BlitzBlitz
    91. Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plantdone 12:57
    92. BlitzBlitz
    93. Wind
    94. Con turret ×2
    95. SentrySentry
    96. RoverScout ×2
    97. Wind
    98. RoverScout ×2
    99. Wind
    100. RoverScout ×2
    101. Wind
    102. RoverScout
    103. AmbassadorAmbassadordone 13:17
    104. RoverScout
    105. Wind
    106. RoverScout ×2
    107. AmbassadorAmbassador
    108. RoverScout
    109. Wind
    110. RoverScout ×2
    111. AmbassadorAmbassador
    112. RoverScout
    113. Wind
    114. RoverScout ×3
    115. Wind
    116. ShredderShredderdone 14:10
    117. RoverScout ×3
    118. ShredderShredder
    119. Wind
    120. RoverScout ×2
    121. ShredderShredder
    122. RoverScout ×2
    123. AmbassadorAmbassador
    124. RoverScout ×2
    125. PawnPawn ×3

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [crd]sisa's (46 OS, 03/10/2026); 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 7:13 · in 66% 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

117 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
2:0086084426213131
3:0016531621129143106105
4:0027252709409545312333
5:00391138558361200614813
6:00518550601453208011131512
7:00634962991998294118572450
8:00763476242719378025513332
9:00906290603589460931554251
10:0010919106614045524339754952
11:0013268125914574574647745677
12:0015966147745287630557256491
13:0018610173765781690666507192
14:0022005200896594756378328079
15:0025153226567101829589338940
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won less often than the standard build, with lower kills despite better own metal production.

  • + Metal production by 15:00 ahead of standard (25351 vs 22714).
  • + Own metal lost by 15:00 close to standard despite early defensive commitment (8868 vs 8944).
  • − Team win rate only 58% vs 63% for standard build.
  • − Enemy metal destroyed by 15:00 clearly lower (7050 vs 8365).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

[crd]sisa

45.9 OS · 03/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
636 metal received · 54884 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:45Middle 50%: 0:39–8:37 · n=80
Vehicle Plant0:47Middle 50%: 0:42–0:53 · n=71
Gauntlet6:30Middle 50%: 6:00–7:03 · n=97
Advanced Metal Extractor8:58Middle 50%: 8:12–10:14 · n=94

Played most by

Leohvm14games of this buildDRM8games of this buildGodmother135games of this buildJustSomeGuy5games of this buildIcouldbeToxic4games of this build