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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 · 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 0:39 · 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 +2 vs standard
    • 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 · 58 steps
    1. TickTick ×5
    2. LazarusLazarus
    3. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    4. Wind
    5. Mex
    6. Construction BotCon bot
    7. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    8. Mex
    9. RocketeerRocketeer
    10. Mex
    11. LazarusLazarus
    12. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    13. Mex
    14. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    15. RocketeerRocketeer
    16. SentrySentry
    17. LazarusLazarus
    18. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    19. BeamerBeamer
    20. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    21. BeamerBeamer
    22. RocketeerRocketeer
    23. BeamerBeamer
    24. LazarusLazarus
    25. Con turret
    26. RocketeerRocketeer
    27. SentrySentry
    28. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    29. RocketeerRocketeer
    30. Wind
    31. BeamerBeamer
    32. RocketeerRocketeer
    33. Wind
    34. LazarusLazarus
    35. BeamerBeamer
    36. Wind
    37. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    38. RocketeerRocketeer
    39. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    40. RocketeerRocketeer
    41. Wind
    42. RocketeerRocketeer
    43. Wind
    44. SentrySentry
    45. LazarusLazarus
    46. Wind
    47. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    48. RocketeerRocketeer
    49. OverwatchOverwatch
    50. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    51. Wind
    52. RocketeerRocketeer
    53. Converter
    54. Wind
    55. RocketeerRocketeer
    56. LazarusLazarus
    57. Wind
    58. GauntletGauntletdone 7:18 · 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 · 116 steps
    1. PawnPawn
    2. Wind
    3. PawnPawn
    4. Wind
    5. PawnPawn
    6. Wind
    7. Converter
    8. Energy storage
    9. Wind
    10. Converter ×2
    11. Wind
    12. Converter
    13. Wind
    14. Converter
    15. Wind
    16. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    17. Converter
    18. TickTick
    19. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    20. TickTick
    21. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    22. TickTick
    23. Wind
    24. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    25. Construction BotCon bot
    26. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    27. Con turret
    28. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    29. Wind
    30. Construction BotCon bot
    31. Wind
    32. Construction BotCon bot
    33. Wind
    34. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labnot finished by 15:00
    35. Construction BotCon bot
    36. Wind
    37. Construction BotCon bot
    38. Wind
    39. Construction BotCon bot
    40. Wind
    41. TickTick
    42. Wind
    43. TickTick ×2
    44. Wind
    45. TickTick ×2
    46. Wind
    47. TickTick
    48. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:07 · typical 8:58
    49. TickTick
    50. Wind
    51. TickTick ×3
    52. Converter
    53. Wind
    54. TickTick
    55. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    56. Converter
    57. Wind ×5
    58. Converter
    59. Wind ×2
    60. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    61. Converter
    62. SentrySentry
    63. Wind ×2
    64. Converter
    65. SentrySentry
    66. Wind ×3
    67. Converter
    68. Bot LabBot Labdone 11:13
    69. Wind ×2
    70. Metal storage
    71. Wind
    72. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    73. Wind ×2
    74. Converter
    75. Wind ×7
    76. PawnPawn
    77. Wind ×3
    78. PawnPawn
    79. Con turret
    80. Wind ×2
    81. CenturionCenturion
    82. Wind ×3
    83. Pit BullPit Bull
    84. Wind ×2
    85. CenturionCenturion
    86. Wind ×4
    87. PawnPawn
    88. Wind ×4
    89. PawnPawn
    90. Wind
    91. PawnPawn
    92. BeamerBeamer ×2
    93. Wind ×3
    94. PawnPawn ×2
    95. Wind
    96. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw
    97. Wind ×2
    98. PawnPawn
    99. BeamerBeamer
    100. PawnPawn
    101. Wind ×3
    102. PawnPawn ×3
    103. Wind ×3
    104. PawnPawn ×3
    105. Wind ×3
    106. PawnPawn ×3
    107. Con turret
    108. Wind ×3
    109. PawnPawn
    110. BeamerBeamer
    111. Con turret
    112. PawnPawn
    113. Wind ×3
    114. LazarusLazarus
    115. Pit BullPit Bull
    116. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is TrevGod's (31 OS, 13/08/2026); 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
3:001627161813013593108
4:0027272699402522294333
5:00389038477441127603787
6:00514850351327192311431427
7:00634462491898271417362302
8:00761875342727354425123173
9:00907089733652432631994069
10:0010860105384210500539254807
11:0013159123734688553345815547
12:0015780145275394597657866408
13:0018135168576033646866366999
14:0021314192206667716380457826
15:0024557218547480786889048687
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

TrevGod

31.4 OS · 13/08/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
365 metal received · 34396 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