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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 5:09 · 8% of role by thenOnly 8% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 11:01

Where those units first fight, in 146 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 655 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 6:09 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 0:33–0:51

    Some games also: wind (46%)

    By 0:27 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:34 · typical 0:43
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Early defence

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine3Wind
    Order
    1. GauntletEarly defence after 6 mex, 5 winddone ~6:21, middle half 5:41–6:51
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot +2 vs standard
    • Lazarus1 Lazarus
    Army
    • Sentry1 Sentry
    • Rocketeer8 Rocketeer +2 vs standard
    • Tick1 Tick

    Some games also: con turret (40%) · Beamer (38%) · centurion (37%) · Radar Tower (37%) · pawn (34%)

    By 5:08 in all: 6 mex · 6 wind · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 28 steps
    1. TickTick
    2. TickTickfor Geo
    3. TickTick
    4. Wind
    5. TickTick
    6. LazarusLazarus
    7. TickTick
    8. CenturionCenturion
    9. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    10. PawnPawn
    11. Construction BotCon bot
    12. CenturionCenturion
    13. Mex
    14. CenturionCenturion
    15. RocketeerRocketeer
    16. Mex
    17. Wind
    18. RocketeerRocketeer
    19. Wind
    20. RocketeerRocketeer
    21. Mex
    22. Wind
    23. RocketeerRocketeer
    24. Mex
    25. SentrySentry
    26. RocketeerRocketeer
    27. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    28. GauntletGauntletdone 4:40 · typical 6:21
  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 (45%) · Beamer (45%) · rocketeer (44%) · Sentry (43%) · eat Vehicle Plant (30%)

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

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

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is gamercore's (30 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 72% 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
2:0085284021213131
3:001626161913013595110
4:0027212700402522282333
5:00388438477381128597782
6:00513250341299193411581425
7:00632662541884272417362301
8:00761875382705354724693173
9:00908489813600433031764071
10:0010855105534081501337994808
11:0013057123884560553845615547
12:0015734145405383597657106401
13:0018135168985987647766146999
14:0021314192756592720579397829
15:0024691218927526787087608701
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

gamercore

30.2 OS · 12/10/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
110 metal received · 60752 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:43Middle 50%: 0:33–0:51 · n=124
Vehicle Plant0:49Middle 50%: 0:44–7:11 · n=95
Gauntlet6:21Middle 50%: 5:41–6:51 · n=134
Advanced Metal Extractor8:59Middle 50%: 8:14–10:02 · n=127

Played most by

Leohvm14games of this buildTheGeneraI11games of this buildDRM9games of this buildGodmother136games of this build[crd]sisa4games of this build