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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 · 40 steps
    1. Wind
    2. TickTick
    3. Wind
    4. TickTick
    5. LazarusLazarus
    6. Mex
    7. TickTick
    8. Mex
    9. TickTick
    10. Mex
    11. TickTick
    12. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    13. CenturionCenturion
    14. Mex
    15. LazarusLazarus
    16. Mex
    17. Construction BotCon bot
    18. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    19. Mex
    20. RocketeerRocketeer
    21. Wind
    22. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    23. Wind
    24. LazarusLazarus
    25. RocketeerRocketeer
    26. Wind
    27. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    28. Wind
    29. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    30. BeamerBeamer
    31. Con turret
    32. LazarusLazarus
    33. RocketeerRocketeer ×5
    34. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    35. LazarusLazarus
    36. Con turret
    37. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    38. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    39. Wind
    40. 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 · 86 steps
    1. Wind
    2. RocketeerRocketeer
    3. Wind
    4. RocketeerRocketeer
    5. Wind
    6. RocketeerRocketeer
    7. Wind
    8. LazarusLazarus
    9. Wind
    10. RocketeerRocketeer
    11. Wind
    12. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    13. Converter
    14. RocketeerRocketeer
    15. Wind ×2
    16. RocketeerRocketeer
    17. Wind ×2
    18. RocketeerRocketeer
    19. Converter
    20. Wind
    21. RocketeerRocketeer
    22. Wind
    23. LazarusLazarus
    24. Wind
    25. Converter
    26. Wind
    27. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    28. RocketeerRocketeer
    29. Wind ×2
    30. RocketeerRocketeer
    31. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:32 · typical 9:00
    32. Wind ×2
    33. RocketeerRocketeer
    34. Mex
    35. Wind
    36. Converter ×3
    37. Mex
    38. Converter ×2
    39. Con turret
    40. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    41. Con turret
    42. SentrySentry
    43. PawnPawn
    44. Wind
    45. PawnPawn
    46. Wind
    47. PawnPawn ×2
    48. SentrySentry
    49. Pit BullPit Bull
    50. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    51. Mex
    52. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    53. Wind
    54. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    55. Construction BotCon bot
    56. Wind ×15
    57. CenturionCenturion
    58. Wind
    59. CenturionCenturion
    60. Wind
    61. Pit BullPit Bull
    62. CenturionCenturion
    63. SentrySentry
    64. Wind
    65. CenturionCenturion
    66. Wind
    67. CenturionCenturion
    68. Wind
    69. CenturionCenturion
    70. Wind
    71. CenturionCenturion
    72. Wind
    73. CenturionCenturion
    74. Wind
    75. CenturionCenturion
    76. Pit BullPit Bull
    77. CenturionCenturion ×5
    78. Con turret
    79. Advanced Radar TowerAdvanced Radar Tower
    80. CenturionCenturion ×2
    81. Con turret
    82. CenturionCenturion ×2
    83. Con turret
    84. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labnot finished by 15:00
    85. CenturionCenturion
    86. RattlesnakeRattlesnakenot finished by 15:00

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [crd]sisa's (45 OS, 14/10/2026); 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

[crd]sisa

44.8 OS · 14/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
367 metal received · 33231 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