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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. Mex ×3
  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 · 33 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:53 · typical 0:49
    3. RoverScout ×5
    4. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    5. JanusJanus ×2
    6. Mex
    7. Wind
    8. JanusJanus
    9. Wind
    10. Mex
    11. Wind ×2
    12. JanusJanus ×2
    13. BlitzBlitz
    14. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    15. Con turret
    16. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    17. BlitzBlitz ×2
    18. Wind
    19. Mex
    20. BlitzBlitz
    21. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    22. OverwatchOverwatch
    23. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    24. Wind
    25. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    26. BlitzBlitz
    27. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    28. OverwatchOverwatch
    29. BlitzBlitz
    30. Wind ×2
    31. BeamerBeamer
    32. Wind
    33. GauntletGauntletdone 6:10 · 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 · 133 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×6
    3. Wind
    4. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    5. RoverScout ×2
    6. Wind
    7. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    8. Con turret
    9. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    10. RoverScout
    11. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    12. RoverScout
    13. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    14. Wind
    15. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    16. RoverScout
    17. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    18. BeamerBeamer
    19. RoverScout
    20. BeamerBeamer
    21. Wind
    22. RoverScout ×2
    23. GauntletGauntlet
    24. Wind
    25. RoverScout ×2
    26. Wind
    27. RoverScout
    28. BeamerBeamer
    29. RoverScout ×2
    30. Wind
    31. RoverScout
    32. BeamerBeamer
    33. Mex
    34. RoverScout
    35. Wind
    36. RoverScout
    37. SentrySentry
    38. RoverScout
    39. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    40. Con turret
    41. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    42. RoverScout
    43. Wind
    44. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    45. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    46. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    47. NettleNettle ×4
    48. SentrySentry
    49. Wind
    50. NettleNettle ×2
    51. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    52. NettleNettle
    53. Con turret
    54. Wind
    55. Energy storage
    56. Wind ×5
    57. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    58. Wind ×5
    59. RoverScout
    60. Energy storage
    61. RoverScout
    62. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    63. RoverScout
    64. Wind ×2
    65. RoverScout
    66. Wind
    67. RoverScout
    68. OverwatchOverwatch
    69. RoverScout
    70. Wind
    71. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:07 · typical 9:00
    72. Wind
    73. RoverScout
    74. Wind
    75. RoverScout
    76. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    77. RoverScout
    78. Wind
    79. RoverScout
    80. Wind
    81. RoverScout
    82. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    83. Wind
    84. RoverScout
    85. Wind
    86. StarlightStarlightdone 12:07
    87. RoverScout
    88. Con turret
    89. RoverScout
    90. Wind ×2
    91. RoverScout
    92. Con turret
    93. Wind
    94. RoverScout
    95. StarlightStarlight
    96. Con turret
    97. Wind
    98. RoverScout
    99. Con turret
    100. RoverScout ×2
    101. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    102. Con turret
    103. RoverScout
    104. Wind
    105. RoverScout
    106. Con turret
    107. RoverScout ×2
    108. Wind
    109. RoverScout
    110. StarlightStarlight
    111. RoverScout
    112. Energy storage
    113. RoverScout ×3
    114. Wind
    115. RoverScout
    116. Wind
    117. StarlightStarlight
    118. RoverScout ×3
    119. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    120. RoverScout
    121. StarlightStarlight
    122. RoverScout
    123. Pit BullPit Bull
    124. RoverScout
    125. BeamerBeamer
    126. RoverScout
    127. StarlightStarlight
    128. RoverScout ×2
    129. BeamerBeamer
    130. StarlightStarlight
    131. BeamerBeamer ×3
    132. StarlightStarlight
    133. BeamerBeamer

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Hummell's (51 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

Hummell

50.9 OS · 14/10/2026

Open source match ↗

92 received units · includes a constructor
75 metal received · 154396 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
Gauntlet defence · Armada Front build order · BAR Build Atlas