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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 · 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 · 134 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:49 · typical 0:49
    3. RoverScout ×2
    4. JanusJanus ×2
    5. Wind ×2
    6. JanusJanus
    7. WhistlerMissile truck
    8. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×3
    9. Mex
    10. JanusJanus
    11. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    12. Mex
    13. WhistlerMissile truck ×2
    14. SentrySentry
    15. Energy storage
    16. JanusJanus
    17. Mex
    18. WhistlerMissile truck
    19. SentrySentry
    20. WhistlerMissile truck
    21. Wind ×4
    22. WhistlerMissile truck
    23. BeamerBeamer
    24. Wind
    25. WhistlerMissile truck
    26. Wind
    27. WhistlerMissile truck
    28. Wind
    29. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    30. Wind
    31. WhistlerMissile truck
    32. Wind
    33. WhistlerMissile truck
    34. Wind
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:04 · typical 9:00
    36. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    37. Wind
    38. WhistlerMissile truck
    39. Wind
    40. Con turret
    41. Wind ×4
    42. BlitzBlitz
    43. Wind
    44. Con turret ×2
    45. BlitzBlitz
    46. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    47. Con turret
    48. BlitzBlitz
    49. Wind
    50. BlitzBlitz
    51. Wind
    52. BlitzBlitz
    53. Con turret
    54. BlitzBlitz
    55. Wind
    56. BlitzBlitz
    57. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    58. Wind
    59. BlitzBlitz
    60. Wind
    61. BlitzBlitz ×2
    62. Wind
    63. BlitzBlitz
    64. BeamerBeamer
    65. Wind
    66. BlitzBlitz
    67. Wind
    68. BlitzBlitz
    69. Wind
    70. BlitzBlitz ×2
    71. Wind
    72. BeamerBeamer
    73. Con turret
    74. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    75. BlitzBlitz
    76. BeamerBeamer
    77. Wind
    78. Con turret
    79. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    80. Wind
    81. RattlesnakeRattlesnakedone 11:11
    82. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    83. Wind
    84. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    85. Wind ×2
    86. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    87. Wind ×4
    88. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    89. Con turret
    90. Wind ×2
    91. BlitzBlitz
    92. Wind ×2
    93. BlitzBlitz
    94. Wind ×2
    95. BlitzBlitz
    96. Wind
    97. BlitzBlitz
    98. Wind ×2
    99. BeamerBeamer
    100. Wind ×3
    101. BlitzBlitz
    102. Wind
    103. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    104. BlitzBlitz
    105. Wind ×2
    106. BlitzBlitz
    107. Con turret
    108. BlitzBlitz
    109. Wind
    110. BlitzBlitz
    111. Wind
    112. BlitzBlitz
    113. Wind
    114. BlitzBlitz
    115. Wind
    116. BlitzBlitz
    117. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    118. BlitzBlitz
    119. Wind
    120. BeamerBeamer
    121. BlitzBlitz
    122. Wind
    123. Con turret ×2
    124. BlitzBlitz ×2
    125. Wind
    126. BeamerBeamer
    127. BlitzBlitz
    128. Wind
    129. BlitzBlitz
    130. Wind
    131. Con turret
    132. BlitzBlitz ×2
    133. Wind
    134. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:47 · 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 · 1 step
    1. 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 · 80 steps
    1. BlitzBlitz
    2. BeamerBeamer
    3. Con turret
    4. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    5. Wind
    6. BeamerBeamer
    7. BlitzBlitz
    8. Converter
    9. Wind
    10. BlitzBlitz
    11. Converter
    12. Wind
    13. BlitzBlitz
    14. Wind
    15. BlitzBlitz
    16. Wind
    17. Converter
    18. BlitzBlitz
    19. Wind
    20. BlitzBlitz
    21. Converter
    22. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    23. Wind
    24. BlitzBlitz
    25. RattlesnakeRattlesnake
    26. Wind
    27. BlitzBlitz
    28. Converter
    29. Wind
    30. BlitzBlitz
    31. Wind
    32. Converter
    33. BlitzBlitz
    34. Wind
    35. BlitzBlitz
    36. Converter
    37. Wind
    38. BlitzBlitz
    39. Wind
    40. BlitzBlitz
    41. Converter
    42. Wind
    43. BlitzBlitz
    44. Converter
    45. Wind
    46. LazarusLazarus
    47. Converter
    48. BlitzBlitz
    49. Wind
    50. Converter
    51. LazarusLazarus
    52. Converter
    53. BlitzBlitz
    54. Wind
    55. LazarusLazarus
    56. BlitzBlitz
    57. Converter
    58. LazarusLazarus
    59. BeamerBeamer
    60. BlitzBlitz
    61. VeilVeil
    62. Converter
    63. LazarusLazarus
    64. BlitzBlitz
    65. Wind
    66. Converter
    67. BlitzBlitz
    68. Converter
    69. BeamerBeamer
    70. Converter
    71. BlitzBlitz
    72. Converter
    73. BlitzBlitz ×2
    74. Converter
    75. BlitzBlitz
    76. BeamerBeamer
    77. BlitzBlitz
    78. Converter
    79. BlitzBlitz ×2
    80. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is DRM's (42 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 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

DRM

42.3 OS · 12/10/2026

Open source match ↗

9 received units · includes a constructor
177 metal received · 34642 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