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Suicide front / Armada / Factory first / OBSERVED BUILD

Gauntlet defence

Bot Lab first but committing to a Gauntlet by 4:10, much earlier than usual, to anchor the middle with area artillery before the standard timing.

#artillery #defence · 101 distinct matches · 37 players · 5% of Armada Suicide front games · team won 47% of 106 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • GauntletEarly defence from 4:10 · 8% of role by thenOnly 8% of Suicide front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 9:13

Where those units first fight, in 101 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,274 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into rocketeer (17% of army), Rattlesnake (11% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Gauntlet by 4:08

  1. Open Bot Lab then grab mexes and wind, get sentries out for early raid.
  2. Keep making sentries and hold middle, denying leaks with cheap bots.
  3. Commit to a Gauntlet to anchor the line with area artillery.
  4. Mix in Rocketeer and Rattlesnake to hold middle rather than push in.
  5. Transition to T2 constructor once the line is stable.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 101 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD SUICIDE FRONT
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:00 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

    Bot Lab first

    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab done ~0:20, middle half 0:20–0:33

    Some games also: mex (42%)

  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Early defence

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor5Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    Order
    1. GauntletEarly defence after 5 mex, 4 winddone ~5:29, middle half 4:42–5:56
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot
    • Lazarus2 Lazarus
    Army
    • Sentry3 Sentry
    • Beamer1 Beamer
    • Rocketeer9 Rocketeer −4 vs standard
    • Tick1 Tick
    • Centurion1 Centurion
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: con turret (35%) · Dragon's Teeth (34%)

    By 4:09 in all: 5 mex · 4 wind

    The example game in this phase · 28 steps
    1. Mex
    2. TickTick
    3. Mex
    4. TickTick
    5. Construction BotCon bot
    6. Wind ×2
    7. Construction BotCon bot
    8. Mex
    9. CenturionCenturion
    10. Mex
    11. LazarusLazarus
    12. Construction BotCon bot
    13. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    14. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    15. SentrySentry
    16. RocketeerRocketeer
    17. Mex
    18. RocketeerRocketeer
    19. SentrySentry
    20. RocketeerRocketeer
    21. CrossbowCrossbow
    22. SentrySentry
    23. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    24. SentrySentry
    25. RocketeerRocketeer
    26. SentrySentry
    27. RocketeerRocketeer ×6
    28. GauntletGauntletnot finished by 15:00 · typical 5:29
  3. 3

    Early defence to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine16Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Builders
    • Construction Turret3 Con turret
    • Lazarus1 Lazarus
    Army
    • Rocketeer3 Rocketeer −10 vs standard
    Other
    • Dragon's Teeth5 Dragon's Teeth +5 vs standard
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: Sentry (50%) · Beamer (49%) · con bot (48%) · tick (41%) · Gauntlet (41%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 con bot · 2 Sentry

    By 10:00 in all: 6 mex · 23 wind · 1 energy storage · 4 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 134 steps
    1. RocketeerRocketeer ×3
    2. CenturionCenturion
    3. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    4. RocketeerRocketeer
    5. Mex
    6. RocketeerRocketeer
    7. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    8. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    9. SentrySentry
    10. RocketeerRocketeer
    11. Con turret
    12. RocketeerRocketeer
    13. SentrySentry
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:47 · typical 9:41
    15. Mex
    16. SentrySentry ×2
    17. Mex
    18. SentrySentry
    19. BeamerBeamer ×2
    20. Wind
    21. SentrySentry
    22. Wind ×2
    23. SentrySentry
    24. Wind ×2
    25. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    26. Construction BotCon bot
    27. Wind ×2
    28. Construction BotCon bot
    29. Mex
    30. Wind
    31. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    32. Wind
    33. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    34. SentrySentry
    35. Wind
    36. Construction BotCon bot
    37. Wind
    38. Con turret
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    40. Wind
    41. AnemoneAnemone
    42. Wind
    43. Construction BotCon bot
    44. Wind
    45. Pit BullPit Bull
    46. Wind ×2
    47. AnemoneAnemone
    48. TickTick
    49. Wind ×2
    50. TickTick
    51. Wind
    52. TickTick ×2
    53. Wind
    54. TickTick
    55. Mex
    56. TickTick
    57. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    58. Wind
    59. TickTick ×2
    60. SentrySentry
    61. Wind
    62. TickTick ×2
    63. Wind
    64. TickTick
    65. SentrySentry
    66. Wind
    67. TickTick ×2
    68. Wind
    69. TickTick
    70. Con turret
    71. TickTick
    72. Wind
    73. Con turret
    74. TickTick
    75. Mex
    76. TickTick
    77. Wind
    78. Con turret
    79. TickTick
    80. Con turret ×2
    81. Wind
    82. TickTick
    83. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    84. Bot LabBot Labdone 13:32
    85. TickTick
    86. Wind
    87. TickTick ×2
    88. Wind
    89. Solar
    90. PawnPawn
    91. TickTick
    92. Solar
    93. PawnPawn
    94. TickTick
    95. Wind
    96. Solar
    97. PawnPawn
    98. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    99. TickTick
    100. SentrySentry
    101. Wind
    102. PawnPawn
    103. TickTick
    104. PawnPawn ×2
    105. TickTick
    106. Wind
    107. TickTick
    108. PawnPawn ×2
    109. TickTick
    110. Wind
    111. Con turret
    112. TickTick
    113. PawnPawn ×2
    114. TickTick
    115. Wind
    116. PawnPawn ×3
    117. TickTick
    118. PawnPawn ×2
    119. Wind
    120. TickTick
    121. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    122. PawnPawn ×2
    123. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    124. TickTick
    125. PawnPawn
    126. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    127. PawnPawn ×2
    128. Wind
    129. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    130. TickTick
    131. PawnPawn ×2
    132. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    133. PawnPawn ×2
    134. TickTick

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is PlatinumBlonde's (55 OS, 12/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:11 · in 73% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:47 · in 68% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

  • This build
  • Standard suicide 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

106 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard suicide frontEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard suicide frontOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard suicide front
1:002302260000
2:008848890000
3:002002205613517299106
4:0031883161475660335486
5:004375423688714138501020
6:00549554301332232713091785
7:00661266612197317921762732
8:00782679102835403527573631
9:00915692983644481631844516
10:0010897106884408542640755336
11:0012430122414807589850866080
12:0014297140245797651758286842
13:0016519160426680701369187523
14:0018776179696968768076848336
15:0020948202977865830288359228
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won less often than the standard build and destroyed less enemy metal despite similar production, a defensive line that trades tempo for metal saved.

  • + Own metal lost by 15:00 lower (8980 vs 9208)
  • + Metal produced by 15:00 slightly ahead (20254 vs 19882)
  • − Team win rate well below standard (46% vs 58%)
  • − Enemy metal destroyed by 15:00 much lower (7767 vs 8172)
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

PlatinumBlonde

55.0 OS · 12/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
573 metal received · 17637 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:20Middle 50%: 0:20–0:33 · n=106
Gauntlet5:29Middle 50%: 4:42–5:56 · n=96
Advanced Metal Extractor9:41Middle 50%: 8:46–10:57 · n=80

Played most by

_X_26games of this buildImmort7games of this buildManBearPig_7games of this buildTrapCaT7games of this buildSoliloqueur6games of this build