BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
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 · 39 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot
    2. TickTick ×4
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Mex
    5. TickTick ×2
    6. Mex
    7. LazarusLazarus
    8. SentrySentry
    9. CenturionCenturion
    10. Mex
    11. SentrySentry
    12. LazarusLazarus
    13. RocketeerRocketeer
    14. Wind
    15. RocketeerRocketeer
    16. SentrySentry
    17. RocketeerRocketeer
    18. Wind
    19. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    20. Mex
    21. Wind
    22. SentrySentry
    23. Construction BotCon bot
    24. RocketeerRocketeer
    25. Wind
    26. SentrySentry
    27. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    28. Wind
    29. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    30. Con turret
    31. Wind
    32. RocketeerRocketeer
    33. Wind
    34. RocketeerRocketeer ×2
    35. TickTick
    36. Con turret
    37. Wind
    38. TickTick ×3
    39. GauntletGauntletdone 5:57 · 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 · 135 steps
    1. TickTick
    2. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    3. TickTick
    4. Wind
    5. TickTick
    6. SentrySentry
    7. TickTick
    8. Wind
    9. TickTick ×2
    10. PawnPawn
    11. Wind
    12. NettleNettle
    13. PawnPawn ×2
    14. Wind
    15. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    16. PawnPawn ×4
    17. Wind ×2
    18. Mex
    19. Solar
    20. BeamerBeamer
    21. Solar
    22. Mex
    23. Wind
    24. Mex
    25. Wind
    26. Bot LabBot Labdone 8:15
    27. Wind
    28. Con turret
    29. Wind
    30. BeamerBeamer
    31. Construction BotCon bot
    32. SentrySentry
    33. Wind ×2
    34. NettleNettle
    35. BeamerBeamer
    36. NettleNettle
    37. Construction BotCon bot
    38. SentrySentry
    39. Con turret
    40. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw
    41. Wind ×2
    42. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw
    43. Wind
    44. TickTick
    45. Wind
    46. TickTick
    47. Wind ×2
    48. TickTick
    49. Wind
    50. TickTick
    51. Wind
    52. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw
    53. Wind
    54. TickTick
    55. Energy storage
    56. TickTick
    57. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:58 · typical 9:41
    58. Wind ×2
    59. Con turret
    60. Converter
    61. Wind ×2
    62. Converter
    63. TickTick
    64. Wind
    65. TickTick ×2
    66. Converter
    67. TickTick
    68. Wind
    69. TickTick
    70. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    71. Wind
    72. TickTick
    73. LazarusLazarus
    74. Converter
    75. Wind ×2
    76. TickTick
    77. Pit BullPit Bull
    78. Wind
    79. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    80. Wind
    81. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    82. Converter
    83. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    84. Wind
    85. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    86. Converter
    87. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    88. Pit BullPit Bull
    89. SentrySentry
    90. Wind
    91. SentrySentry
    92. Converter
    93. Wind
    94. SentrySentry
    95. Wind
    96. SentrySentry
    97. Con turret
    98. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:38
    99. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    100. Wind
    101. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    102. SentrySentry
    103. Wind
    104. Converter
    105. Wind
    106. TickTick
    107. Con turret
    108. Wind
    109. TickTick ×2
    110. Wind
    111. TickTick
    112. Wind
    113. Converter
    114. TickTick ×2
    115. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    116. Wind
    117. TickTick
    118. Wind
    119. TickTick ×5
    120. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    121. Wind
    122. TickTick ×3
    123. Converter
    124. Wind
    125. TickTick
    126. RattlesnakeRattlesnakedone 14:57
    127. TickTick ×2
    128. Wind
    129. TickTick ×2
    130. Wind
    131. LazarusLazarus
    132. Wind
    133. Converter
    134. Wind
    135. Pit BullPit Bull

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is SmoothOperator's (36 OS, 23/09/2026); 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

SmoothOperator

36.1 OS · 23/09/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units · includes a constructor
533 metal received · 21702 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