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Shellshocker artillery

Front rushes Shellshocker artillery from the Vehicle Plant by 3:09, well earlier than the norm, using it with Janus to shell the middle before transitioning into the usual Blitz-led army.

Usually 2 mex, then lab (65%)

#artillery #rush · 17 distinct matches · 9 players · 1% of Armada Front games · team won 65% of 17 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • ShellshockerT1 vehicle artillery from 2:55 · 9% of role by thenFrom the Vehicle Plant. Only 9% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 3:33
  • ShellshockerArty in 53%4% of all Front games by then
  • JanusJanus in 47%9% of all Front games by then

Where those units first fight, in 17 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,375 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into blitz (30% of army), janus (12% of army), Rattlesnake (12% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Shellshocker out by 3:16

  1. Open into Vehicle Plant immediately instead of the bot-based norm.
  2. Field Shellshocker light arty ahead of schedule to soften middle.
  3. Add Janus rocket support alongside the arty line.
  4. Bring Advanced Metal Extractor online to sustain the push.
  5. Transition the army toward Blitz as the main force.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 17 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD FRONT
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
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

    Up to the Vehicle Plant

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    Order
    1. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant after 2 mexdone ~0:42, middle half 0:38–0:42

    Some games also: wind (41%)

    By 0:23 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:38 · typical 0:42
  2. 2

    Vehicle Plant to T1 vehicle artillery

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    Order
    1. ShellshockerT1 vehicle artillery after 5 mex, 2 wind
    Builders
    • Construction Vehicle3 Con vehicle
    Army
    • Rover3 Scout +2 vs standard
    • Janus2 Janus

    Some games also: Sentry (35%)

    By 2:55 in all: 5 mex · 2 wind

    The example game in this phase · 8 steps
    1. RoverScout
    2. Wind ×2
    3. RoverScout ×4
    4. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    5. Mex
    6. JanusJanus
    7. Mex
    8. ShellshockerArtydone 2:12
  3. 3

    T1 vehicle artillery to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    Army
    • Sentry1 Sentry
    • Shellshocker8 Arty +8 vs standard

    Some games also: Dragon's Teeth (47%) · wind (41%) · janus (35%) · con vehicle (35%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 wind

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 4 wind

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. ShellshockerArty
    2. Mex
    3. JanusJanus
    4. ShellshockerArty
    5. Mex
    6. ShellshockerArty
    7. JanusJanus
    8. ShellshockerArty ×2
    9. SentrySentry ×2
    10. JanusJanus
    11. ShellshockerArty ×2
    12. JanusJanus
  4. 4

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine20Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Construction Vehicle2 Con vehicle +2 vs standard
    Army
    • Sentry1 Sentry
    • Blitz14 Blitz +10 vs standard
    • Shellshocker6 Arty +6 vs standard
    • Janus1 Janus

    Some games also: energy storage (47%) · mex (41%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 28 wind · 2 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 21 steps
    1. ShellshockerArty ×2
    2. JanusJanus
    3. ShellshockerArty ×2
    4. JanusJanus
    5. ShellshockerArty ×2
    6. JanusJanus
    7. BlitzBlitz ×20
    8. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:23 · typical 9:16
    9. BlitzBlitz ×6
    10. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    11. BlitzBlitz ×6
    12. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    13. BlitzBlitz ×2
    14. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    15. BlitzBlitz ×2
    16. Wind
    17. BlitzBlitz ×2
    18. Wind
    19. BlitzBlitz ×3
    20. Wind
    21. BlitzBlitz ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Optimusprimenutt's (38 OS, 06/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:19 · in 71% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:45 · in 76% 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

17 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
1:003183330000
2:008118450213131
3:001584162314014193105
4:0026762712395543228333
5:003861386810021199720818
6:0050795078167521209461534
7:00598963281920300618182457
8:00696976622897387131033361
9:00824390873931463838884329
10:0010022106664931532345255062
11:0012097126225445583857425711
12:0013417148345696638565156544
13:0016290174506341702875587287
14:0017954201837018765582788104
15:0021530226698303841497478946
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won slightly more often than the standard build while losing a bit less metal across all checkpoints shown.

  • + Won 67% vs 61% for the standard build.
  • + Lost less own metal at every checkpoint (e.g. 8803 vs 8949 by 15:00).
  • − Destroyed slightly less enemy metal than standard by 15:00 (7830 vs 8347).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

Optimusprimenutt

37.9 OS · 06/08/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
181 metal received · 5123 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Vehicle Plant0:42Middle 50%: 0:38–0:42 · n=17
Advanced Metal Extractor9:16Middle 50%: 7:58–9:38 · n=13

Played most by

Optimusprimenutt5games of this buildPRO_Rerory3games of this build[BS]Hellzie2games of this buildGieds2games of this buildAcqua1game of this build