B.1  How to use these. A build order is a plan for the first few minutes, so your hands know what to do while your head is busy looking at the map. It is not a law. The minute you scout something that changes things (he's rushing, he's teching, he's three extractors ahead of you), throw the plan out and play the game in front of you.

B.2  These are written for Arm. For Core, swap in the matching unit: AKs for Peewees, Instigators for Flashes, Avengers for Freedom Fighters, and so on. Annex A has the pairs.

B.3  Shift-queue the Commander's list at the very start so there's never a second where he's standing still. On the factories, set the first few units, then put it on repeat.

Two players, ordinary amount of metal, the bases a good walk apart. My bread-and-butter opening.

Notes. The four Peewees aren't for attacking. They're there in case he rushes, and to chase off his scouts. Once the Vehicle Plant is up, I start putting out Flashes for raiding, and my advanced Kbot Lab comes after I've got eight or so extractors running and I'm not stalling anything. On a map full of hills, I skip the Vehicle Plant and build a second Kbot Lab.

Maps where ground units can't reach the other side, or can only reach it the long way: island maps, mesa maps, bases on cliffs. On these, whoever owns the sky owns the game.

Notes. Aircraft eat energy, so I build an extra solar before the plant compared to a land map. The Construction Aircraft are slow builders but they can get anywhere, and on an island map an extractor on an island he can't reach is an extractor he has to send planes to kill. Put a missile tower or two at home early, because he's thinking the same thing you are. If the map has a land bridge, I build a Kbot Lab second. If it doesn't, a second Aircraft Plant.

Lots of water between the bases. The navy is where the fighting is, and the navy decides who gets the metal on the shorelines.

Notes. Tidal Generators are steady and they don't clutter your land, so on a sea map they're my first power. Ships cost a lot more than kbots, so your economy has to be stronger to keep a navy going, which means more extractors sooner. The first few destroyers decide who controls the water near your bases, and that decides who can build on the shore. Subs are good against ships and useless against everything else, so don't overbuild them. And keep anti-air on your ships' side of the water, because the other guy's first answer to your navy is going to be bombers.

If your scout sees him building nothing but a factory and units, change plans right away:

A rush that fails leaves the rusher behind on economy and leaves you with a pile of free metal on your doorstep. Hold it and you're ahead.