OpenFront Building Timing Guide
Every building answers a problem. Build in the order your problems appear, not in the order the buttons are listed.
Quick answer: build a city when your army is capped, a factory or port when gold is the bottleneck, and a defence post when a specific border is under pressure. Skip silos and SAMs until someone else has nuclear capability or the match is nearly over.
Problem → building
| The problem you have | Build | Why this one |
|---|---|---|
| My army stopped growing | City | Each level adds 250,000 maximum troops — the direct fix for a capped army |
| I cannot afford the next city | Port (coast) or Factory (inland) | Adds an income stream that pays for the next round of buildings |
| One border keeps getting attacked | Defence post on that border | 5× defence and a slower attacker advance inside a 30-tile radius |
| I am being invaded by sea | Warship or coastal defence post | Warships contest the water; a post behind the beach slows the landing |
| Someone in my region has missiles | Missile silo and/or SAM launcher | Deterrence and interception — both expensive and late-game |
| I am closing the match | Nothing new | Bank the gold and convert it into one decisive push instead |
Early game (first minutes)
- Expand first — neutral land is cheaper than any building; the first minutes are about tiles, not structures.
- First city as soon as you can afford it — it raises the ceiling you will hit within a few minutes.
- Then one income building — port if you have a coast worth using, factory if the map is inland or enclosed.
Mid game (borders appear)
- Add cities whenever your army sits near its ceiling; that is the moment the previous city paid off.
- Add income buildings when the next city is unaffordable — not before.
- Place defence posts on the borders you have already decided to hold, and nowhere else.
- If you share a border with a much larger player, your next build should be defensive rather than economic.
Late game (missiles and endings)
- Silos and SAMs come online when nuclear capability exists in your region — before that they are luxury spending.
- Warships matter when a coast becomes the decisive front, or when trade routes pass through contested water. Naval strategy
- When the tile majority is close, stop investing in structures you will not live to use; the last phase of a match rewards tempo over economy.
Map signals that change the order
| Signal | Change |
|---|---|
| You spawned landlocked | Ignore ports entirely; double down on factories and cities |
| A coastline with open water to richer players | Ports become military assets, not just income |
| Mountains between you and your neighbour | Fewer defence posts needed; the terrain is your post |
| You are surrounded by weaker players | Income buildings pay better than defence posts here |
| A single large player borders you | Defence posts and cities, in that order, until you can negotiate |
FAQ
Common questions about this topic.
Should I build a port or a factory?
Coastal positions with reachable neighbours favour ports (trade ships pay more over longer routes); landlocked or enclosed positions favour factories.
How many cities should I have?
As many as your gold allows while your army is capped — the cost doubles each time (capped at 1,000,000), so the question is always about the next one, not a target number.
When should I build defence posts?
When you have decided which borders you are holding and which you are pushing. A post on a quiet border is a city you did not build.
When are missile silos worth it?
In the late game, or when a neighbour has nuclear capability and deterrence matters. Silos cost 1,000,000 and take 10 seconds, so they rarely rescue a losing early game.