The Legend of Mala Tokmachka Ground Defense Guide

Ground forces in The Legend of Mala Tokmachka pressure the base from below — Steam’s exact phrasing for infantry assault groups, armored vehicles, and the artillery that softens your walls before a push. Many preview players over-invest in height and anti-air, then lose because a cheap ground breach cascades upward. This guide complements Anti-Air Defense with lane design, weapon pairing, and repair triage for everything that rolls or walks on the surface.

Numbers below are preview roles until post-launch datamining confirms DPS and armor values.

Ground threat categories

Official materials list these ground-relevant attackers:

Threat	Behavior (preview)	Primary counter
Assault groups	Swarm weak facings	Machine guns, overlapping fields
Armored vehicles	High HP, slow push	Cannons, missiles
Artillery	Long-range wall damage	Repair timing, radar (if spotting helps)
Combined push	Infantry + armor same lane	Split weapon types per floor

Full matchup tables live in Enemies and Threats. Air-only threats are intentionally excluded here — see the anti-air guide.

Fortress geometry for ground lanes

Ground defense starts in Fortress Building:

1. Identify approach sides — Most preview maps appear to favor horizontal lanes toward the fortress core.
2. Create kill boxes — Indent walls so guns fire obliquely, increasing time on target.
3. Avoid hollow bases — A single breach should not expose generators; use internal bulkheads.
4. Lower-floor priority — Ground damage hits the foundation first; armor lower levels before cosmetic height.

Compact bunkers excel at ground defense; tall spires without lower guns invite “base amputation” when artillery cracks the ground floor.

Weapon roles on the ground

Steam confirms machine guns, cannons, missile platforms, and lasers. Ground-focused preview assignments:

Machine guns

• Best against assault groups and cleanup.
• Weak against heavy armor unless upgraded (confirm post-launch).
• Cheap enough to duplicate on multiple facings.

Cannons

• Primary anti-armor answer in preview tier lists.
• Slower rate — place where vehicles must slow or turn.
• Pair with machine guns on the same lane for swarms + tanks.

Missiles (ground use)

• Likely high burst against clusters or elite vehicles.
• Power-hungry — requires Radar and Power Systems.
• Overkill for early waves; add when artillery starts deleting walls.

Lasers

• Precision and sustained fire in trailer shots.
• Probably power-intensive; use as premium lane holder, not spammable.

See Weapons tier list for preview rankings.

Artillery and structural damage

Artillery behaves differently from direct assault: it forces repair decisions under timer pressure. Ground defense vs artillery is half guns, half economy:

• Pre-wave repair — Patch cracks before the next shell volley.
• Sacrifice outer shells — Let decorative blocks die to save gun floors.
• Radar synergy — If spotting reduces blind bombardment, install before wave spikes.

Repair and Resources covers budgeting; ground players feel artillery most when money is short.

Sample preview loadouts

Early waves (days 1–2 preview)

• Double machine gun facing primary lane.
• One cannon offset for first armor appearance.
• Minimal height; solid ground-floor walls.

Mid preview (when artillery appears)

• Add second cannon or first missile.
• Internal repair module online.
• Begin Anti-Air Defense — combined arms arrives together in Steam copy.

Late preview philosophy

• Wide platforms with alternating MG/cannon pairs.
• Missile or laser on power spine for elite armor.
• Compare templates in Best Builds.

Common ground-defense mistakes

1. All guns on top floor — Ground breach leaves you shooting at the sky.
2. Single weapon type — Swarms waste cannon DPS; armor walks through machine guns.
3. Ignoring artillery chip damage — Small HP losses stack into catastrophic collapse.
4. Chasing height before width — Vertical meme forts fail when the ground floor is paper.
5. No fallback repair — Saving zero money before a ground-heavy wave.

Coordination with air defense

Combined arms is the default endgame pressure. Ground defense succeeds when:

• Lower floors handle armor and infantry.
• Mid and upper floors host AA overlapping ground lanes.
• Power spine feeds both without brownouts.

Walk the combined checklist in Walkthrough: First Days.

Related pages

Topic	Link
Layout	Fortress Building
Sky	Anti-Air Defense
Economy	Repair and Resources
Threat chart	Enemies and Threats
Quick stats	Module Reference

Post-launch

We will add confirmed enemy HP, armor types, and optimal TTK once the community publishes tables. Watch Updates hub for patch notes affecting ground units.