Economy & Logistics
Dust Front runs on a small stack of resources that feed into each other. Most early losses come from misreading it — over-building harvesters, starving the base of power, or capping out on supply. Here's the whole loop, with the extracted numbers.
The resource loop
Combines (harvesters) gather raw minerals from surface deposits — the game itself calls them "the backbone of the economy." Raw minerals are then turned into the primary resource (materials) you actually spend, by a 
Processing plant. A 
Resource platform adds a second income stream by automatically pulling resources down from the global strategic map.
The two-harvester rule
This is the single most useful number in the economy, and it's straight from the game data. The Processing plant's own description states its throughput is "approximately two combine harvesters." Assign more than ~2 harvesters per plant and the surplus has nowhere to deposit — players report the extras jamming and circling rather than working. Scale harvesters and processing plants together, roughly 2:1, instead of mass-producing Combines alone.
Storage caps
Your stored materials have a ceiling. 
Storage raises the cap on the primary resource so income isn't wasted once you bank a surplus — worth building before you start saving for expensive late-game pushes rather than after you've already hit the cap.
Energy
Buildings consume energy; keep production ahead of draw or things shut down. The main Rebel generators, by output:
| Building | Energy | Minerals |
|---|---|---|
 Power station | +250 | 150 |
 Additional generator | +100 | 70 |
 Outpost | +100 | 0 |
 Lightweight generator | +80 | 60 |
Population & supply
Every unit costs population, and you can only field as much as your supply infrastructure allows. Raise the cap with warehouses and depots:
| Building | Population | Minerals |
|---|---|---|
 Large warehouse | +90 | 250 |
 Mat. Fabricator | +50 | 600 |
| Outpost | +35 | 0 |
 Supply depot | +30 | 250 |
 Warehouse | +20 | 120 |
The Supply depot does double duty — it adds supply and lets you place temporary forward supply points, which is what makes an advancing front sustainable.
A community early build order
Forum players converge on a reliable opening: Production → Construction → Power → Storage → AA. Get unit production up, add a construction crane for a second build queue, secure power, raise your storage cap, and only then layer in anti-air. From there the standard plan is to bank toward a repair-backed artillery line. This ordering is community strategy rather than extracted data — treat it as a strong default, not gospel.