WARDOGS Season 2 CIWS sunflower: the mortar-proof build you repair from inside

What the sunflower is

Whompin calls it the CIWS sunflower: a Vanguard CIWS sitting above a bunker, wrapped in a flower of Hesco blocks and roofed with gates. He says it withstands mortar barrages, and that he was being mortared right on top of his head while he kept repairing. The gate roof is see-through, so you can sit inside, watch the sky and fix the damage from underneath. The whole build is enclosed. It is not cheap and it is not quick. He puts it at about 2,000 to 3,000 build supplies, and the roof alone took him 8 minutes. It is also a comeback: he says his earlier secret bunker build was patched this season, he promised he would find another way, and this is it. He says a quicker version is on the way. One line from the video is worth keeping: he would build it in the sunflower fields, but the flowers block the build. Pick open ground.

Steps 1 and 2: the bunker, the Hesco ring and the CIWS

Start with the bunker. Fill every side with large Hescos, and fill the corners: Whompin is clear that the corners matter. Then build all the walls up. Now put down the Vanguard CIWS (he calls it the Sea Whiz). Season 2 removed the old chore of chasing the X to place it, which makes this part quick.

Step 3: small Hescos in the cracks

Next, place small Hesco blocks in the middle of the six large Hescos on the sides of the bunker. Line up on the crack between two large Hescos and put your crosshair on the upper cracks until it shows buildable. He finds it easiest backing up towards the CIWS, and aims to get each small block half and half across the two large ones. It takes a few tries before it clicks. Build these up.

Step 4: the secret sauce, an M2 Browning under every gate

This is the trick. Place an empty M2 Browning on one of the small Hesco blocks and build it. Then, with snapping on, build a gate on top of the M2 Browning; the gate's cement section becomes part of the roof. Point the M2's barrel at the CIWS or towards yourself, which he says works best. Repeat on all four blocks. You can take out the Hescos underneath now or later. This is the slow part. It took him about 8 minutes, and he jokes that by the time you finish you will have 50 mortars on you and the game will be over. He still calls it worth it, and a second builder on the other sides is the real fix. The M2 Browning is new in Season 2 and a strong gun position in its own right. Our MG nest guide covers using it as one.

MG nest build →

Step 5: open the gates, or keep the props

With the roof done you can open the gates, but only after you remove the Hesco and the M2 Browning under each one. Whompin prefers to remove them. The safer option is to leave the M2s and Hescos in place. Then you cannot open a gate; you have to dismantle it or shoot it off to get through. The payoff is that if a gate's cement section is destroyed, the props are still there and you can place a new gate straight onto them.

Step 6: the petals and the door

Now fill in the sides. The rule is large Hescos in the corners and small Hescos in the middle. He puts a small one in a corner on camera and swaps it for a large one, so check yours. Build it all up. Leave the back exposed for now and work on the door. He adds an extra large Hesco in front of the corner to make room for a door and a little space inside to climb up to the CIWS, then removes the Hescos in the middle. If you want it done faster, put a bunker in the middle instead, add small Hescos on top and fortify it. He builds it his way because it looks more like a flower and the structure looks complete.

Step 7: the repair platform

The bunker at the bottom does two jobs. You can repair the lower Hesco sides from inside it, and it is extra cover when you need to get under the build. He builds steps up towards the CIWS; you may not reach all the way up, and that is fine. Enter the CIWS, and when you get out you land on top of the platform. From there you can repair almost everything around the CIWS on the upper half, under a roof you can see through.

Two bugs, and how to get out of them

Gate will not place. This has happened to him once. Move the small Hesco underneath a little further away from the CIWS platform and try again. Stuck when you leave the CIWS. This is the more common one. Crouch before you enter the CIWS. If you do get stuck on the way out, get back in and crouch straight after leaving. You can take damage from this and die, so be careful. He also frees up any Hescos behind the bunker, which cleared it for him.

Where the sunflower fits in Season 2

Season 2 made building dearer and pushed most teams away from one giant FOB. Our own read is that matches are won with a few drills that are dug in and defended, with air defence and spotters covering them. The sunflower fits that plan as a hardened air-defence post beside a drill or a spawn, not as a whole base. It is a squad build: a Ural of supplies, two builders and 8 minutes you are not spending on the drill. It also suits what Wing Mait does. Sitting inside repairing under mortar fire, you are the player who cannot watch the minimap. Wing Mait is in beta on Windows: it watches your minimap and speaks contacts with bearing and distance, and it speaks a mortar firing solution from our calculator, so you can answer the mortar team without leaving the repair.

Season 2 building costs → Wing Mait for WARDOGS →

Step by step

This is our write-up of the build Whompin shows, with our prices. 1. Bring supplies. Drive a Ural to a friendly FOB, carry more than one 1,800 pallet, and make sure the roof builder has the large hammer. 2. Pick open ground. Flowers and clutter block the build. 3. Build the bunker (161) and fill every side with large Hescos, corners first. Build the walls up. 4. Place the Vanguard CIWS (961). 5. Put small Hescos across the cracks between the six large Hescos, half and half, aiming at the upper cracks. Build them up. 6. On each of the four small blocks, build an empty M2 Browning (521), then snap a gate (161) on top, barrel pointing at the CIWS or at you. 7. Remove the Hescos and M2s under the gates to open them, or keep them as props for replacement gates. 8. Fill the sides: large Hescos in the corners, small in the middle. 9. Cut the door with an extra large Hesco in front, clear the middle, or drop a bunker there instead. 10. Build steps to the CIWS. Crouch before you enter, and get out onto the platform to repair. You can price the bunker, the CIWS, the gates and the M2s in our base builder today. Then check the timing in the firing range.

WD Base Builder →

Sources and what we are unsure of

Everything about the build comes from Whompin's video, published 21 October 2026. We worked from the video's full caption track, not frame by frame, so check his video for exact placements. The prices come from the Wing Mait team's reading of the Season 2 menu on 17 October 2026. Whompin's 2,000 to 3,000 total and his almost 400 per roof piece are his estimates; at sticker price, four M2s and four gates cost more than that, and we have not measured what dismantling an M2 refunds. Hesco is not yet priced in our tables. The captions say URL and eural, which we read as the Ural, Sea Whiz, which we read as the Vanguard CIWS, and Brownie, which we read as the M2 Browning. The mortar resistance and the two bugs are his observations, not our tests. If your game shows something different, tell us on Discord and we will fix it.

Season 2 building costs → Wing Mait for WARDOGS →