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Beach sea / Armada / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Hovercraft raid

Player rushes a Hovercraft Platform by 1:10 and pushes out Seeker hovercraft as an early raid by 2:13, well before the shipyard which is delayed to around 4:16, using the raid to harass while sea presence catches up later.

Hovers first

#raid #amphibious #rush · 73 distinct matches · 28 players · 11% of Armada Beach sea games · team won 52% of 73 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platform in 100%14% of all Beach sea games by then
  • SeekerSeeker in 99%14% of all Beach sea games by then

Then transitions into destroyer (32% of army), seeker (20% of army), dolphin (9% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Hovercraft Platform by 1:10

  1. Open with mex and wind instead of straight shipyard.
  2. Build a Hovercraft Platform right after your initial eco.
  3. Push out a Seeker raid to harass enemy sea entry early.
  4. Put down the shipyard once the raid is out.
  5. Add Corsair and settle into standard sea play from here.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 73 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD BEACH SEA
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:00 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

  1. 1

    Up to the Hovercraft Platform

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind+3 vs standard
    Order
    1. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platform after 3 mex, 4 winddone ~1:41, middle half 1:37–1:52

    Some games also: energy storage (47%) · wind for allies (37%)

    By 1:10 in all: 3 mex · 4 wind (standard 1)

    The example game in this phase · 6 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind ×2for Air
    3. Mex
    4. Wind ×4for Air
    5. Wind ×4
    6. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 2:01 · typical 1:41
  2. 2

    Hovercraft Platform to Shipyard

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine5Wind+4 vs standard
    Order
    1. ShipyardShipyard after 6 mex, 10 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~4:17, middle half 4:00–4:51
    Builders
    • Construction Hovercraft3 Con hovercraft +3 vs standard
    Army
    • Seeker7 Seeker +7 vs standard

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 tidal · 2 con ship · 2 skater · 2 dolphin

    By 3:56 in all: 6 mex · 10 wind (standard 2) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 14 steps
    1. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    2. SeekerSeeker ×6
    3. SweeperSweeper
    4. Mex
    5. Wind
    6. Mex
    7. Wind ×3
    8. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    9. Wind
    10. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    11. Mex
    12. Con turret
    13. Wind
    14. ShipyardShipyarddone 5:25 · typical 4:17
  3. 3

    Shipyard to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine13Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret
    • Grim Reaper1 Grim Reaper
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    Army
    • Sentry2 Sentry
    • Dolphin3 Dolphin −2 vs standard
    • Corsair3 Destroyer
    • Skater2 Skater
    Other
    • Naval Radar / Sonar Tower1 Naval Radar / Sonar Tower

    Some games also: Harpoon (47%) · tidal (40%) · converter (37%) · Naval Construction Turret (37%) · frigate (34%)

    By 10:00 in all: 10 mex · 23 wind (standard 16) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 124 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Mex
    3. Wind
    4. DolphinDolphin
    5. Converter
    6. Wind
    7. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    8. DolphinDolphin
    9. Converter
    10. DolphinDolphin
    11. Converter
    12. DolphinDolphin ×2
    13. Converter
    14. Wind
    15. DolphinDolphin
    16. Converter
    17. DolphinDolphin
    18. Wind
    19. Converter
    20. DolphinDolphin
    21. Converter
    22. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    23. Wind
    24. DolphinDolphin
    25. Converter
    26. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    27. DolphinDolphin
    28. Wind
    29. DolphinDolphin
    30. HarpoonHarpoon
    31. DolphinDolphin
    32. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    33. DolphinDolphin
    34. Construction ShipCon ship
    35. Wind
    36. Construction ShipCon ship
    37. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:08 · typical 9:29
    38. CorsairDestroyerdone 8:40 · typical 5:56
    39. Wind
    40. Tidal
    41. HarpoonHarpoon
    42. Wind ×2
    43. EllysawFrigate
    44. Wind
    45. EllysawFrigate
    46. Wind ×2
    47. EllysawFrigate
    48. HarpoonHarpoon
    49. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    50. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower ×2
    51. CorsairDestroyer
    52. Wind
    53. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    54. Naval NettleNaval Nettle
    55. Wind ×2
    56. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw
    57. SkaterSkater
    58. Tidal
    59. Wind
    60. SkaterSkater
    61. Wind
    62. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    63. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    64. Naval Construction Turret
    65. Wind
    66. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    67. Tidal
    68. Wind
    69. Tidal
    70. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    71. Wind
    72. Tidal
    73. CorsairDestroyer
    74. Wind
    75. Naval Construction Turret
    76. EelSubmarinedone 12:40
    77. Wind ×3
    78. EelSubmarine
    79. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth
    80. Wind
    81. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth ×2
    82. EelSubmarine
    83. HarpoonHarpoon
    84. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth ×5
    85. EelSubmarine
    86. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    87. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth
    88. Wind
    89. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth ×2
    90. Wind
    91. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth ×2
    92. EelSubmarine
    93. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth
    94. Wind
    95. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth
    96. Wind
    97. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth ×2
    98. Wind
    99. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    100. EelSubmarine
    101. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth
    102. Wind
    103. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth ×2
    104. Wind
    105. Shark's TeethShark's Teeth
    106. Wind
    107. EelSubmarine
    108. Wind
    109. Tidal
    110. EelSubmarine
    111. Wind
    112. Tidal
    113. Wind ×2
    114. EelSubmarine
    115. Wind
    116. Tidal
    117. EelSubmarine ×2
    118. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    119. Tidal
    120. Naval Construction Turret
    121. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00
    122. Converter
    123. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper ×2
    124. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [ADS]Kackbarren's (40 OS, 28/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Wind Turbine3 Wind to Airfirst at 1:44 · in 44% of games

You get

  • Finch1 Finch from Airfirst at 1:46 · in 58% of games
  • Valiant1 Valiant from Airfirst at 1:52 · in 30% of games
  • Lazarus1 Lazarus from Geofirst at 2:04 · in 52% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:04 · in 81% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

  • This build
  • Standard beach sea

Metal produced

010k20k30k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02.5k5k7.5k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

73 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard beach seaEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard beach seaOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard beach sea
1:004044040000
2:009389380000
3:00154715830000
4:002348254851515150
5:0036913733430255255125
6:0050575159903572561298
7:006483672512451143825591
8:00799083191917167612321051
9:009463100302402248716971675
10:0011221118893399358721362373
11:0013290141844039460326463190
12:0015645169374561543432243948
13:0018304197654906640738354879
14:0021034223886352729449135744
15:0022948253126625835454006638
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build with a similar economy but far more early kills by 5:00.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed hit 444 by 5:00 vs 180 standard.
  • + Own metal lost stayed lower at 15:00 despite the raid.
  • − Metal produced trails standard by 10:00 and 15:00.
  • − Enemy metal destroyed by 15:00 falls behind standard (6667 vs 8279).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

[ADS]Kackbarren

40.0 OS · 28/08/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units · includes a constructor
511 metal received · 17092 energy received

Allied construction assistance is unknown. Timings are observations, not a promise of solo reproducibility.

Typical milestones

Hovercraft Platform1:41Middle 50%: 1:37–1:52 · n=73
Shipyard4:17Middle 50%: 4:00–4:51 · n=61
Corsair5:56Middle 50%: 5:27–7:18 · n=57
Advanced Metal Extractor9:29Middle 50%: 8:59–10:45 · n=61

Played most by

KingBenjai17games of this buildRysica10games of this build[ADS]Kackbarren5games of this buildAdeus4games of this buildCentientWaffle4games of this build