BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
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 · 70 distinct matches · 27 players · 11% of Armada Beach sea games · team won 53% of 70 · 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 (30% of army), seeker (21% of army), dolphin (10% 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 70 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 (46%) · wind for allies (39%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 4 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×4
    3. Energy storage
    4. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 2:00 · typical 1:41
  2. 2

    Hovercraft Platform to Shipyard

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine5Wind+4 vs standard
    Order
    1. ShipyardShipyard after 6 mex, 10 winddone ~4:16, middle half 4:00–4:43
    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 · 9 steps
    1. Wind ×3
    2. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft ×2
    3. Wind ×2
    4. Mex
    5. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    6. Mex
    7. Con turret
    8. Mex
    9. ShipyardShipyarddone 4:17 · typical 4:16
  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 (41%) · Naval Construction Turret (37%) · converter (36%) · frigate (36%)

    By 10:00 in all: 10 mex · 23 wind (standard 15) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 121 steps
    1. Wind
    2. DolphinDolphin
    3. Construction ShipCon ship
    4. Wind
    5. Mex
    6. DolphinDolphin
    7. Wind
    8. DolphinDolphin
    9. Wind
    10. Mex
    11. DolphinDolphin
    12. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    13. Wind
    14. EelSubmarinenot finished by 15:00
    15. Wind
    16. EelSubmarine
    17. Mex
    18. Wind ×2
    19. EllysawFrigate
    20. Wind
    21. Mex
    22. SentrySentry
    23. Wind
    24. EllysawFrigate
    25. Wind
    26. SentrySentry ×2
    27. Wind ×2
    28. EllysawFrigate
    29. Mex
    30. Wind
    31. SentrySentry
    32. Wind
    33. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    34. Wind
    35. Mex
    36. Wind
    37. CorsairDestroyernot finished by 15:00 · typical 5:58
    38. AnemoneAnemone
    39. Wind
    40. SkaterSkater
    41. DolphinDolphin
    42. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    43. Wind ×3
    44. AnemoneAnemone
    45. DolphinDolphin
    46. Wind ×2
    47. DolphinDolphin
    48. Wind
    49. DolphinDolphin
    50. Wind
    51. DolphinDolphin
    52. Wind
    53. DolphinDolphin
    54. Wind
    55. DolphinDolphin
    56. Wind
    57. DolphinDolphin
    58. SentrySentry
    59. Wind
    60. DolphinDolphin
    61. Wind
    62. Construction ShipCon ship
    63. Naval NettleNaval Nettle
    64. Wind ×2
    65. Naval NettleNaval Nettle
    66. DolphinDolphin ×2
    67. Con turret
    68. Naval Construction Turret
    69. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    70. SkaterSkater ×2
    71. Naval Construction Turret
    72. SkaterSkater
    73. Naval Construction Turret
    74. SkaterSkater
    75. Naval Construction Turret
    76. Naval Metal Storage
    77. SkaterSkater
    78. Advanced ShipyardAdvanced Shipyarddone 11:26
    79. SkaterSkater
    80. Con turret
    81. SkaterSkater
    82. Naval Construction Turret
    83. SkaterSkater
    84. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    85. Tidal
    86. Naval Construction Turret
    87. Wind ×2
    88. Tidal
    89. Wind ×4
    90. Tidal
    91. Advanced Construction SubAdvanced Construction Sub
    92. Tidal
    93. Wind ×3
    94. Tidal
    95. Wind ×2
    96. VoyagerVoyager
    97. Tidal
    98. Wind
    99. Tidal
    100. Wind
    101. VoyagerVoyager
    102. Wind
    103. Naval Fusion ReactorNaval Fusion Reactornot finished by 15:00
    104. Wind ×2
    105. Naval Advanced Metal ExtractorNaval Advanced Metal Extractordone 12:46
    106. VoyagerVoyager
    107. Wind ×11
    108. Naval Advanced Metal ExtractorNaval Advanced Metal Extractor
    109. BeamerBeamer
    110. Wind ×2
    111. Con turret
    112. Wind ×2
    113. Con turret
    114. Amphibious ComplexAmphibious Complexnot finished by 15:00
    115. Naval Advanced Metal ExtractorNaval Advanced Metal Extractor
    116. Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plantdone 14:19
    117. MantaManta
    118. Advanced Construction VehicleT2 con vehicle
    119. JaguarJaguar
    120. Naval Advanced Metal ExtractorNaval Advanced Metal Extractor
    121. JaguarJaguar ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is JesterB's (36 OS, 15/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Wind Turbine3 Wind to Airfirst at 1:44 · in 46% of games

You get

  • Finch1 Finch from Airfirst at 1:46 · in 57% of games
  • Valiant1 Valiant from Airfirst at 1:50 · in 30% of games
  • Lazarus1 Lazarus from Geofirst at 2:02 · in 51% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:03 · in 80% 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

70 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
3:00152815810000
4:002347254051515150
5:0036813724444251255125
6:0050625148885564566300
7:006484671912411146851596
8:00799983061869167512541089
9:00947699702428249417151726
10:0011217118023433362021882438
11:0013274141054083457127193269
12:0015620168284667538432783986
13:0018348195795014631238804936
14:0021091222186387706849945841
15:0023236252206667821454246711
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

JesterB

35.5 OS · 15/09/2026

Open source match ↗

0 received units
14 metal received · 225 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=70
Shipyard4:16Middle 50%: 4:00–4:43 · n=58
Corsair5:58Middle 50%: 5:28–7:17 · n=54
Advanced Metal Extractor9:28Middle 50%: 9:01–10:50 · n=58

Played most by

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