Your first match: picking an island and getting started
Last updated: October 11, 2026
Every Occupier match begins before the fighting does: each commander claims a starting island. This guide walks through that first choice and the first minute of play, so your first match is a calm one.
The picking phase
Before the competition starts, you pick an island to claim as your own. The match begins once every commander, human or AI, has made their pick. Nothing grows or moves until then, so take a moment to look at the whole map instead of clicking the first island you see.
Your starting island is your base: it is where your first army stands, and it produces troops for you for as long as you hold it. Losing it early is the fastest way to lose a match, so the pick matters more than any single attack later on.
What to look for in a starting island
Bigger islands grow armies faster, which is a real advantage over a long match. The price is that a large island is also the first thing rivals want. If the map puts several commanders near the same large island, a smaller island with room around it can be the safer start.
Look at the routes. Islands are connected by links, and forces travel faster along them. An island with several links gives you many ways to attack and to be reinforced; an island at the end of a single link is easier to defend but harder to expand from.
Check where the rivals start. Each island wears an island panel showing who holds it and how many troops are there, so you can see how close the nearest rival is before the match begins.
The first minute
Once the match starts, your armies grow on every island you control. In the first minute, the aim is simple: claim the free islands near you before a rival does. Select your island, then use the forward panel on a linked island to send troops there.
Do not send everything. Keep enough troops at home that a rival cannot take your base with one quick attack, and send the rest to claim neighbouring islands. A claimed island starts producing troops of its own, so early expansion pays for itself.
Matches last at most about 13 minutes, so there is no time to wait. Make your first move within the first few seconds and adjust from there.
Common beginner mistakes
Sending the whole army out and leaving the base empty. Attacking a rival island without checking its troop count in the island panel first. Opening a second front before the first is secure. All three are easy to avoid once you know to look for them, and the strategy hints on the how-to-play page cover them in more detail.