Bases and HQ danger

In multiplayer, hot-seat and VS AI, every player has one base, squad members included. Destroying it eliminates that player — see Winning.

Base defense zone

Each base has a defense zone around it — a small radius that grows with the size of the map. Moving a unit into an enemy base’s zone always asks a mandatory question, at Tier 2 on Junior difficulty and Tier 3 on Medior, Senior and Architect. Answer correctly and the move goes through, with no Brain Power for it. Answer wrong and the unit is destroyed outright. In a squad match, this includes your squadmates’ bases — only your own base is safe. Your own base’s zone never gates your own moves.

Attacking a base outright is a separate action from moving into its zone — see Combat.

HQ danger fields

Some bases project a danger field: standing inside one puts every gated question you’re asked there at a harder tier, and costs HP at the end of each of your turns — more the closer you stand.

• Multiplayer and hot-seat — every player’s base projects a field automatically, except on tutorial-size maps.
• VS AI — no danger fields.
• Single-player campaign — only around a mission’s boss HQ, or a garrison the mission has placed; an ordinary mission has no danger fields at all.

A field never threatens its owner’s units, but it does threaten squadmates.

A field has two damaging bands, closest to farthest, plus an outer band that only warns you (no damage, no harder questions):

Band	End-of-turn HP damage	Question tier
Inner	2 HP (3 HP on Senior/Architect)	+2 tiers
Mid	1 HP (2 HP on Senior/Architect)	+1 tier
Outer (telegraph)	None	No change

A field’s reach scales with the map: small boards keep it tight, large boards project it further. A garrison’s small field is the mid band all the way through: no inner band.