Tunnels and the mainland
Deploying to the mainland in Build and Conquer: how tunnels work, what deploying does to your PvP status, holding strategic areas for bonuses and the.
Build tunnels from your plot, then deploy troops from your military base. Deploying turns your base PvP on, so bring air defence. Holding a mainland sector gives about +20% income and +30% population; leaving fights early costs 30% for a week.
The mainland is the other half of Build and Conquer. Your plot is where you earn; the mainland is where you spend, and where the bonuses that make everything else faster are held. Getting there is a two-step process that many new players get wrong.
Getting to the mainland
- Research and build the tunnel. Tunnels run from your plot to the mainland and are what your troops actually use.
- Produce troops at the military base. Vehicles, drones and infantry all deploy the same way — queue them, then deploy.
- Click deploy and wait for the crossing. Your units travel to the mainland; you do not.
- Move with right-click. The mainland uses point-and-click orders. Press E to teleport your own character if you are standing off-plot.
The PvP switch
The moment you deploy, your base becomes PvP-enabled. Other players can attack you while your units are away, which is exactly when you are weakest. Never deploy without:
- air defence built and loaded,
- a power and water layout that survives losing one building,
- and enough time to actually play — leaving a fight counts as combat logging, worth a 30% penalty for a week.
Holding a sector
Strategic areas on the mainland are the point of the whole exercise. Take one, hold it, and your country-wide production improves — community testing measured +20% income and +30% population while held. That bonus stacks with housing and shop income, which is why the strongest countries on a server are almost always the ones holding ground.
Holding, though, is a shift job. A sector that nobody stands on is a sector you have lost. Most players work in pairs or alliances: one person's units hold while the other's country runs the economy, and they alternate.
Mainland tactics that work
| Situation | Play |
|---|---|
| Claiming an empty sector | Send a fast unit first, then follow with the holding force |
| Contesting someone else's | Scout with HIMARS, hit their air defence with missiles, then push |
| Defending your own sector | Keep interceptors in range and never fight from a single stack |
| Server is a warzone | Stay home, run the economy, and come back when the map relaxes |
What not to do
Do not send everything. A country with zero units at home and all units on the mainland is the easiest target on the server — and while your army is away, the sector bonus you are earning is paying for the buildings somebody else is about to destroy.
See the alliances guide for working with neighbours instead of against them, and the map reference for the mainland and starting plot pages.
