IRON NEST Mission 4: Counter-Battery Walkthrough

Mission 4 objective

Mission 4 is Counter-Battery, the first major campaign test of locating several hostile batteries while a counter-battery clock punishes slow execution. The map is not a fixed answer sheet: restart layouts can change, so the winning method is to convert every observer statement into a plotted position and prepare the opening volley before the timer becomes dangerous.

Prepare before the first impact

Copy the IRON NEST and observer coordinates, mark every named origin, and plot all initial bearings or distances with non-firing tools. Where two supported lines or a line and range circle meet, mark a battery candidate. Build a separate firing card for each confirmed position, stage the correct shells and charges, and assign cards to the two guns. Do not fire merely because one barrel is ready; the first impact begins the pressured phase while unfinished calculations remain unfinished.

Execute by threat priority

1. Fire at a confirmed hostile artillery position.
2. Read the mission feed immediately after impact.
3. Continue through prepared battery cards instead of re-solving from memory.
4. If new intelligence reveals another battery, plot it before returning to low-priority soft targets.
5. Use reconnaissance only where reports leave a genuine uncertainty area.
6. Confirm that the mission reports the counter-battery threat neutralized; one disappearing icon is not enough.

Multiple ordinary targets can be left until the batteries are under control. The clock is primarily a threat-management problem: every correct prepared shot removes risk, while every rushed miss spends both ammunition and time.

Troubleshooting

• Lines do not meet exactly: verify observer identity and units, then preserve a small uncertainty area rather than inventing a point.
• Second gun is not ready when the timer starts: the opening impact was sent too early; on retry stage both cards, shells and charges first.
• Repeated miss in one direction: check the IRON NEST firing origin and the bottom-spike rule.
• Mission continues after several kills: reread the latest feed for an unrevealed or surviving battery.
• Too much time spent on infantry: return to artillery priority; soft-target cleanup is secondary while counter-battery guns remain.

This walkthrough intentionally teaches the reproducible sequence rather than publishing coordinates from one random layout.