Operations
Campaign map
IRON NEST runs 15 missions in a fixed sequence — each one unlocks the next, and two Skirmishes branch off early. This is the structure at a glance, with every mission's map, starting requisition and rewards; for the play-by-play, see the mission pages.
Looking for what to actually do in each mission? Every entry below links to its full briefing, enemy roster and medal criteria. This page is the structural map — how the missions connect and what each one unlocks.
Campaign — play 1 → 15 in order
First contact with the gun: calibration firing, reading a grid, and putting a round on a fixed target.
“.”
0 requisition · 100 powderGrants: 7 shell types4 target typesHigh-explosive fire on living targets — fragmentation, blast radius and timing a shot for effect.
“Ajust fire based on yellow intel markings on your reconasis photographs. - - -”
0 requisition · 100 powderGrants: 8 shell types5 target typesThe requisition economy and the Scout Plane: spending cards to reveal targets your spotters can't fix.
“High Command to Iron Nest: Cache destroyed. Well executed [REMAINING <Enemy>] hostile infantry units remain in urban sector. Complete their destruction in detail Glory to Castile! ! ! - - -”
300 requisition · 20 powderGrants: 1 punchcards · 1 requisition7 target typesTriangulating multiple batteries against a counter-battery clock — the game's signature difficulty spike.
“High Command to Iron Nest: Secondary counter-battery assets destroyed [REMAINING <enemy>] hostile units remain across the river. No further threats are anticipated. High Command is confident Glory…”
500 requisition · 0 powderGrants: 1 requisition4 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . Reinforcement train destroyed Anti-monarchist forces in Valle de Mula have been isolated successfully Glory to Castile! ! ! - - -”
300 requisition · 12 powder15 target types“[POINT <{ID}>] stopped responding. - - -”
300 requisition · 10 powder8 target types“COLUMN GUARD: NO EXACT FIX ON POSITION. VISUAL CONTACT ONLY. - - -”
200 requisition · 10 powder10 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . HMS Rockingham successfully destroyed 45 minutes after the French Battleship Léon Gambetta's crossing. Matters proceed as arranged With the HMS Rockingham destroyed, an…”
150 requisition · 10 powder6 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . MISSION FAILED The advance was signalled before all three positions were confirmed neutralised, and the assault broke against defences that should have been silenced Gl…”
300 requisition · 10 powder9 target types“[POINT <{ID}>] taking fire from [POINT <{ID1}>]! Requesting <u>SMK Shell</u> on our position at [GRID <{ID}>] before <u>[TIMER <MissionTime+500>]</u>! - - -”
300 requisition · 10 powder6 target types“[POINT <{ID1}>]: ENGAGING <u>DEFENSIVE LINE</u> FROM [GRID <{ID1}>]. - - -”
400 requisition · 10 powder10 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . Ground forces have entered the outskirts of Valencia. The advance has halted at the Turia River Anti-aircraft batteries there deny reconnaissance aircraft the sky over…”
300 requisition · 10 powder10 target types“[POINT <ListeningPost:1>] at [GRID <ListeningPost:1>]: Report: [POINT <Artillery:1>] at Bearing [BEARING <ListeningPost:1> <Artillery:1>]° . [POINT <ListeningPost:2>] at [GRID <ListeningPost:2>]: R…”
200 requisition · 10 powder6 target types“This is [POINT <{ID}>]. Under cover, we took [POINT <{ID2}>], [POINT <{ID3}>], and [POINT <{ID4}>] as well. Couldn't have done it blind to [POINT <{ID1}>]. Appreciated, Iron Nest. - - -”
250 requisition · 10 powder18 target types“.”
700 requisition · 6 powder9 target types
Skirmishes — branch off the campaign spine
A timed fire-direction-control gauntlet: convergent columns, back-to-back solutions, no room for error.
“High Command to Iron Nest: Three enemy columns are converging on the river crossing. Counter-battery units are operational. Their response is a matter of time Destroy as many hostile elements as po…”
A relaxed free-fire range with no timer: practise the gunnery loop and experiment with shells at your own pace.
“[POINT <{ID}>] Repositioned to Grid [GRID <{ID}>]”
How the campaign is structured
The opening missions are a deliberate ramp: each adds a single system — laying the gun, high-explosive effect, the requisition deck and Scout Plane, then counter-battery fire — so by the time the campaign proper starts you're running the full fire-direction loop unassisted. Clearing a mission unlocks exactly the next one.
The two Skirmishes sit outside that chain. The Chill range opens after mission 3 and the timed Challenge after mission 4 — one to practise freely, one to test you against the clock.
The story is authored and linear — High Command hands you orders in this fixed sequence, and your decisions change how a mission plays, not which one comes next. For the prose behind the orders, the dispatches archive collects the newspaper clippings that frame each operation.
More guides
- First firing solutionTurn a spotter report into bearing, range and powder charge — the core gunnery loop.
- Operations walkthroughEvery operation in order, suggested play sequence, and what each one teaches.
- Counter-batteryOperation 4 made solvable — triangulate, survive the timer, find the hidden guns.
- How-to guidesQuick answers: loading shells (and why you can't unload one), restart the engine, measure on the map, aim the Scout Plane.
- SpottersReading a forward observer's report, crossing two bearings onto a target, and when the 0.5° margin starts to bite.
- Map icon keysAll 70 counters the tactical map draws — what the frame, the staff and the bracket each tell you before you fire.
- The guns800mm, two guns laid separately, six powder charges and 30 km of reach — and why the 580mm is not yours.
- CheatsThere are none — no codes, no console. What the game gives you instead, and how the requisition economy actually pays.
- Story & settingCastile's war in an alternate 1927 Spain, the dispatch propaganda, and where the gun came from.
- ControlsDefault keyboard and mouse bindings, how the mouse-operated valves work, and the settings to change first.
- All guides →
Top tools
- Firing plannerSpotter report in, bearing · range · charge solution out.
- Ballistics calculatorRange ↔ powder charge with live arc and real shell speed curves.
- Firing tablePowder-charge range card — scan the bracket, dial the charge.
- Loadout guideWhich of the 21 shells to chamber for each kind of target.
- All tools →