Operations
Campaign map
IRON NEST runs 15 missions in a fixed sequence — each one unlocks the next, and three Skirmishes branch off the campaign. 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.
“High Command to Iron Nest: A hostile element has been identified within the city. Triangulate the target position and destroy it ORDNANCE: HE only NOTE: Check adjacent typewriter for field reports…”
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.
“Repositioning Complete. IRON NEST - [GRID <turret>] - - -”
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: The operation has entered its active phase NOTE: Restore Master Power Switch to ON before proceeding Enemy forces have deployed artillery across the river in response to…”
500 requisition · 0 powderGrants: 1 requisition4 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . Allied forces are advancing on Valle de Mula. The town controls the primary supply corridor through La Mancha. Its capture is required to sustain the offensive An enemy…”
300 requisition · 12 powder15 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: Operational command of the Cartagena engagement is transferred to Naval Command, effective immediately You are henceforth under the authority of the ranking naval officer…”
300 requisition · 10 powder8 target types“COLUMN GUARD: CONTACT NORTH RIDGE. TAKING FIRE. - - -”
200 requisition · 10 powder10 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . An enemy Heavy Cruiser lies moored in Gibraltar harbour, her batteries providing anti-aircraft cover for the port DO NOT FIRE until after T:[TIMER <MissionTime:1+120>].…”
150 requisition · 10 powder6 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . The garrison within Cádiz is invisible to aerial reconnaissance. They have gone to ground, dug into the old city's cellars and stonework ORDNANCE: TEAR shells will forc…”
300 requisition · 10 powder9 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . Sevilla. The Andalusian capital, and the last position still held against us in the south Iron Nest is cleared to support the final assault directly. Our infantry hold…”
300 requisition · 10 powder6 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . Dawn patrol reports the horizon crowded with hulls. What was believed to be routine fleet movement is, as of first light, confirmed as a naval landing in force Your obj…”
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“INCOMING FIRE! ! !”
400 requisition · 10 powder6 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . The Siege of Barcelona, the final bastion of the anti-monarchists, is underway. Allied infantry and armour are engaged along the full front Iron Nest will provide fire…”
250 requisition · 10 powder18 target types“High Command to Iron Nest: . Barcelona lies at your feet You know what you must do. You know what shell you must fire to end this as it should be ended Once and for all End this, Operator . IRON NE…”
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.
“High Command to Iron Nest: Enemy forces have been caught mid-resupply. They are exposed. This will not last Engage and destroy all hostile elements in the sector in detail. No counter-battery threa…”
Challenge ships with the war horn, spare allied vessels that answer with three flashes, and stop hostile traffic entering the Mediterranean.
“High Command to Iron Nest: . The Strait of Gibraltar is the primary passage into the Mediterranean and it must remain secure against enemy infiltration Challenge all incoming traffic and only permi…”
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 three 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. Guarding the Strait opens after mission 8 and asks you to identify allied shipping before firing.
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 keysThe 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 →