Your first firing solution

A firing solution is the bearing and range from your Iron Nest to the target, plus the powder charge that bracket covers that distance. Spotters report from their position; your gun sits somewhere else. The job is to convert their intelligence into numbers you can dial on the traverse wheel and powder panel.

What a spotter report actually says

Initial Field Intelligence on the typewriter usually lists each target with lines like Bearing 047° from Spotter1 or Distance 12.4 from Spotter3. Those measurements are always from the named observer to the target — not from the Nest. Operation orders also print observer grid positions so you can plot them on the tactical map.

Reports mix bearings and distances on purpose. Two bearings from different spotters intersect at the target; a bearing plus a distance from the same spotter pins one leg. Operation 2 (Ceremony & HE) is the first mission that expects you to triangulate rather than shoot a grid coordinate handed to you directly.

Plot the target

On the in-game map, place each spotter at their grid square, draw or imagine their reported bearing lines, and mark where they cross. Off-console, the firing solution planner does the same geometry: set spotter and target positions (or type bearing and range legs) and it prints the solution from the Nest.

Traverse on the Nest reads in degrees clockwise from true north. If you think in mils, the mils & bearing reference converts between the two.

Pick ordnance and powder charge

Mission orders often restrict shell type — HE only, STAR only, AP for bunkers. The loadout guide summarizes which of the nine shells counters which targets when you have a choice.

Powder charge sets muzzle velocity and therefore range. Once you know ground distance to the target, look up the charge bracket on the firing table or use the ballistics calculator to convert range ↔ charge. Out-of-range means you need a higher charge or a closer target — the game will not fudge the physics for you.

Lay the gun and adjust

Dial traverse to your bearing, set elevation for the charge, confirm the correct shell is chambered, and fire. Reconnaissance photos and follow-up spotter corrections use yellow arrows and distances from the impact point — adjust bearing and range, recompute charge if the range changed materially, and repeat until High Command confirms the target destroyed.

Practice before Operation 2

Hospital False Flag teaches direct grid shooting with HE. Run it until bearing, range and charge feel familiar, then move to Ceremony & HE with the planner open on a second monitor. The full play order is in the operations walkthrough.