How-to guides

How do I load and unload a shell?

1. Look at the breech and press the interact key to open it.
2. Chamber the shell you want. Match the round to the target — the loadout guide covers when to use HE, AP, illumination and the rest of the nine shells.
3. To unload, open the breech again and eject the chambered round before loading a different type — you can't change shell with one already seated.
4. Close the breech, then set your powder charge and lay the gun.

Tip — Changing shell mid-fire-mission costs you time, so decide your round before you start ranging. Star shells in particular are loaded deliberately, not on reflex.

How do I restart the engine / restore power?

1. Find the Master Power Switch in the cab and set it to ON. If the console is dark or the gun won't respond, this is almost always why.
2. If the engine has stalled, run the start-up sequence: power on, then engage the generator so the laying motors and lights have power.
3. Give it a moment to spin up — the panel lights and dials come alive when the system is live.

Tip — Several missions — the Counter-Battery operation included — won't progress until power is restored, so make it your first action when you spawn in.

How do I use the map measure / blast tool?

1. Open Map View with the interact key while looking at the map console.
2. Hold the left mouse button and drag across the map. A line measures ground distance; this is also how you eyeball a shell's blast coverage before committing a round.
3. Release to clear it. Use it to check the range between your spotters and a target, or to confirm a bracket before you fire.

Tip — For an exact bearing-and-charge answer rather than an eyeball, feed the same observations into the firing planner.

How do I read a forward observer / spotter report?

1. A report gives you bearing and/or distance from the spotter, not from your gun. Note which observer each line references.
2. Two bearings from two spotters cross at the target. A bearing plus a distance, or two distances, fix it the same way — intersect the lines or range rings.
3. Convert that fix into a bearing and range from the Nest, then pick the powder charge for that range.

Tip — This whole conversion is what the planner automates — drop the spotters, enter the report, read your solution. New to it? Start with your first firing solution.

How do I reposition / move the Iron Nest?

1. Movement is a requisition card, not a free action. The Move Direction card moves the Nest a set distance in a direction you choose.
2. When you're being bracketed, the EMERGENCY MOVE! card relocates you immediately to a new position, pauses the counter-battery timer and adds 120 seconds — a panic button, not a repositioning tool.
3. Play the card from your requisition hand, then resume laying the gun from the new position — your firing solutions change once you've moved.

How do I call in and aim the Scout Plane?

1. Play the Scout Plane requisition card when you have it in hand.
2. You choose the flyover location — pick the grid where you suspect hidden guns or want to confirm a target, not a random patch of map.
3. The flyover reveals what's there, so you can range targets your forward observers can't fix.

Tip — This is the key to the second phase of the Counter-Battery mission — players who call it “pure luck” are usually guessing instead of flying the plane over the hidden batteries.

How do I equip the gas mask and read the gauges?

1. Press the gas-mask key (G by default) to pull the mask on or off.
2. Wear it when the cab fills with smoke or fumes after sustained firing or a near miss; visibility through the lenses is reduced, so take it off once the air clears.