Iron Nest Mission 4 Guide: Counter-Battery

Iron Nest Mission 4 Counter-Battery is a timed artillery hunt with two information states. Plot the three batteries described in the initial field report before the first shell lands. That first impact activates the counter-battery timer. Later artillery has no actionable spotter fix, so use the still-active Scout Plane card and authorised STAR shells instead of guessing fixed coordinates.

Quick Answer: Mission 4 Counter-Battery

• Verified on build/version: Source-checked 2026-08-28. The cited mission record does not publish a game build number, so no version is claimed here.
• Fixed rules: Restore the Master Power Switch, solve three initial batteries, start the timer on the first shell impact, gain time when artillery is destroyed, then locate the later hidden batteries.
• Random or run-specific data: All bearings, distances, grids, impact corrections, and hidden-battery positions come from the current operation.
• Recommended shell: The mission record lists every target as soft and recommends HE. STAR shells are authorised for locating the hidden artillery, not for damaging it.
• Starting resources: 500 requisition and zero powder charges are listed in the mission record; procurement is authorised.
• Gold conditions confirmed by the mission record: Counter-Battery time remaining ≥ 260, requisition points spent ≤ 30, and enemy kills ≥ 9.

Plot the Three Initial Batteries Before Firing

The initial field intelligence describes three artillery positions through three different observation pairs:

1. Battery 1: bearing from Spotter 1 plus bearing from Spotter 2.
2. Battery 2: bearing from Spotter 1 plus bearing from Spotter 3.
3. Battery 3: distance from Spotter 3 plus distance from Spotter 1.

Plot all three intersections from the current run, then calculate Iron Nest’s bearing, range, and powder charge for each. Do not fire as soon as the first solution is ready: the mission explicitly starts the timer when the first shell lands, so unfinished plotting consumes the same survival time you need for the hidden phase.

Mission 4 Walkthrough

1. Restore the Master Power Switch

The operation’s active-phase message requires the Master Power Switch to be ON before proceeding. Complete that state change before working through the firing data.

2. Prepare all three initial firing solutions

Use the two-bearing intersection for Batteries 1 and 2 and the two-distance intersection for Battery 3. Record the resulting gun settings in firing order. The source does not publish fixed coordinates because the report values are generated for the run.

3. Load HE and begin the timed phase

The mission record lists five enemy artillery targets and five enemy infantry targets, with no armoured enemies, and recommends HE. Once the first HE impact lands, the counter-battery alert begins.

4. Destroy the known artillery without pausing to re-plot

Move through the prepared solutions. Each artillery destruction produces a counter-battery extension, buying additional time for the remaining guns. Re-check a solution after a miss instead of firing repeated guesses into the same area.

5. Switch to recon and illumination for hidden artillery

When additional batteries begin ranging, High Command reports that forward observers have no actionable fix and that prior reconnaissance is unreliable. The Recon Plane requisition card remains active and STAR-shell ordnance is authorised. Use current reconnaissance and illumination to establish each position; do not reuse the first-phase coordinates.

6. Finish the artillery before Iron Nest is bracketed

Destroy every active artillery position before the timer expires. Once the counter-battery assets are gone, clear the remaining hostile units across the river to close the sector.

Counter-Battery Medal Conditions

• Counter-Battery Commendation: Gold with counter-battery time remaining ≥ 260.
• Austere Service Medal: Gold with requisition points spent ≤ 30.
• No Quarter Cross: Gold with enemy kills ≥ 9.

The mission record also lists a Salvo Commendation, but its displayed comparison direction conflicts with the “rapid succession” description. This page does not publish that numerical threshold until the source or a current-build check resolves the ambiguity.

Common Failures

• Firing after solving only one battery: The first impact activates the timer while two known solutions are still unfinished.
• Starting the wrong phase with STAR shells: The known soft targets are cleared with HE; STAR is an authorised locating tool for the hidden phase.
• Reusing old reconnaissance: The briefing explicitly says prior reconnaissance is not reliable for the newly deployed artillery.
• Ignoring the Scout Plane card: The card remains active when spotters cannot supply an actionable fix.
• Treating example observations as universal: Bearings, distances, grids, and hidden positions vary by operation.
• Stopping after the artillery: Remaining hostile units still have to be cleared after the counter-battery threat is removed.

Sources / References

• Iron Nest DB — Counter-Battery mission record — Operation 4 resources, roster, initial observations, first-impact timer, timer extensions, hidden-battery orders, authorised recon/STAR tools, and medal thresholds.
• Iron Nest DB — Counter-Battery walkthrough — phase-order interpretation and the plot-first workflow, checked against the mission record above.

Update Log

• 2026-08-28: Published the source-checked Mission 4 walkthrough with a fixed-versus-run-specific boundary and omitted the unresolved Salvo threshold.

Previous: Mission 3 — Liberation, including its Austere Service Medal guide. Next: Mission 5 — Iron Road, where the counter-battery pressure returns behind a train schedule and a war horn.