Iron Nest Mission 3: Liberation - Solutions

Worked example: Bearing, range, charge and elevation figures below come from a sample playthrough. Enemy spawns and your Iron Nest’s position vary each run — always measure on the map and follow the in-game ballistic calculator.

Mission Critical Strategy: Two Shells, Two Jobs

Liberation is the mission that teaches the single most transferable lesson in the campaign: the right shell matters more than the right numbers.

The target set is deliberately split into two kinds of material:

Target type	Structure	Correct shell	Wrong shell outcome
Perimeter defences	Soft earthworks and sandbags	H (High Explosive)	AP punches through without spreading — minimal effect
Underground ammunition cache	Reinforced concrete, buried	AP (Armor-Piercing)	H bursts on the surface and does not reach the cache

Firing the correct solution with the wrong shell produces a visible hit and no result. That is what makes this mission deceptive: the shell lands exactly where you aimed, the teleprinter reports an impact, and the objective does not progress. Operators then re-solve their maths — which was never the problem.

The rule: match the shell to the material first, then compute the solution.

Before anything else: rebuild your firing origins

Liberation opens with a problem that no other early mission presents — your map board is wrong.

The reference points you would normally measure from have drifted since they were surveyed, so every bearing derived from them is off by an unknown margin. If you skip this step and start shooting, your shells will land consistently and consistently in the wrong place.

The fix is in the P4 reconnaissance report. It contains the corrected positions of the survey reference points. Plot those first, rebuild the origin, and only then start ranging targets. This single step accounts for most of the mission’s difficulty.

The protected zone

Sector C contains civilian infrastructure and must not be engaged. It is marked on your map as a protected zone, and unlike an enemy position, you cannot verify a miss by observing the result.

The practical discipline is to check the line of bearing, not just the aiming point. A shell laid on a legitimate target can still pass over or overshoot into Sector C. Before each shot, confirm the bearing does not cross the protected zone.

Pre-Calculated Firing Solutions

All three engageable targets sit inside the 5–10 km band — 2 charge bags, multiplier 5.0.

Target	Target Grid	Turret Bearing	Target Range	Powder Charges	Elevation (θ)	Ammunition
Perimeter Gun NORTH	Grid C2 4.5	112.5°	7.20 km	2 Charges	36.00°	H (High Explosive)
Perimeter Gun SOUTH	Grid C4 7.1	108.0°	8.40 km	2 Charges	42.00°	H (High Explosive)
Underground Ammunition Cache	Grid C6 2.8	118.0°	9.80 km	2 Charges	49.00°	AP (Armor-Piercing)
Sector C — Civilian Block	(protected)	095.0°	—	—	—	NO FIRE

[!WARNING] The 095.0° bearing to Sector C sits between your northern and southern perimeter bearings. Check every bearing against it before firing — an undershoot on the northern gun will drift toward the protected zone.

Step-by-Step Operator Routine

Phase 1: Rebuild the Map (No Timer)

1. Read the P4 reconnaissance report in full before requisitioning anything.
2. Cross out the stale survey reference points on your map board and re-plot each one from the P4 corrections.
3. Re-derive your own firing origin from the corrected points. Do not proceed until this is done — every number in the table below assumes a corrected origin.
4. Mark Sector C as a no-fire zone in a distinct colour.

Phase 2: Requisition (No Timer)

1. Buy 4 H shells, 3 AP shells, and 12 powder charge bags.
2. Note the split deliberately: this mission has more soft targets than hard ones, but the hard one is the objective.
3. Confirm both perimeter gun positions (C2 4.5, C4 7.1) and the cache position (C6 2.8) are plotted from the corrected origin.

Phase 3: Clear the Perimeter (Soft Targets)

1. Load Left Gun: 1 H + 2 charge bags. Set elevation 36.00°.
2. Traverse to 112.5° — check the line does not pass through Sector C — and fire.
3. Re-charge 2 bags, re-lay to 42.00°, bearing 108.0°. Fire on the southern gun.
4. Confirm both perimeter positions silent. With the perimeter clear, the cache is exposed.

Phase 4: Break the Cache (Hard Target)

1. Switch ammunition. Load AP — this is the step that decides the mission.
2. 2 charge bags, elevation 49.00°, bearing 118.0°.
3. Fire. AP penetrates the reinforced concrete and reaches the buried ammunition.
4. Confirm with the teleprinter. A secondary detonation report indicates the cache has cooked off.

Phase 5: Verify and Withdraw

1. Re-check the bearing you last fired against the Sector C no-fire zone.
2. If the teleprinter reports the cache still intact, re-fire one more AP at the identical solution before adjusting anything — the first round may have struck a reinforcement rib.
3. Do not fire H at the cache as a follow-up. It cannot reach it.

[!IMPORTANT] Operator Rule: In Liberation, ask “what is this made of?” before you ask “what is the elevation?”. The mission is a shell-selection test wearing a ballistics test’s clothing — and the shell-selection question is the one that fails operators.