IRON NEST Missions Guide — All 15 Campaign Missions
Every IRON NEST campaign mission in order: Calibration Fire through White Shells, with requisition costs, shell grants, the Siege of Cartagena, Phantom Battery and the hard missions.
IRON NEST Missions Guide — All 15 Campaign Missions
IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator runs fifteen campaign missions in play order, from the opening tutorials to the finale that decides the ending. Two Skirmishes sit outside the campaign. This guide lists every mission in order, what each one teaches or demands, and the ones that regularly trip players up — including the Siege of Cartagena and Phantom Battery.
Here's what you'll learn:
- The full 15-mission campaign order
- How the mission types work (Tutorial / Campaign / Challenge / Chill)
- The requisition economy and shell grants
- The hard missions: Siege of Cartagena, Phantom Battery and more
- How mission 15 (White Shells) decides the endings
Campaign Structure
The campaign opens with tutorial missions that teach the fire-control loop (triangulate → range → load → fire), then moves into the full campaign as the Iron Nest rolls across Spain — from Aranjuez to Ciudad Real, the Iron Road, Cartagena, the Gorge, Gibraltar and beyond.
Mission types:
- Tutorial — teach the systems (Calibration Fire, Liberation, Rock of Gibraltar)
- Campaign — the main story missions
- Challenge — score/medal focused variants
- Chill — relaxed modes without the pressure
Two Skirmishes sit outside the 15-mission campaign for extra practice and requisition.
All 15 Missions in Order
| # | Mission | Type | Map | Start Requisition | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calibration Fire | Tutorial | Aranjuez | 0 | 7 shell grants |
| 2 | Fire & Light | Campaign | Aranjuez | 0 | 8 shell grants |
| 3 | Liberation | Tutorial | Ciudad Real | 300 | punchcard grants, requisition points |
| 4 | Counter-Battery | Campaign | Ciudad Real | 500 | requisition points |
| 5 | Iron Road | Campaign | Iron Road | 300 | no material rewards |
| 6 | Siege of Cartagena | Campaign | Siege of Cartagena | 300 | no material rewards |
| 7 | The Gorge | Campaign | The Gorge | 200 | no material rewards |
| 8 | Rock of Gibraltar | Tutorial | Rock of Gibraltar | 150 | no material rewards |
| 9–15 | Blind fire, Dead Reckoning, Final Harvest, Fire on call, High Tide, Phantom Battery, White Shells | Campaign/Challenge | various | — | ending-deciding finale |
Missions 3+ charge requisition to deploy. The early missions bank your shell grants; later ones like Counter-Battery (500 requisition) drain the balance. Don't blow requisition on cosmetic loadouts before the campaign grind.
The Early Tutorials (1–3)
Mission 1 — Calibration Fire: teaches the basic fire-control loop on the Aranjuez range. You get 7 shell grants to play with — use them to learn the elevation/charge relationship before the real missions start.
Mission 2 — Fire & Light: the first proper campaign mission, still on Aranjuez, with 8 shell grants. Expect your first forward-observer report that requires real triangulation.
Mission 3 — Liberation: the first mission that costs requisition (300). It's a Tutorial type but introduces the punchcard system — a reward/grants mechanic that continues through the campaign.
The Hard Missions
Siege of Cartagena (Mission 6): one of the campaign's most demanding set-pieces. SMK shells are required for the live breakout support — bring the right ammo and understand the timing, or the support objective fails. Plan your shell loadout before deploying.
Phantom Battery (Mission 14): as the name suggests, you're countering an enemy battery that appears, fires and repositions — the dead-reckoning skills from earlier missions are the key. If you're stuck, re-check your observer reports before each shot; the phantom battery moves between your ranging shots.
White Shells (Mission 15): the finale — and the mission where your ammo choice decides the ending. Four endings are all resolved here, determined by what you load before firing on Barcelona. (Full detail in our endings guide.)
Requisition, Shell Grants & Medals
- Requisition is your currency — earned from missions and skirmishes, spent to deploy (missions 3+) and buy shells/supplies
- Shell grants are free shells given per mission — a fixed budget per deployment, separate from bought ammo
- Gold medals — completing missions well (accuracy, speed, objectives) earns medals; 100% Steam completion requires gold across the campaign
Medals reward accuracy and economy, not just completion. One wasted shell can cost you the gold — triangulate carefully, confirm your charge, and only then fire.
Skirmish Mode & Practice
Outside the 15-mission campaign, two Skirmishes let you train and farm requisition:
- Skirmishes are shorter, self-contained deployments — great for practicing triangulation and charge selection without risking campaign progress
- They pay requisition and shell grants, making them the reliable grind for the expensive mid-campaign missions
- Treat them as the game's "free practice range" — if a campaign mission is kicking you, run a skirmish or two to rebuild both requisition and confidence
Counter-Battery (500 requisition) and the mid-campaign deployments drain your balance. A couple of skirmish runs between story missions keeps you solvent without replaying campaign missions.
Gold Medals & 100% Completion
Steam completion in IRON NEST means gold medals across the campaign:
- Each mission grades you on accuracy, economy and objectives — clean, efficient clears earn gold
- Medal criteria are listed per mission in the mission briefings (per the Iron Nest DB)
- Gold requires disciplined triangulation and charge selection; one wasted shell can drop a medal tier
If you're chasing 100%, budget replays: re-running a mission with a clean sheet is faster than finishing it sloppy and having to redo it anyway.
Scout Plane & Mission Tools
Scout Plane & Mission Tools
Several missions give you tools beyond the gun:
- The Scout Plane — fly it to spot targets and confirm ranges when the observer reports are thin
- In-game newspapers — propaganda, satire and classifieds that build the story between missions
- The war table — your map for triangulation (columns A–T, rows 1–10, 10×10 sub-grids)
FAQ
How many missions are in IRON NEST? 15 campaign missions (Calibration Fire through White Shells) plus two Skirmishes outside the campaign.
What is the hardest mission in IRON NEST? Phantom Battery and Siege of Cartagena are the commonly cited walls — Phantom for the moving enemy battery, Cartagena for the SMK-shell support objective.
How does requisition work in IRON NEST? Requisition is earned currency spent to deploy missions and buy shells/supplies. Missions 3+ charge starting requisition (300–500+).
What shells do I need for the Siege of Cartagena? SMK shells are required for the live breakout support objective in that mission — bring them.
What is Phantom Battery in IRON NEST? Mission 14 — countering an enemy battery that fires and repositions; you re-triangulate after every exchange.