IRON NEST Targets

Targets vs kill tokens

Triangulation places kill tokens at intersections; the class comes from mission intel — "five hostile infantry units," "hostile artillery 4," or "destroy FDC." Mixed missions label each sub-target separately; work top to bottom on the teleprinter so you swap shells only when the class changes.

Demo Fire and Light operations may introduce a staging reference point, then list infantry fixes as combined bearings — each infantry number is still a soft HE job unless text demands AP.

Armor tags are the fork between blast and penetration shells — next section explains the soft vs armored rule in one table.

Reading the map legend under pressure

Before loading, glance at the token tooltip or mission briefing row: Armored never stays on HE unless the teleprinter explicitly overrides (rare). Soft Hostile Artillery is why ammo destroy artillery searches often answer HE — the gun crew token is not a bunker.

When aerial photos show a crater on an armored tile with the token still active, swap to AP on the next salvo — do not tweak range first.

Artillery crews and FDC nodes follow different rules — the section below splits them for counter-battery missions.

Why AP orders appear on infantry missions

Some teleprinter lines read "Confirm position then neutralize with AP" even when spotters call infantry — hardened cover or story armored infantry uses the same penetration model as bunkers. Trust the order text over the word "infantry."

When no shell is named, default soft infantry to HE and armored story targets to AP; mixed lists require a shell swap at the loader between tokens.

Timer missions: artillery extensions vs FDC pause

Under counter-battery pressure, public walkthroughs usually recommend clearing soft artillery first for +30 s extensions, then saving an FDC destroy as your last shot when you need a planning pause — see counter-battery for the full queue-and-pause loop.

Challenge: FDC and similar modes can invert priorities (multiple underground FDCs, score before wipe). Treat FDC-first advice as mode-specific, not universal.

If only open soft guns remain and no pause is needed, HE is faster to load than AP.

Cross-link to shell stats

Community blast radii and credit costs live on shell types (verify in your build). This table assumes default armor tags from public database extracts — mutators or challenge modes may override.

Infantry 3 and AP orders

Mission text occasionally demands AP on infantry near hardened cover — the neutralization line overrides soft defaults. Load AP once, confirm kill, return to HE for open soft tokens if the teleprinter allows.

STAR-only side objectives run parallel — finish illumination branches with shell types STAR rules before returning to HE clears.

Mechanized vs armor

Public enemy registry extracts list mechanized rows as soft unless a mission adds an armored flag. Treat mechanized like HE targets until briefing text or an failed HE impact proves otherwise.

When mechanized tokens sit beside bunkers, solve bunker AP first if FDC or counter-battery pressure exists — then HE the column.

Large mechanized markers sometimes share a grid cell with infantry spotters — confirm which token the teleprinter names before copying range; shooting the column while infantry remains leaves objective counters incomplete.

Kill tokens vs intelligence markers

Yellow bearing lines and red pencil range solve where to shoot; teleprinter class text solves what to load. Operators who finish triangulation then default to HE without re-reading the kill list waste AP opportunities on the next armored sub-target.

Reset map markers between unrelated fire missions when the briefing says "delete all map markers" — stale infantry tokens from a prior HE volley confuse classification on the follow-up AP line.

HCHE on armored rows

Some community sheets list HCHE as alternate on armored targets when AP stock runs dry — verify in your save. If impact reports show damage but no token removal, return to AP before spending more credits.

Stock AP at requisition before bunker-heavy regions; HE stacks do not help armored lanes.

Emergency move vs AP spend

When AP is loaded and FDC is armored, firing beats requisition emergency move if range is already solved — walkthroughs cite ~+120 s on emergency move, but credits may be needed for the next AP stack.

If FDC location is unknown, scout plane intel (punchcard) targets the recon class — separate from this shell table but part of the same timer puzzle.

After-action habit

If the kill token remains after impact, classify armor again before adjusting range — half of "short" reports are wrong shell class, not wrong ballistics.

When classification feels solid, deepen ammo stats on shell types or timer play on counter-battery.