IRON NEST Counter-Battery Mechanics and Demo Evidence

Counter-Battery is an official IRON NEST mission. For the current task route, open the Mission 4 walkthrough. This page instead explains older Counter-Battery timer, reconnaissance, and spawn reports so they are not mistaken for guaranteed current behavior.

What is confirmed: The mission name and its two achievement mappings are official. The detailed wave, Scout, STAR, and timer model below comes from the Demo era and may differ in the current build.

What is safe to use now

The following preparation principles do not require an exact timer value or spawn count:

1. Place the Nest and observers before starting an engagement when the mission allows it.
2. Record more than one target solution before creating avoidable time pressure.
3. Load the first shell while planning rotation toward the next known target.
4. Refresh reconnaissance after a new phase or spawn instead of assuming an old image is current.
5. Recalculate range and bearing after moving the Nest.
6. Check the result screen rather than relying on a copied Gold threshold.

These are planning habits, not a claim that the 1.0 mission uses the exact sequence described in older discussions.

Official mission and achievement facts

Steam confirms the mission name Counter-Battery. Its story achievement is First Reply — Silence the Counter-Battery. Its all-Gold achievement is Distinguished Conduct — Earn gold on all medals in “Counter-Battery.”

Those mappings are publishable official facts. Steam does not publish a complete mission script, timer table, spawn count, or Medal threshold table.

Demo-era wave model — not a 1.0 fact

An older developer discussion described a structure with three artillery pieces and four infantry targets at the start. In that discussion, destroying the active guns stopped the Counter-Battery timer; after two infantry kills, two more artillery pieces entered the map. That model produces five artillery and four infantry targets.

Use this only as historical context, not as current-build proof. No current official source confirms that the exact second phase, trigger, or nine-target total applies to every 1.0 run.

Demo-era Scout Plane versus STAR notes

A developer reply in the same pre-release discussion said that the Scout Plane did not trigger Counter-Battery time and covered a larger area, but had to sweep across the target zone. STAR was described as having a smaller reveal area, starting the timer, and supplying yellow correction information around a priority area.

Treat this as a question to test in 1.0, not a universal recommendation. Until a current recording exists, the guide cannot promise that Scout avoids the timer, that STAR starts it, or that their coverage and correction behaviour remain identical.

Timer figures from older reports

Demo/community notes commonly cite a 300-second initial timer, roughly 30 seconds added for destroying an artillery piece, and a pause when no active guns remain. They also suggest that a zero display may leave a final danger window while an enemy shell is already in flight.

None of those boundaries is promoted as a current mechanic here. Emergency Move timing, pause behaviour, difficulty-mode differences, and any added seconds remain unverified for build 1.0 (1558).

Gold-medal cautions

A current community data guide lists nine enemy kills and a Counter-Battery time-left value around 260 among the Gold criteria. The Triple Kill window is conflicted: sources disagree on both the threshold and comparison direction. The nine-kill value is consistent with the older wave model, but that agreement does not make either lineage official or independently verified.

Use the Gold medals checklist to compare the reported requirements. Do not plan a run around the nine-kill, 260-second, or Triple Kill figures until the current result screen confirms them.

What to check in the current build

To learn which older mechanics still apply, capture one complete current-build run that shows:

• the build number and selected difficulty;
• every initial and later target spawn;
• the exact event that starts and stops the timer;
• Scout Plane and STAR effects in separate attempts;
• Emergency Move behaviour;
• the final result screen and every Medal threshold;
• whether all Gold Medals must be earned in one run.

Until then, use the map and triangulation guide for version-independent plotting methods and the calculator only as a labelled community estimate.

Sources and version note

• Steam global achievements — official mission and achievement names.
• Developer Counter-Battery discussion — Demo-era wave and Scout/STAR statements.
• Player discussion — community timer observations; not a site recording.
• Steam Gold data guide — current community Medal IDs and thresholds, not an official rules table.

Mechanics review updated August 20, 2026. Achievement names are official; historical mechanics remain Demo-era or conflicted, and exact timer and Gold boundaries still need current in-game confirmation.