IRON NEST Spotter Bearing Guide: Aim from the Gun
Use spotter bearings to locate an IRON NEST target, then avoid the origin error by measuring the final range and bearing from the turret, not the observer.
LAST REVIEWED // 2026-08-11
Quick answer
A spotter bearing tells you which direction the target lies from the spotter. It does not tell the gun which direction to fire. Plot the spotter at the reported coordinate, draw the reported bearing from that spotter, use another observation to locate the target, and then measure a new bearing and range from the IRON NEST to the target.
Keep two lines separate
The complete data chain has two distinct stages:
spotter position → reported bearing → target intersection
IRON NEST position → located target → gun bearing and range
The first stage answers “where is the target?” The second answers “how should the turret aim?” Reusing the first bearing in the second stage treats the observer and gun as if they occupy the same coordinate.
Plot the observation
Place the spotter token using both the main grid and sub-grid printed in the current operation. Select the measurement tool and draw the bearing in the direction specified by the report. Add the second bearing, distance circle, or reference observation. The meeting point supplies the target position.
Mission information can change, so the coordinate and bearing shown in a video are examples only. Your operation printout is the input.
Generate the turret bearing
Once the target is placed, switch to the red tool and start at the IRON NEST token. End at the located target. This line gives the bearing and distance used by the ballistic calculator and gun controls.
Do not begin the red line at the last spotter merely because that token is already selected. In a Mission 2 recording, using the observer as the firing origin shifted the whole solution and required the target to be replotted from the gun.
Error checks
If the impact is far from the reported target, compare the origin of the firing line with the IRON NEST position. Then check the spotter sub-grid, bearing direction, and target intersection. Only after the map is sound should you change charge or elevation.
If the shot is close and the operation gives a yellow distance and direction correction, preserve the impact marker and apply that correction from the impact—not from the spotter. Rebuild the final gun-to-target line afterward.
Continue with triangulation for the intersection method or calculate elevation after the final range is known.