Reconnaissance & Intelligence Guide — Star Shells, Recon Planes & Spotters

IRON NEST is won on the map, not at the trigger — and the map is only as good as your intelligence. Every engagement starts with pieces of information from different sources: spotters, star shells, recon planes, and teleprinter channels. This guide covers each intelligence asset, how to combine them, and how the weather station complicates everything from Chapter 3 on.

Intelligence Assets — Quick Reference

Asset	What It Gives You	Best Use
Spotter reports	Direction-only bearings with a margin of error	Triangulation — combine two or more spotters to fix a position
S.T.A.R. star shell	Illuminates a 12.74 km area, revealing hidden positions and accurate range/bearing	Night and fog missions; confirming suspected target clusters
Recon plane	Topography and map blanks filled in; lets you arc shells over ridges	Before a long-range engagement; fly along the target corridor, not broad unrelated terrain
Teleprinters	Written intel — orders, threat warnings, frontline developments	Every mission start; check every channel
Second-spotter confirmation	A confirmed second bearing to the same target	Before spending shells — dramatically improves accuracy

Spotter Reports — The Foundation

A single spotter report gives you a direction, not a position. The true target appears where multiple observer lines intersect — which is why map discipline matters. The workflow:

Place your known tokens first: the Iron Nest token, blue spotter tokens, green reference-point tokens.
Draw bearing lines from each spotter toward the reported direction.
Where the lines intersect is the estimated target location.
Mark it — yellow for spotting lines, red for the final firing solution.

Spotter data carries a margin of error. Treat intersections as strong estimates; confirm with a star shell or recon plane when the target matters.

Star Shells — Your Own Eyes at Night

The S.T.A.R. illumination shell is the most important recon asset in the game. When it detonates it lights up a 12.74 km area, revealing enemy positions and providing accurate distance and bearing data you can feed directly into the ballistic calculator. In night missions, star shells are effectively mandatory: they illuminate the grid square so spotters can give highly accurate updated vectors.

Skill tip: time the illumination shell so it's in the air while you're already loading the follow-up — the shell reveals, you solve, the kill shell lands while the area is still lit.

Recon Planes — Topography and Coverage

Recon plane runs fill in map blanks and reveal terrain, letting you adjust elevation to arc shells over ridges. The common mistake is photographing broad unrelated terrain — instead, aim the recon flight along the corridor you'll be shooting (e.g., ~90° east along a gorge) so the imagery matches your actual firing lane.

The Weather Station Module — Chapter 3 Onward

From Chapter 3, a Weather Station Module forces you to factor in environmental ballistics:

Crosswinds push shells off course — the effect varies by shell type: heavy projectiles cut through wind but drop aggressively (needing higher elevation), while light illumination rounds get blown significantly off target if you ignore wind.
Barometric pressure shifts the ballistic solution from what the calculator predicts.

This is where the MOA (Minute of Angle) micro-adjustment becomes essential. In mid-game missions, spotters also make errors and radio corrections like "Impact 100 meters short, 50 meters left" — instead of recalculating from scratch, apply rapid MOA dial adjustments to shift the pattern onto target. The arrow keys are your friend for precise corrections.

Intelligence Checklist Per Mission

[ ] Read every teleprinter channel (secondary channels carry threat warnings)
[ ] Plot the Iron Nest token position first — don't bump it; everything measures from it
[ ] Draw all spotter bearings before placing any firing solution
[ ] Check the weather — wind direction and strength change shell selection
[ ] Confirm with a second source before firing (spotter, star shell, or recon imagery)
[ ] Update the map as impacts land — "Impact 50 m north, 20 m west" corrections are faster than new solutions

Next steps: Turn confirmed intel into a firing solution with the Ballistic Calculator Guide, and learn to protect yourself from the counter-battery fire your reconnaissance activity attracts in the Counter-Battery & Survival Guide.

Reconnaissance & Intelligence Guide — Star Shells, Recon Planes & Spotters — Iron Nest Wiki