IRON NEST Tactical Map, Bearings and Triangulation Guide

Quick map workflow

Identify who supplied each coordinate or bearing, plot that information from the named position, resolve the target candidate, then measure the final range and bearing from the current Iron Nest position. Keep source labels on every line and remeasure after either side moves.

Separate four different kinds of map information

• Nest position: the origin for the final gun-to-target measurement.
• Spotter or observer position: the origin for a bearing or distance that the report attributes to that observer.
• Reference point: a named landmark or temporary construction point used by the current order.
• Target candidate: your inferred intersection or area, not a confirmed fact until reports or reconnaissance support it.

How to use a bearing from a spotter

1. Write the spotter number beside the report.
2. Place the line from that spotter's current location.
3. Preserve the stated direction and avoid silently converting reference systems.
4. Use the second independent clue to select the plausible intersection.
5. Measure the final firing solution from the Nest, not from the spotter.

Triangulation and dead-reckoning checks

Two lines that almost meet can still produce a large downrange error when the observer location is only approximate. Treat a grid-square location as an area unless the game supplies a precise point.

If movement or incomplete reports force dead reckoning, label the estimated position and its uncertainty. Use reconnaissance, illumination or one readable correction to improve the estimate instead of presenting it as exact.

Marking tools and scout-plane evidence

Use map tools to preserve provenance: known positions, reported lines, measured solutions and observed impacts should not look identical in your notes. Reconnaissance images and scout-plane reports can confirm or reject a target candidate, but they do not make old geometry valid after relocation.

Map errors to check before recalculating

• The map still shows the previous mission's Nest position.
• A line starts from the Nest although the report says 'from spotter'.
• Reports from spotter 1 and spotter 2 were swapped.
• A grid-square center was treated as a precise observer point.
• The target moved after the first impact.
• The calculator received a remembered range instead of the current measurement.