IRON NESTGuides

Mission state guide

Siege of Cartagena stopped giving orders — what do I do next?

Cartagena can look stalled because the next required state may not resemble the last order you remember receiving.

Quick answer

Work through the mission state: destroy the three concealed primary installations, clear the 8 additional enemy units, then sound the war horn to start the breakout. Answer breakout support calls such as SMK requests, and destroy the two Coastal Batteries if they remain active or alive before Cartagena can be called secure.

Check the current mission state

  1. State A — Primary installations still alive

    Solve the supplied chained field intelligence using bearings and distances from its observation references, then destroy the three primary installations. The structured mission data marks them as concealed from aerial photography, so do not expect Scout Plane alone to reveal them.

  2. State B — Primary targets destroyed

    The current structured mission-data extract gives the next objective as 8 additional enemy units. Clear that explicit post-primary requirement before treating the mission as ready for breakout.

  3. State C — Additional enemies cleared

    After the required additional enemy clear is complete, sound the war horn to start the breakout. Do not signal early; the structured mission data includes early-signal failure states while enemy positions remain manned.

  4. State D — Breakout underway

    Respond to friendly supporting-fire calls. The structured mission data includes SMK support requests during this phase; use the separate Smoke guide for the supported repositioning mechanic.

  5. State E — Coastal Batteries active or still alive

    Treat the two Coastal Batteries as a separate asynchronous threat. Their activation time is not fixed by this page. If they are active or alive and the mission will not complete, destroy them before Cartagena can be called secure.

Still stuck?

I destroyed the three primary targets and nothing is happening

Check whether the 8-additional-enemy objective is active or complete. The current structured mission-data extract directly gives 8 additional enemy units as the post-primary clear requirement.

When should I use the war horn?

After the required additional enemy clear is complete. Do not signal the breakout early.

I sounded the horn and failed

The structured mission data includes an early-signal failure state when enemy strength has not been sufficiently reduced. This page does not invent a hidden percentage or another enemy-count formula beyond the explicit 8-unit requirement.

Friendly units are asking for Smoke

Breakout support includes SMK requests. Use Smoke to reposition movable allied units as described in the related guide; do not infer unrelated Smoke effects from this mission request.

The mission still will not finish

Check whether either Coastal Battery is active or remains alive. Their activation can interleave with other mission states, so this page does not assign them a fixed place or time in the sequence.

Current-version note: the mission-state checklist comes from an independent structured archive. Coastal Battery activation timing remains unresolved, and exact live-build event interleaving or unusual bug behavior has not been independently human-tested.

Avoid these progression mistakes

  • Expecting Scout Plane alone to reveal the three concealed primary installations.
  • Sounding the war horn before completing the explicit 8-additional-enemy clear.
  • Assuming Coastal Batteries activate at one fixed point in a rigid mission order.
  • Using historical medal numbers or internal mission timers to diagnose a progression state.
Why Cartagena can look stalled

The independent structured mission-data archive directly documents the concealed-primary phase, the 8-additional-enemy clear, war-horn breakout signal, SMK support calls, Coastal Battery threat, and early-signal failure paths. This produces a useful state checklist without fixed coordinates or a rigid walkthrough. Current Steam discussion inventory establishes that players still encounter the no-orders problem; it does not independently prove the mission sequence.

Mission-state sequence documentedCurrent-build limitsChecked Aug 14, 2026

The mission-data extract directly documents the primary-target phase, 8-enemy clear requirement, breakout signal, Smoke-support phase, Coastal Battery threat, and early-signal failure states. Event ordering may interleave, and exact live-build timing is not independently verified.

Version context: Current structured game-data archive reviewed Aug 14; exact live-build behavior not independently human-tested

Still uncertain

  • Exact live build corresponding to the extracted mission data
  • Coastal Battery activation timing
  • Whether unusual event ordering or bugs can suppress a message
  • Whether every observed no-orders symptom has the same cause

Evidence and verification context

  • Current structured Siege of Cartagena mission data: Independent fan-run structured game-data extract covering mission communication and states. It directly records the three concealed primaries, 8-unit clear, war horn, breakout support, Coastal Batteries, and early-signal failures without establishing independent live-build testing.
  • Current Steam discussion inventory: Establishes current player demand only for the Cartagena no-orders problem; it is not used to derive the mission-state facts.