Quick Answer
How to beat Phantom Battery: use Emergency Relocate early, recover your exact position with Position Reports, load both barrels with AP and three charges each, and fire paired AP volleys at the Enemy Iron Nest. After the first volley, wait for the field report that the battery has relocated, call the prepared recon plane to reacquire it, recalibrate both barrels, and fire again. This is the developer-marked community route from the August 8 Steam discussion, not a guaranteed fixed script; confirm every position and result in your current run.
Mission Facts
| Field | Checked value |
|---|---|
| Mission number | 13 |
| Location | Unnamed Spanish port city |
| Initial funds | 200 requisition |
| Charge quota | 10 powder charges |
| Medal slots | 4 |
| Enemy summary | Enemy Iron Nest 1; Enemy Spotter 12 |
| Recommended ammunition | AP for the armored primary target |
Step-by-Step Route
- Confirm Phantom Battery as Mission 13 and record the current 200 requisition, 10-powder-charge allowance, one Enemy Iron Nest, and twelve Enemy Spotters before buying or firing anything.
- Follow the developer-marked community route by buying two AP shells for the left barrel and two for the right. Treat that purchase as the route's starting loadout, not as an official universal requirement.
- Call a recon plane on F1 without adjusting the bearing, then fix the engine. These are the opening preparation steps quoted in the developer-marked Steam answer.
- Use Emergency Relocate. After the move, use two or three Position Reports around the approximate location from the field report to recover your exact position.
- Load both barrels with AP and add three charges to each. Keep the target identity and available charge count visible before committing the paired shot.
- Search the current map view for the Phantom Battery. The community route says it should be recognizable after the opening recon; if the contact is not clear, do not spend the paired volley on a guess.
- Calibrate both barrels against the confirmed Enemy Iron Nest and fire them together. Read the result and the counter-battery state before issuing another movement or firing command.
- While the first pair is in flight, buy the extra charges needed for the follow-up and prepare another recon plane on F1 without calling it yet.
- Wait for the field report that the Phantom Battery has started moving and then for the report that it has relocated. The quoted route specifically uses those reports as the trigger for reacquisition.
- Call the prepared F1 recon plane after the relocation report. If the battery is not visible, the community route suggests checking E1 or G1 with additional recon rather than firing at an uncertain marker.
- Reacquire the Phantom Battery in its new position, recalibrate both barrels, and prepare the second paired AP volley.
- Fire the second calibrated pair, then verify the mission result in the live interface. Do not mark the battery destroyed merely because the planned shots landed.
- After the clear, compare the result with all four medal slots. Keep the completion achievement, Mirror Image, separate from Master Gunner, which requires gold on every Phantom Battery medal.
Detailed Walkthrough
Opening setup: recon, engine, and Emergency Relocate
Objective: Complete the developer-marked route's setup quickly enough to recover an exact firing position before committing AP.
The Steam topic's developer-marked answer quotes a veteran route that starts with four AP shells—two for each barrel—followed by an F1 recon plane, an engine repair, and Emergency Relocate. After the move, the route uses two or three Position Reports around the approximate field-report location to recover the exact position. This is a community route rather than an official guarantee, so results can vary with the current spawn and reconnaissance outcome. Mission 13 starts with 200 requisition, allows 10 powder charges, and contains one Enemy Iron Nest plus twelve Enemy Spotters. Record those values first, then use the live map and reports to decide whether the setup has actually produced a trustworthy firing solution.
Watch for
- Treating the quoted community route as a guaranteed script instead of checking the current spawn and reports.
- Using Emergency Relocate without recovering the new exact position before calibration.
- Spending requisition before reserving the AP and reconnaissance steps used by the route.
First paired AP volley
Objective: Turn the recovered position into two calibrated AP shots against the confirmed Enemy Iron Nest.
Once your position is fixed, the quoted route loads both barrels with AP and adds three charges to each. Confirm that the contact is the Enemy Iron Nest before calibration; the AP recommendation for the armored primary target does not identify the target for you. Calibrate both barrels, then fire them together. While the pair is in flight, the route buys the extra charges needed for the follow-up and prepares another F1 recon plane without calling it. This overlap is useful because the mission's pressure does not stop simply because the first shells are airborne. Do not turn the optimization into blind haste: read the counter-battery state, preserve the current charge count, and wait for the mission's movement reports instead of assuming the first pair ended the encounter.
Watch for
- Loading AP before confirming that the selected contact is the Enemy Iron Nest.
- Firing the barrels separately when the quoted route depends on a calibrated paired volley.
- Calling the follow-up recon before the relocation report makes reacquisition useful.
Reacquire the moving Phantom Battery
Objective: Use the relocation reports and prepared reconnaissance to build a second firing solution instead of repeating the old one.
The developer-marked route expects the Phantom Battery to move after the first paired hit. Wait for the field report that it has started moving and then for the report that it has relocated. Only then call the prepared F1 recon plane. If the new contact is not visible, the quoted route suggests additional reconnaissance around E1 or G1; it does not support firing into the old solution or treating an uncertain marker as the battery. Once the new position is identified, recalibrate both barrels and fire the second paired AP volley. Verify the outcome from the live mission interface. The Steam route expects this second pair to finish the target, but the current mission result—not the route alone—must confirm the kill.
Watch for
- Reusing the first firing solution after the field report says the battery relocated.
- Calling reconnaissance before the movement reports establish when reacquisition is needed.
- Presenting the second pair as a guaranteed kill instead of checking the current mission result.
Spotter timing and medal cleanup
Objective: Separate one community timing observation from the verified mission roster, then use a completed run as the baseline for four-medal improvement.
A participant in the same Steam discussion reports that the Phantom Battery can splash its own observers with HECHE, granting a 90-second extension, and argues that deliberately shooting observers can therefore be a trap. Treat that as community-documented advice, not an official or guaranteed mechanic: the current run must confirm whether an observer was resolved and whether the counter-battery clock changed. The mission roster contains twelve Enemy Spotters, so keep a tally even when the paired-AP route focuses first on the battery. After completion, review all four medal slots separately. Mirror Image identifies the Phantom Battery completion, while the official Steam achievement text associates Master Gunner with gold on every mission medal. Improve one observed weakness at a time without rewriting a successful clear around an unverified universal rule.
Watch for
- Presenting one player's HECHE splash and 90-second observation as an official guaranteed rule.
- Ignoring the twelve-spotter roster because the paired-AP route prioritizes the main battery.
- Treating mission completion and the all-gold achievement as the same outcome.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Do not treat the developer-marked community route as an official guaranteed script; confirm the current spawn, reports, and results.
- Do not spend the opening requisition without reserving the paired AP and reconnaissance steps used by the route.
- Do not calibrate from an approximate post-relocation position; recover the exact position with Position Reports first.
- Do not fire the paired AP volley at an uncertain contact merely because the counter-battery clock is running.
- Do not call the prepared follow-up recon before the field report says the Phantom Battery has relocated.
- Do not reuse the first firing solution after the battery moves.
- Do not present the HECHE observer splash or 90-second extension as guaranteed; it is a community observation from the Steam thread.
- Do not erase the twelve Enemy Spotters from the ledger even when the main route prioritizes the Enemy Iron Nest.
- Do not mark the battery destroyed until the live mission interface confirms the result.
- Do not treat Mirror Image and Master Gunner as the same outcome.
Achievements
Mirror Image
Hunt the Phantom Battery and complete the mission with the armored objective and spotter tally resolved.
Master Gunner
Earn gold on all medals in Phantom Battery by turning a stable clear into a polished, efficient run.
Run Checklist
- 01Confirm Phantom Battery as Mission 13 and record 200 requisition and 10 powder charges.
- 02Buy two AP shells for the left barrel and two for the right as the community route's opening loadout.
- 03Call the opening recon plane on F1 and fix the engine.
- 04Use Emergency Relocate.
- 05Recover the exact new position with two or three Position Reports.
- 06Load both barrels with AP and add three charges to each.
- 07Confirm the Enemy Iron Nest before calibrating both barrels.
- 08Fire the first paired AP volley.
- 09Prepare follow-up charges and an F1 recon plane while the shots are in flight.
- 10Wait for the field reports that the battery moved and relocated.
- 11Call recon, reacquire the battery, and rebuild the firing solution.
- 12Fire the second paired AP volley and verify the live result.
- 13Review the twelve-spotter ledger and all four medal slots without upgrading community observations into guaranteed rules.
