Iron Marines+ Ancient Artifact Guide: Activating the Giant Mech

To clear the Ancient Artifact mission in Iron Marines+, secure the central plaza around the dormant mech before retrieving power cells, keep your frontline squads at natural bottlenecks, and advance behind the activated automaton during the final push.

Secure the Central Plaza First

Do not push into the outer ruins at the start of the mission. Rushing outward splits your squad cap and leaves the central machine vulnerable to roaming enemy strike teams.

1. Anchor the plaza perimeter: Position your initial forces at the corridors leading directly into the dormant mech’s platform.
2. Set up choke-point defense: Place heavy blockers at narrow entry paths where incoming raiding waves naturally bottleneck.
3. Deploy support structures: Have combat engineers place automated turrets at secondary access routes to eliminate stray infiltrators without pulling your main army out of position.
4. Scout the extraction routes: Once the central area is stable, send a dedicated squad to clear nearby hostile nests and dormant defense turrets along the first power module's route.

Squad Composition and Unit Roles

Enemy waves in this stage combine heavily armored sentinels with swarms of fast melee attackers. Balance your force so your frontline can absorb melee rushes while backline units pierce armored targets.

Spread ranged squads along elevated ledges to preserve sightlines and prevent enemy bombardment units from damaging multiple squads at once.

Managing Wave Defense

Defensive waves spawn at timed intervals and intensify immediately whenever an energy cell is slotted into the machine.

• Hold outer choke points: Fight just outside the platform entrance rather than standing directly on the objective. Funneling attackers through narrow passes maximizes splash damage from hero abilities and orbital drops.
• Interrupt channel attacks: Save hero crowd-control skills and single-target burst abilities for elite siege units. Stun them as soon as they begin channeling high-damage attacks against your frontline shields.
• Avoid clustering: Stacking your units in one central cluster exposes your army to devastating area-of-effect artillery strikes.

How to Escort Power Cells Safely

Picking up an artifact core significantly slows the carrier unit and triggers immediate ambush waves along the transit route. Use a structured escort formation to prevent dropping the core in transit:

1. Clear the return path in advance: Destroy all hostile spawners and dormant hazards along the extraction route before picking up the core.
2. Form an escort box: Move your hero and heavy armor units ahead of the carrier to draw enemy aggro, while ranged damage dealers trail close behind to clear pursuers.
3. Leapfrog defenses: Drop barrier shields or temporary defensive drones along the route to absorb sudden ambush spikes.
4. Control elite blockers: If an elite enemy cuts off the return route, use crowd-control skills to freeze or stun it while your carrier bypasses the engagement zone toward the central socket.

Push Behind the Activated Mech

Slotting the final artifact core activates the giant combat automaton. The mech operates as a heavy mobile artillery platform capable of leveling fortified enemy bases, but it lacks close-range defense against swarms.

Advance your remaining strike team directly in the mech's wake. Position standard infantry and fast walkers around its base to screen against rapid melee units trying to slip under its minimum firing range. Direct your hero and targeted abilities at enemy defense towers and production structures while the mech destroys the main fortifications, securing the final base clear.