Last War Meteoric Iron Contest: How to Mine and Plunder Bases

To maximize your score in the Last War Meteoric Iron Contest, gather iron from nearby field deposits using your lower-tier squads while keeping your strongest combat squad at home to defend your stockpiles or raid vulnerable enemy headquarters. Because squads moving toward resource nodes travel at slow mining march speeds, overextending across the event map leaves your base exposed to faster enemy attack marches.

Gathering Nodes vs. Base Plundering

The Meteoric Iron Contest revolves around securing meteoric iron through two methods: harvesting open-field resource deposits and besieging rival player bases to steal accumulated event resources.

Choosing between mining and plundering depends on your squad strength and current board state:

Approach	Primary Benefit	Operational Risk	Best Application
Field Node Mining	Predictable, steady resource income	Slow march speeds leave squads exposed during travel	Close-range nodes within secure alliance territory
Base Plundering	Instant, high-volume iron payouts per hit	Heavy troop losses against fortified garrisons	Scouting unshielded bases holding high unspent iron
Defensive Holding	Protects accumulated iron stockpiles	Commits combat squads to inactive base defense	High-threat zones with active enemy raiding parties

Field nodes provide steady accumulation without initiating direct base battles, but tiles eventually deplete and require redeployments. Direct base raids yield large, immediate payouts by siphoning iron from rival commanders, but attacking a fortified or reinforced garrison risks substantial troop casualties.

Managing the March Speed Penalty

Marching toward meteoric iron deposits uses standard resource-gathering movement speed rather than faster combat velocity. This reduction in travel speed extends transit times across the event map.

While a squad is crawling toward a distant node, it cannot assist in defending your headquarters. Hostile raiders can identify your absent combat power and launch high-speed assault marches against your base before your gathering squads can return.

To reduce vulnerability caused by slow march speeds:

Restrict your gathering radius: Target deposits located directly adjacent to your base or within your alliance's central territory.
Avoid long-distance field nodes: Marching across the contested zone wastes active event time and signals to scouting opponents that your base is undefended.
Watch incoming march lines: Base attacks move significantly faster than gathering marches. If an incoming attack appears, immediately recall mining squads to reinforce your wall garrison.

How to Scout and Plunder Enemy Bases

Plundering rival headquarters offers the fastest resource gains, provided you target overextended commanders rather than fortified strongholds.

Scout before striking: Inspect target bases to check both their stored meteoric iron reserves and current garrison defenses. Attacking a base that has already spent its iron yields no event progress while incurring troop losses.
Target commanders with active mining marches: Look for enemy bases that have dispatched multiple squads to distant field tiles. Because gathering units move at slow mining speed, the defender will not be able to recall their units in time to intercept your strike.
Extract and recall: Once your attack lands and resources are secured, immediately return your offensive squad to your headquarters to prevent retaliatory strikes from neighboring alliance members.

Recommended Squad Allocation

Deploying all squads to resource nodes leaves your base defenseless, while keeping all squads inside forfeits passive iron collection. Distribute your march slots into dedicated roles to balance resource generation with defense:

Squad 1 (Main Combat Power): Hold this squad inside your base as a permanent defensive garrison, or use it exclusively for quick, decisive plunder strikes against scouted targets.
Squad 2 (Secondary Combat Squad): Assign this squad to contest contested, high-yield nodes near your alliance borders where skirmishes are possible.
Squads 3 and 4 (Utility Harvesters): Send lower-tier squads strictly to low-risk, short-range nodes close to allied territory to maintain continuous iron income without risking your primary combat strength.