“ When I landed a gig at United Ironworks, I thought I was set. Medical, dental, the works. Four days later, Green Poison killed my insurance, then my parents. Some of the crew set up camp in the foundry, and we decided to keep the lights on and reconfigure the machines to make emergency survival stuff. Try to help people, you know? I guess the True Sons didn't like that. They killed most of us before I even knew what was happening. Apparently, they don't think I'm much of a threat, but I've been keeping my eyes and ears open, and I swear to God I'm going to find a way to make them pay. - Z”
Operation Iron Horse is a Raid in Tom Clancy's The Division 2. It is the game's second Raid, following Operation Dark Hours, and was released on June 30, 2020. A Discovery Mode version of the Raid was later released on July 7, 2020. Players must reach Level 40 to access the Raid.
Responding to a call from worker Zach Young, the Strategic Homeland Division is tasked with retaking a United Ironworks foundry occupied by the True Sons and disabling the Iron Horse, a massive railway cannon that could threaten the White House itself.
Objectives[]
Investigate the foundry
- Reach the foundry
- Secure the rail-yard
- Find a way into the foundry
- Defeat Lieutenant Gray
- Secure the rail-yard
- Investigate the foundry
- Survive the furnace room
- Reach the forge
- Investigate the forge interior
- Investigate the area
- Defeat Captain Fieser
- Secure the area
- Search for Colonel Morozova
- Traverse the aqueduct
- Deal with the snipers
- Locate Colonel Morozova
- Enter the furnace room
- Prevent furnace explosion
- Defeat Major Williams
- Secure the area
- Pursue Morozova
- Prevent Morozova from escaping on the armored train
- Reach the train crash site
- Defeat Morozova and her armored train
Plot[]
In the aftermath of General Ridgeway's demise in Capitol Hill and the Division focusing on other threats, the True Sons used this distraction to plan a counter assault. A platoon led by Colonel Morozova took over the United Ironworks Facility set in the edge of DC's limits, using the workers as disposable labor and executing them when no longer needed. However, what they didn't know was that a worker named Zach Young was keeping his eyes and ears open and planned his revenge against the True Sons.
Following the conquest of the Foundry by Colonel Morozova's platoon, Z kept a low profile until he found an open radio channel through which he contacted the White House, alerting Alani Kelso about the True Sons' activities at the Foundry. It is here when The Division discovered about the True Sons' usage of the Ironclad system (a chemical compound that emulates the Bonus armor that players can sometimes use).
Right at the beginning, after players defeat Lieutenant Gray, Z helps The Division with Intel on the train, and tried to guide them through the bulwark and all the path to the furnace, but got killed by Morozova before he can help agents shut down the Furnace, making it slowly build up dangerous pressure and sending Morozova rushing towards the Iron Horse, a giant weaponized train coated with metal from the foundry equipped with a giant cannon christened, "The Earthshaker", and several mortars and defense systems.
Right at the last second, players manage to derail the Iron Horse, leading to The Division facing off against Morozova and utilizing the True Sons' automated turrets to destroy the train and subsequently kill Morozova and destroy the Earthshaker.
Other Media[]
XDefiant[]
- Operation Iron Horse is the inspiration for the Progression Map Meltdown in XDefiant. The map is set in the United Ironworks foundry, including the forge, the furnace (which is decorated with various memorabilia for the Admiral Burger restaurant chain), and an outdoor marshalling yard covered in snow.
Trivia[]
- Operation Iron Horse was initially planned to launch with Episode 2, 'Pentagon: The Last Castle', on October 15, 2019, but was delayed until June 30, 2020. This was meant to improve the quality of the Raid, following complaints about the difficulty of Operation Dark Hours, especially on consoles.
- As part of Operation Iron Horse's release, Massive Entertainment hosted a competition for the first teams to complete the Raid on each platform (PS4, XBox One, and PC). The winners' names and characters were framed inside each respective platform's Base of Operations.