Iron Blight Red Express: Under 2 Hours

For Red Express, plan a campaign finish in under two hours and aim for a run without deaths. The time requirement is community-documented. A September player report also links a successful Chapter 2 attempt to staying deathless. Prepare the mandatory tools, keep the three puzzle inputs handy, and leave weapon collection for a separate run.

Can you start from Chapter 2? Which difficulty?

Chapter 2 has reported successes, but a quick finish from chapter select is not a guaranteed unlock. In the original Steam discussion, one player reported no award on September 4. John Rod then reported success on September 6 and said dying prevented the unlock. This is useful troubleshooting evidence, rather than an official statement of the current achievement logic.

Your choice	Preparation
Full campaign	Rehearse the St. Toma escape before the Prasnova route below. This lets you test a continuous campaign start.
Chapter 2	Alma's guide, updated October 11 for Patch 1.05, uses a low difficulty. Practice the Prasnova route directly, with the start chapter and settings recorded.
Red Express plus Ironman	Learn the route first. Turning on Ironman adds a separate challenge; the player report about avoiding deaths does not establish that the Ironman modifier must be enabled.

For a first attempt, use the difficulty you can complete consistently. Hardcore belongs to the separate Blightbreaker achievement; the cited Red Express route does not require it.

A route card for each transition

Treat each row as an exit check: find your current landmark, complete the pickup or interaction, then move to the next row. The required-item chain follows Danyuv's campaign walkthrough; the route directions and combat preparation also draw on Alma's timed-run guide.

Where you are	Do this before leaving	Next destination
Village	Take the church Crowbar; collect the Air Filter on the residential route.	Supermarket warehouse
Supermarket	Use the Crowbar for access and take the Toolbox. Collect the district-gate key on the exit route.	Southern district and railway
Apartments	Fit the electrical component and set 2-1-3-1. Take the A.96 connector key, cross to Block B and collect its windowsill key.	Factory
Factory	Enter 45107, retrieve the finished Punch Card and use its reader. Collect the Blowtorch beyond the card door.	Construction via the railway
Construction	Collect the Belt, Gauge and fuel. Fuel the generator and finish the pump/valve interaction.	Workshops and Police Station
Police Station	Head left and downstairs from the main entrance. Select IV, enter 001101 and take the Boat Key from the leftmost cell.	Boat
Boat	Bring the Air Filter, Toolbox and Boat Key; complete the repair and departure.	Final story section

Keep the clock running after leaving Prasnova. The target is campaign completion. Follow the final story sequence rather than stopping your attempt at the boat transition.

Three places to save a return trip

Before the railway: Alma warns against driving right into the barrier and blocking the passage. Stop clear of it so you can dismount and continue. At the apartment crossing, use the A.96 and Block B directions instead of searching attachment rooms such as A.99.

Before leaving the factory: take the finished card out of the machine, then check the barrel for the Blowtorch after its door. The developer's route reply places the tool at the factory exit and confirms its use on metal blockades. Finding the boat earlier does not replace this progression tool.

Before returning to the boat: separate the construction job from the engine items. A completed pump route does not supply a forgotten Village Air Filter or supermarket Toolbox. Use the boat checklist while still near the missing item's district.

What to fight, carry and skip

• Prepare for the factory wave. Alma recommends collecting the arena ammunition before triggering the encounter. A route that bypasses street enemies still needs ammunition for the fights ahead.
• Deal with persistent runners before a tool interaction. Alma singles them out because they pursue and slow the player on a hit. Saving a few shots is a poor trade if you cannot operate the next door.
• Skip collection returns. The MP5 needs a separate Village visit with the Blowtorch; A.99 and the Police Station's upstairs sight are attachment stops. Leave them for Soviet Steel or Alpha Operator.
• Choose a working loadout during rehearsal. Keep ammunition and healing for it. Do not make inventory decisions for every optional weapon during the timed attempt.

Death, loading or a missing award: what to do next

What happened	Useful next action
You died and the game loaded a save	Continue to learn the remaining route if useful. For an unlock attempt, begin a fresh run without deaths; the September report makes another loaded run a weaker test.
You lost time looking for an item	Finish that segment in practice and record the missing pickup in your exit check. Running the same route faster will not fix a missing key.
You finished under two hours without an award	Record start chapter, difficulty, modifiers, deaths/reloads, build and completion result. If you used Chapter 2, test a continuous campaign start after checking those variables.
An older guide tells you to quickload in Prasnova	Use the current menu's supported saves. The October 17 update removed accidentally enabled quick save/load there.

Use an external stopwatch including menus and loads for practice. Record your own apartment, factory and station exit times; subtract elapsed time from 120 minutes and compare the remaining route with your rehearsals. This avoids assuming that pauses or reloads reduce the internal counter. Leave a margin for the ending and mistakes rather than aiming to finish exactly at two hours.

Sources and version checks

Reviewed October 21, 2026 against the original guides, September 4–6 player discussion and October 17 developer announcement. That update also closes the Epilogue log escape, so practice the intended exit. The route card and restart decisions are this wiki's planning aid. Current-build Chapter 2 eligibility, death/reload handling and the internal timer have not been independently tested; no current-build unlock or measured speedrun is claimed.