Raining Thunder is a Silver trophy on PlayStation and a 50 Gamerscore achievement on Xbox in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. You earn it during the bridge defense in Losing Ground, the fifth campaign mission, set in Hajin City, South Korea. The description reads “Kill 15 enemies with 3 mortar rounds in a row in ‘Losing Ground’,” and a lot of players misread it. You do not need 15 kills per shell. You need 15 kills total, spread across three consecutive shells.
Quick answer: Choose Recruit and take control of the truck mortar. Set range 3 and hit the group on the left, switch to range 2 to strike between the front cars on the right-side road, then use range 3 to land just behind those cars.
How the 15-kill count works
The game tracks a rolling window of three shells in a row. If those three add up to 15 kills, the trophy pops. A split like 3, 6, and 6 works just as well as three perfect five-kill hits.
- Any three back-to-back shells qualify, not only your first three. Shots 2, 3, and 4 count, and so do shots 7, 8, and 9.
- Mortar ammo is unlimited, so you can wait as long as you like for enemies to bunch up.
- You can play on any difficulty, but Recruit is the simplest option: you can take stray shots while waiting at the mortar.
- The window closes when you are forced off the mortar later in the sequence, so the kills have to happen before then.
Civilians pass through the areas your shells can hit. Striking a civilian or friendly fails the objective, so inspect the intended landing area before each shot.
Getting on the mortar in Losing Ground
Late in the mission, you move across the bridge with your squad, past stopped civilian cars and road flares. An enemy sniper kills the mortar gunner riding in the bed of a military truck. Once the sniper is down, Lt. West orders Park onto the tube. Climb into the back of the truck and use the X USE MORTAR prompt. The objective reads “Mount the Mortar Launcher.”
There is no landing marker. Instead, a range scale numbered 1 to 4 sits on the left side of the screen, with “AIM CLOSER” and “AIM FURTHER” cues. You judge distance by that number and by eye.
| Action | Xbox | PlayStation |
|---|---|---|
| Adjust range | LS / RS | Left Stick up/down |
| Rotate | RS | Right Stick left/right |
| Zoom | LT | L2 |
On Xbox, you fire with RT. The control hints stay on the HUD the whole time you are on the mortar.
Enemy waves arrive in a fixed order. The first group gathers on the left in front of a burning building on the hillside. The next wave comes up the road on the right, and later groups show up on nearby rooftops. Eventually, an armored BMP rolls toward the bridge. Destroying it triggers a helicopter that drops the bridge and pulls you off the mortar, so finish the trophy before you take out the BMP.
Raining Thunder route: left group, near right, far right
This route follows the first two waves in order and only uses ranges 2 and 3. Aim for at least five kills per shell. That gives you room for one slightly off hit.
Backup shot: the enemy troop truck
If the count falls short after round three, don’t restart yet. Shortly afterward, a truck full of enemies drives up the right-side road. Put your fourth shell on it. Because shots 2, 3, and 4 form their own consecutive set, a good truck hit can push that window past 15.
Alternative order: start with the transport truck
Some players ignore the opening left-side group and start the count on the right-side wave instead. The far-right street tends to be the most crowded part of the map, and a single shell on the stopped transport truck can cover a large share of the 15 kills by itself.
| Round | Target | When to fire |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transport truck, right-side road | After it stops |
| 2 | Rooftop group to the left | Once grouped |
| 3 | Parking lot, farther left | Once grouped |
When you work the right-side road, range 3 aimed at the car in the middle of the street reliably catches enemies as they cluster there. The same order of operations applies here. Wait for groups, then fire, because unlimited ammo means there is no penalty for patience.
How to confirm Raining Thunder unlocked
The notification lands within seconds of the qualifying shell, while you are still on the mortar. On Xbox, a “Rare Achievement unlocked” banner slides up from the bottom of the screen reading “50 – MW4 – Raining Thunder.” On PlayStation, you get the standard “Raining Thunder” Silver trophy pop with “Trophy earned!”
If the trophy has not appeared after the third shot, continue firing on newly gathered groups. Each shell begins a new three-shot attempt, giving you further chances until you destroy the BMP and the bridge collapses.
