Barbedwire Studios and Digitalmindsoft released Gates of Hell: Ostfront on 11 June 2021, covering the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 with more than 250 vehicles and 100 heavy weapons. Armour is modelled plate by plate with real thicknesses and angles, so an 85mm round can bounce off a Tiger's mantlet, kill the loader without setting the tank on fire, or cook off the ammunition depending on exactly where it lands. You can command it as a top-down real-time strategy game or take direct control of one rifleman or one tank gunner at any moment.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Build | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | The Siege of Sevastopol | Plate by plate armour penetration basics | Soviet Union | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Pavlov's House | Direct control of any unit mastery | Soviet Union | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | The Citadel | Individual crew and seat swapping + gear | Germany or Soviet Union | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Clash at Narva | Build optimization | Germany | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | The Koenigsberg Cauldron | Min-max | Germany or Britain and Commonwealth (Finest Hour) | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (The Siege of Sevastopol)
The German campaign's Crimean siege, built around fortified positions and heavy guns rather than manoeuvre. Progress comes from reducing strongpoints one at a time with artillery and engineers instead of driving armour forward.
Level/Difficulty: German Ostfront campaign, 1942 Key Rewards: Siege artillery practice, fortification-breaking tactics
What to Do in The Siege of Sevastopol
- Learn Plate by plate armour penetration. Every vehicle carries its historical armour layout and every shell its historical performance, so range, angle and shell type decide the outcome rather than a hitpoint bar. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Soviet Union as your starting build. See our builds guide for why.
- Angle your hull before you fire, not after. The armour model uses real thickness and impact angle, so a Panzer IV sitting at roughly 30 degrees to an incoming shot presents far more effective plate than one facing square, and that difference decides whether a 76mm round penetrates.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade: T-34/85 or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Plate by plate armour penetration fundamentals
- Soviet Union selected and functional
- The Siege of Sevastopol main content cleared
- Ready for Pavlov's House
Phase 2: Early Game (Pavlov's House)
The Soviet Za Rodinu campaign's Stalingrad set piece, defending a single fortified building against repeated assaults. It is the clearest demonstration of why soldier inventory management matters, because you will run out of ammunition before you run out of attackers.
Level/Difficulty: Soviet Za Rodinu campaign, 1942 Key Rewards: Urban defence, looting and resupply under pressure
What to Do in Pavlov's House
- Work on Direct control of any unit. Pressing the direct control key drops you into first or third person on any selected soldier, gun crew or vehicle, where you aim manually and lead moving targets yourself. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for T-34/85 if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Take direct control of anti-tank guns. The automatic gunner will pass on shots it calculates as unlikely, but a human can aim at a specific weak point such as a turret ring, a driver's port or the thinner side hull, which turns a refused shot into a kill.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to The Citadel.
- Consider whether Germany might suit your playstyle better than Soviet Union.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Direct control of any unit integrated into gameplay
- T-34/85 acquired
- Pavlov's House fully cleared
- Ready for The Citadel
Phase 3: Mid Game (The Citadel)
Kursk, and the largest armour engagement in either base campaign. Open ground means gun range and first-shot accuracy decide it, and this is where the difference between AP and APCR loadouts stops being academic.
Level/Difficulty: Soviet Za Rodinu campaign, 1943 Key Rewards: Large-scale tank engagement, ammunition selection practice
What to Do in The Citadel
- Master Individual crew and seat swapping. Tanks carry modelled commander, gunner, driver, loader and hull gunner positions, and a penetration only kills the crew sitting where the round landed. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Tiger I. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- Assign one soldier per squad as an ammunition mule and keep him at the back. Machine guns burn belts at a rate that will empty a squad's supply in minutes, and a pinned squad that cannot shoot back loses its position regardless of how good its position was.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Soldier inventories and looting for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Individual crew and seat swapping mastered
- Tiger I acquired or in progress
- The Citadel fully cleared
- Ready for Clash at Narva
Phase 4: Late Game (Clash at Narva)
The 1944 fighting on the Estonian border, fought across narrow approaches and prepared defences. Mines, anti-tank guns and dug-in infantry matter more here than any single vehicle you can field.
Level/Difficulty: German Ostfront campaign, 1944 Key Rewards: Defensive line construction, minefield placement
What to Do in Clash at Narva
- Finalize your build. You should be running Germany or Soviet Union with optimized gear.
- Tiger I should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Loot everything. Bodies, wrecked vehicles and supply crates all hold usable weapons and magazines, and a Soviet squad that picks up German MP 40s in a building fight is objectively better armed than it was when it started the mission.
- Dynamic Campaign unit persistence optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into The Koenigsberg Cauldron.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Tiger I upgraded to max
- Clash at Narva fully cleared
- Ready for The Koenigsberg Cauldron
Phase 5: Endgame (The Koenigsberg Cauldron)
The Soviet campaign's late-war urban assault on East Prussia, with the Red Army pressing into a fortified city. Assault guns, engineers and flamethrowers do the work that open-field armour cannot.
Level/Difficulty: Soviet Za Rodinu campaign, 1945 Key Rewards: Combined urban assault, engineer and demolition play
What to Do in The Koenigsberg Cauldron
- The Koenigsberg Cauldron tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Dig foxholes before contact, not during. Infantry in prepared positions survive artillery and machine gun fire that would wipe them in the open, and the engineering time is only available before the enemy arrives.
- The endgame loop: run The Koenigsberg Cauldron, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Britain and Commonwealth (Finest Hour) for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Dynamic Campaign unit persistence mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- The Koenigsberg Cauldron fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Driving a Tiger straight at a T-34/85 at close range because the armour looks better on paper. The Tiger's plates are flat and its turret traverse is slow, so a pair of medium tanks that get to its sides will kill it.
- Playing entirely in top-down view. The automatic gunner declines difficult shots and will not aim at weak points, so leaving anti-tank guns and tank destroyers on auto throws away most of their value.
- Advancing infantry across open ground without smoke or suppression. Machine guns pin a squad within seconds and pinned infantry in the open take casualties until they break.
- Never checking soldier inventories, then wondering why a squad stopped firing. Ammunition is finite per soldier and the game will not top it up for you.
- Treating Dynamic Campaign losses as free. Squads and vehicles carry over between battles, so winning an objective at the cost of your veteran armour leaves you weaker for the next three engagements.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Angle your hull before you fire, not after. The armour model uses real thickness and impact angle, so a Panzer IV sitting at roughly 30 degrees to an incoming shot presents far more effective plate than one facing square, and that difference decides whether a 76mm round penetrates.
- Take direct control of anti-tank guns. The automatic gunner will pass on shots it calculates as unlikely, but a human can aim at a specific weak point such as a turret ring, a driver's port or the thinner side hull, which turns a refused shot into a kill.
- Assign one soldier per squad as an ammunition mule and keep him at the back. Machine guns burn belts at a rate that will empty a squad's supply in minutes, and a pinned squad that cannot shoot back loses its position regardless of how good its position was.
- Loot everything. Bodies, wrecked vehicles and supply crates all hold usable weapons and magazines, and a Soviet squad that picks up German MP 40s in a building fight is objectively better armed than it was when it started the mission.
- Dig foxholes before contact, not during. Infantry in prepared positions survive artillery and machine gun fire that would wipe them in the open, and the engineering time is only available before the enemy arrives.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Guides
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Overview
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Best Builds
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Tier List
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Beginner's Guide
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Tips & Tricks
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Weapons Guide
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Combat Guide
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Boss Guide
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Maps & Locations
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Crafting Guide
- Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront Classes & Characters
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