Call of Duty 2/Crossing The Rhine

The Crossing Point

 * Vollendor
 * 25 March 1945
 * Difficulty: 8/10

Crossing The Banks
This mission may be shorter than the rest, but because it is the last it's on par with Hill 400 difficulty wise. Despite the film mentioning a bridge, luckily you have already crossed the bridge and you start the mission at the hands of a mounted gun in a landing vehicle. Like many other missions the enemy will be firing at you as soon as you see the battlefield - but you shouldn't die because they are quite far away. If you can, try killing the machine gunner in the window of the building opposite before leaving the vehicle. Once you have left the vehicle crouch down and go to the left. You must leave the vehicle as it will blow up and if you're anywhere near it then it'll kill you too. There are a few tree stumps and branches to the left of the vehicle so hide behind them.

With your M1 Garand you should see some Germans taking up position with some MG42's just left of the large house. Keep picking them off, Germans should replace the ones you kill, but after you've killed about four there should be no reinforcements.

The Big Guns
1. Send in a smoke grenade and run towards the wall that you where shooting at. If you run slightly to the left you should be at a path leading up to the courtyard where the MG42's where. There could be a few Germans left round the corner so approach with caution. There could also be a few in the house.

2. When you go through a few rooms in the house and reach the other side, they'll be another 88 gun crew. This is even easier though and there should be little resistance. Make sure you pick off the men you can see whilst in the house. Then when it seems that everything is all clear make your way to the barrels on the right, a few of your troops might follow you. Then once again check and see if you can see anyone. Then move behind the crates to the left, all your squad will follow you, and they should kill the last remaining men if there are any.

3. You should of seen a street turn off left just before the second gunning squad. Go down there next but be aware that there are many Germans there. You'll just have to fend them off and keep crawling forward going from one place of cover to another. If you stay on the right side you should see a house to the left. You will need to go in there as you'll get killed if you carry on forward. Run across the road into the house. You could use a smoke grenade to get past but as you're already down to three it's not hugely necessary. The first room of the house is clear but the second will open up to the third and in the third they'll be two German soldiers. Take them out and it's all clear for now as you'll reach a checkpoint. Now for the hardest part in the whole mission, hide behind the table to the left you'll see German troops moving into position. Try and shoot as many as you can but make sure you get the one on the corner who keeps shooting at you. Then throw a smoke grenade forward so that it covers up the route straight ahead. Jump out the house and turn left, there is very little cover here but you'll have to find some. Be prepared for anything and let your squad do the work here. If you manage to crawl forward (always crawl when you need to move around here) you'll hear a lot of activity and gunfire. There'll be around 30-40 Germans in this square and if you keep edging forward your squad should hopefully follow you. For minutes now you'll probably watch your troops get killed and keep respawning. If it all goes quiet then slowly start to crouch and then see if there are any other Germans. You should now see a path straight on, and a path to the right. Take the path to the right and they'll be another squad of gunners, the same one's who where firing at you whilst in the house. There shouldn't be too many there and if you stay near the crates on the left side your platoon should do most of the work. So that'll be three down and two to go.

4. They'll be a house that you can go in near the AA gun. Enter that and you'll see another road, and yes you'll need to get to the end of that too and they'll be another squad of Germans firing at you from the end. Theres no real strategy to this, you'll just have to use every obstacle to hide behind and keep pushing forward. As you get to the end there shouldn't be anymore Germans so you're pretty safe. When you're ready, jump over the wall and run towards the gravestone on the left. At this point they'll be more Germans firing at you from the opposite end of the graveyard and your teammates will help you out here by charging forward at them. Keep to the left and you'll eventually be right up against the church, this is the perfect shooting spot so take the remaining troops out. There won't be any nasty surprises here so when you think its' all clear then carry on.

5. When you get to the main gun you'll see, if you face west, the Nazi HQ. Luckily for you there aren't many Germans in there as most of them will be facing the HQ opposite it waiting for you to come round the corner. Run forward whilst crouching behind the church wall and you'll see for yourself. Once the nearer troops have been killed make your way to the church door and stay there. Then you'll see another wall to the left of you, hide behind that and start firing. All your squad should be behind this wall with you and they'll help you out. They'll be an MG42 in the middle of the road as well as some Germans shooting at you from the windows. Make sure there's nobody on the MG42 and that theres novody in the street and sprint to the left and hide behind the house. They'll be a door here and your squad will follow you into the house. They'll be a few Germans here but nothing you can't take care of. If you get to the top floor you'll notice that theres a through entrance to the house opposite. Go through there and you'll reach a checkpoint. You'll see a square and this'll be the area for all the final objectives. The last gunning squad are opposite you. Go out left and hide around the stone walls. Keep going left until you get to the corner. Then just keep looking out along the road and keep firing at the enemy. If you stay in that corner of the square then eventually it'll be objective complete.

Two Tigers
But before you can congratulate yourself on completing the game, almost instantly two tanks will appear from opposite sides of the square and you'll be ask to blow them both up. Having two tanks in one square is hard enough but if you stayed in the same place - behind the wall in the corner of the square - then one should be right next to you. Quickly attach the charge to it and run down the road (going out of the square) where the tank had come from and hide down there. But there should be two Germans coming out from the hole in the wall there and so you'll have to whip out your Thompson and shoot them both. You'll then hear the sweet sound of that tank being blown up. One tank down in less than 20 seconds! The other one is a little harder but thats because you wasn't right next to it when it drove into the square! As you come back into the square, where the gunning squad positioned themselves last objective, there should be some Germans there. Kill them and cross the road. Hide behind the wall and you should hear the tank moving. Gradually follow the wall whilst crawling and cross another entrance to the fountain and go behind another wall. Do the same again but this time check the coast is clear and hide behind the next wall so that you are facing the outside of the square. Your squad should follow you and there should be a large group of Germans that have positioned themselves in the house that you came out of in the last objective. Now, if any Germans come over the wall where the tank is, then kill them quick. The tank should now be coming in your direction, when you see the side of it then quickly come out from behind the wall, dart forward, plant the explosives and run back to the spot you where in behind the wall. They'll be more Germans coming out from behind the house now so fend them off for about 10 seconds and you should hear the last tank explode.

Capturing The Town
They'll now be one short task - capture the town of Vollendor. They'll be a few Germans come out from the wall near the German HQ. They'll only be about 7 of them so quickly kill them and go back to the churchyard to meet up with the rest of the squad. They'll be a short cut scene and that'll be the end of the mission and the end of the campaign mode! Be sure to watch the end movie!