Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront

Field Manual

Revision 1.0 dd 09-2022

Index
Click on a subject to jump to it.

Minimum requirements and installation 3

Requirements 3
Installation 3

Menu Interface 4
General 4
Main menu 4
In-game menu 4
Message History/ In-game Chat 5
Mission Objectives 6
Single player 6
Playing the campaigns 6
Saving/Loading your game 7
Deleting a Save 7
Loading a save game 7
Conquest 8
Create Conquest 8
Preparation Menu 8
The reinforcements and support window 9
The reserves window 10
The active army window 10
The bottom half 11
Multiplayer 11
Hosting 12
Lobby 12
Slots 12
Order of Battle 12
Custom settings 13

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 Advanced Settings 13

Options 13
Video 13
Audio 14
Game 14
Controls 14

Game interface 15
Mini-map Legend 16

Controls 17
Basic controls 17
Basic actions/ Control panel 18
Control panel sub- menus 20
Exchange Menu 23
General Menu 23
Squad controls 24
Soldier and squad stances 24
Items and inventory 24
Other commands 25
Direct Control 25
First person view 26
Minimap controls 27
Camera Controls 27

Gameplay 27

Game modes 28
Battle zones 28
Domination 28
Conquest 28
Skirmish 29

Troubleshooting 30

Links 30
CtA - GoH On Steam 30
CtA - GoH On social media 31

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Minimum requirements and installation

Requirements

MINIMUM:
OS: 64bit - Windows 7, 8, 10, 11
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: GTX 1050 / RX 550
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 30 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 11 compatible

RECOMMENDED:
OS: 64bit - Windows 10
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: GTX 1070 / RX 580
DirectX: Version 12
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 30 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 12 compatible

Installation
Call to Arms - Gates of Hell is available on Steam only.
After purchase, you can install Call to Arms - Gates of Hell in your Steam library.
To run the game, there is no need to install Call to Arms. Owning it is sufficient.

This product does not support Windows 95/98/ME/2000/ NT/XP, Linux or Mac OS.

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Menu Interface

General

Main menu

Home - Brings the player to the home screen

Singleplayer - Brings the player to the campaign and conquest selection
Multiplayer - Brings the player to online and skirmish selection
Extras - Allows the player to view the current mod list and the unit library
Options- Manipulate the game settings and control schemes
Exit- Close the program

In-game menu
You can access the in game menu by pressing ESC or selecting the lines icon on the
main interface. Opening the menu will pause the game in editor and single-player only.
(Note: To pause the game in Conquest or Multiplayer, use the PAUSE key on your
keyboard.)

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 ● Back: Returns to game
● Save: Allows you to save progress in the campaign
● Load: Loads a previous save
● Restart: Restarts the current mission
● Options: Opens a list of game settings
● Exit: Returns you to the Main Menu

Message History/ In-game Chat

All dialogue from a match - and other important messages - are stored in the message
history. You can view older messages by pressing the H key. Clicking the chat icon in the
exchange menu will bring up the in-game chat, use this function to communicate with your
teammates in multiplayer sessions.

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Mission Objectives
You can view current mission objectives by pressing the O key.

Completed objectives are marked with a checkmark;

failed objectives are marked with an X. If an objective is marked with a pointer icon, it
means that you can visit the linked map area by clicking it.

Single player

Playing the campaigns

The single player campaigns can be found under “Singleplayer” in the main menu. It offers
a campaign for each faction, and a basic training campaign.
To start one, select it in the singleplayer menu and click on the first mission.
When you achieve all objectives, the mission ends and the UI will offer a choice between
“continue” and “next. If you click continue, you remain in the mission. If you select “next”,
you will proceed to the next mission(s), until the last mission is completed. When the last
mission ends, there is no “next” button.

The first campaign is a training campaign, it will be completed after 3 missions and you
will not see a “next” button. If you want to play another mission or campaign, press “esc”
and “exit'' to go back to the campaign menu and select another campaign.

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Saving/Loading your game

To save the current game, open the game menu and select the Save option.
Enter a name for your save and click the Save button.
(Please note that save games might break if you add mods or update the game to a newer
version.)

Deleting a Save
To delete a previously saved game, open the Game Menu and select the Save or Load
option and press the delete button.

Loading a save game

Open the Load menu, select the save you wish to load and press the load button.

(Note: The GAME INFO section will list the game version the mission was saved on,
previous mods loaded in the game, and the current campaign mission.)

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Conquest

Create Conquest

When creating a conquest the player is given the opportunity to

● Name the Campaign
● Choose the difficulty
● Set the length of the campaign
● And to turn fog of war off, or leave it on

Difficulty - The overall difficulty of the campaign

Campaign Size - Determines how many battlefields the campaign will contain

Preparation Menu

After creating a conquest and before each battle, you will see the preparation menu.

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The reinforcements and support window

At the top-right of this window you see three numbers, from left to right, those are:
● Your Resources, which are used to buy units
● Your Support-Points, with which you can buy airstrikes (after researching this
ability)
● Your Research-Points, which are used in the research tab.

Then you have the unit portraits. The lock indicates that you first need to research the unit
before you can buy it.
The number in front of the name indicates the unit-tier of squads.
The helmet symbol at the bottom of the portrait tells you the command-points (CP) this
unit requires to take it into the battle. The number next to the ressource symbol is the
price.

A single click of portraits will provide you with more infos.

To buy the unit either select it and click “Recruit” or double click the portrait or drag it into
the reserves window.

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The reserves window

This window will show you all your units. The 2 numbers at the top right are the amount of
ammunition-points you have and the CP limit of your active army.

At the bottom right you have the option to resupply all of your units' ammo and replace
killed soldiers. On the left you can resupply just the selected unit or dismiss/sell it.

The active army window

At the top left of this window you can switch between the call-in-stages. You can unlock
more stages in the research tree. The current CP and CP-limit of each stage is displayed in
the top right.

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The bottom half

At the bottom half you can access the research tree, save your game and more.
Click on “Singleplayer” to change from singleplayer to cooperative mode, other players can
then find your lobby in the multiplayer lobby list.

To start the match, press “SELECT CAMPAIGN”, confirm your choice and afterwards click on
“START”.

The Battle location tells you on what map the next match is taking place on. The symbol
next to it lets you know if your task is to defend the capture points, or to attack them.

Multiplayer
Clicking on “Multiplayer” in the main menu will bring you to the multiplayer lobby list.

Here you have several options: you can host games, turn on/off filters or refresh the list,
by clicking the corresponding buttons.
To join a game simply double-click on one of the listed lobbies.

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Hosting

After you click “hosting”, the hosting screen will appear.

On the right you can choose the game modes “Battle Zone”, “Domination” and
“Cooperative”. In this window you can also select a map, change the number of players
that can join your game and set a password. After you are done click “create”.

Lobby

Before the battle starts you can choose and alter many things.

Slots
Right click on a slot to manage, e.g. kick players, put in AI, reserve a slot and more.
A reserved slot is open to anyone on your Steam friends list.

Order of Battle
Army Selection Mode & Team A/B - lets you alter the team compositions
Game Settings - allows you to enable the test mode or opens custom options

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War Stage - lets you choose the war period
Doctrine - select a doctrine that suits your playstyle
Defeat at zero points - if enabled, a team that has 0 points loses instantly
Mission Option - sets environment: random/ night/ daytime
Direct Control - host determines which Direct Control options are set
Preparation Time - Sets the duration of the in- game pause before a match

“Advanced” will give you even more options, and results show post- match data.

Custom settings
Unit Timer Factor - multiplier of the unit-unlock time
Resource Setting - Lets you set the amount of CP
Total Manpower - MP is the resource used to buy units

Advanced Settings
Victory Points to win - Number of victory points you need to win
Fog of War - Fog of War “off” means everyone can see everything
Friendly Fire - Damage from friendly fire can be switched off

Options
To go to the options screen, select “Options” in the main menu. You will see this screen,
which gives access to 4 options categories.

Video
Texture quality. If you have performance issues, try to lower these settings. For better
results, change screen resolution, colour depth and texture quality proportionally.

For Microsoft Windows 11 users, it is advised to disable HDR.

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Audio
Sound system configuration. Here you can manage the different volumes, the sampling
rate and other sound-related values. Set “Use system settings” for maximum compatibility.

Game
General options. Here you find options regarding subtitles, camera speed, autosave and
more.

Controls
Key binds / key assignments. For information on their use, see “Actions”.

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Game interface
Main Screen. This is your 3D view of the environment.

1. Minimap. Shows you the location of your own units, and that of allied and enemy
units.
See the “Mini-map Legend” header for icon explanation.

2. Squad panel. Displays buttons for quick squad selection.

3. Unit info. Shows the selected unit’s portrait, the information for the unit, and its
weapons.

4. Action bar/ Squad Control panel. Shows icons of the soldiers in the selected squad
and your hotkeys.

5. Control panel. Displays buttons for quick commands to give to the selected squad.
You can add buttons from this menu to the control panel by right- clicking and
dragging the icon to the panel.

6. Command panel. Menu for reinforcement call- ins and resources.

7. Exchange menu. Hand units to other players or check data.

8. Timekeeping and scores. (Online play and skirmish only).

9. General menu. Set highlights, silhouettes and view chat history

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Mini-map Legend

1. Infantry
2. Emplacement
3. Light Tank
4. Medium Tank
5. Heavy Tank
6. Tank destroyer
7. Self-Propelled Gun
8. Car/Truck or other vehicle
9. Mission Objective or pointer of interest
10.Alert of movement of troops
11.Secondary objective or mission side-quest
12.Indication of approximate artillery firing location (warning)

The colour of symbols and zones show under whose control they are.

● Blue = You
● Green = Friendly
● White = Neutral
● Red = Enemy

There is additional visual information in the minimap.

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 ● Projectiles fired are animated as orange tracers.
● Mission capture zones and waypoints will be displayed as thin white lines.
● Capture zones change from white to red or green when captured, the color
depending on which team is capturing.

The minimap contains a very effective and compact display of what goes on in the
battlefield, and should be checked often. The minimap can be shrunk or expanded to suit
the screen size, as described in “Minimap controls”.

Controls

Basic controls

● Left click and drag on the screen to form a selection box over the desired units, this
will bring up additional UI elements for unit control; Players can additionally use the
circular selection method by pressing (L).
● Right click on the terrain to order your units forward. Double right click will make
infantry-units sprint. When soldiers sprint, they will ignore all threats!
● Hovering over terrain elements such as trenches or flora will show the player options
for cover for infantry.
● Holding right click and dragging will allow you to spread your infantry units and have
them keep separation when on the move.
● Holding right click and dragging on cover will allow you to spread your infantry units
out to surrounding cover automatically.

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 ● The menu on the bottom right is for firing modes, movement modes, but also for
build-options, engine control and special commands.
● On the bottom centre you find your hotbar. To add commands to the hotbar, right
click on the respective button in the bottom right menu, and drag it, while holding
right click, into a hotbar slot. If you want to delete commands from the hotbar, you
can drag them out just in the same way.

← Clicking on the unit portrait will centre the camera on the selected unit(s)

Basic actions/ Control panel

The control panel is located at the right bottom corner of your screen.
The table below lists the actions that can be used by either clicking the control panel,
or using the associated shortcuts.
You can right-click + drag icons from the control panel to the action bar (which is item 4 of
the game interface). Some of these control keys are present in the action bar by default.

Action Keybind UI Icon

Cancel F

Unload Crew G

Rotate R

Switch ammo Space no icon

Firing Modes:

Fire at will
Hold fire
Return fire

Movement Modes:

Hold position
Move at will

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Change Stance Left + ctrl

Toggle Engine on/off

Change artillery position Left + ctrl

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 Control panel sub- menus
The control panel is at the right bottom corner of your screen.
From the control panel, you can access several sub- menus.
The sub- menus can be accessed by clicking any of these specific icons:

Opens the Special Options menu;

Opens the Item Options menu;

Opens the Attack Options menu;

Opens the Emplacement Options menu.

Depending on the selected unit, relevant icons will be shown.

These are all of the possible icons and actions, per sub- menu:

Special options Menu Keybind

Close/open tank
commander’s hatch

Abandon vehicle L+L

Smoke decoy Mouse 4

Vehicle sandbags

Attach cargo (tow)

Toggle engine on/ off

Disable/Enable auto resupply

Draw/ holster weapon

Examine X

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Load or reload weapon Y

Back to previous menu

Item options Menu Keybind

Heal F8

Mine detector

Repair Shift+R

Anti-Personnel Mine

Anti-Tank Mine

Use Explosives

Take

Drop B

Cut wire

Back to previous menu

Attack options Menu Keybind

Attack F5

Attack ground F6

Throw frag grenade F1

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Throw AT grenade F2

Throw smoke grenade F3

Rocket launcher shot F4

Melee attack F7

Sniper aimed shot

Back to previous menu

Emplacements options
Menu

Dig small foxhole

Dig large foxhole

Place tank barrier

Place small barricade

Place big barricade

Place barbed wire barricade

Medical Rally Point

Back to previous menu

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 Exchange Menu
You can find this menu at the top right corner of your screen.
Using the exchange menu, you can hand units to other players in multiplayer.
You can also check several information sources.

Exchange Menu Icon

Score table

Chat

Event history

Open exchange window (MP only)

General Menu
You can find this menu at the top left corner of your screen.
This menu allows you to use highlights, silhouettes and to view chat history.

General Menu Icon

Game menu

Message history

Highlight silhouettes

Highlight items

Highlight corpses

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Squad controls
You can control a squad, which always follows its commander and carries out his orders.
The units you select are marked with coloured circles on the ground.
The commander of the squad is marked with a wider circle and his troops are marked with
thinner circles.
Select a squad commander to select the whole squad automatically.
The squad panel at the bottom of the screen shows the composition of your squad.
The icons of the squad members show their individual weapons.
You can assign squad numbers, for quick squad selection during play.

Create squad Drag your cursor across a group of soldiers/ units

Disband squad Select squad and press K

Add unit to selected squad Shift + left click on unit

Add a group of units to squad Shift + frame the units

Delete unit from squad Shift + left click on unit

Assign squad number Shift + number key

Soldier and squad stances

Soldiers’ stances can change, depending on the situation; they can also take cover.
Shooting while prone or from a knee- stance is a lot more accurate than shooting
from a standing position.

Stand / Prone Left CTRL

Stand / Squat Left alt

Items and inventory

Examine (body, vehicle, etc.) X

Open selected unit inventory I

Put item down B

Highlight items on ground C

Highlight corpses V

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Other commands
Open list of mission objectives O

Change game speed Backspace

Pause game Pause/ Brk

Menu Esc

Save screenshot PrtSc

Hide user interface Ctrl + Alt + Shift +

D

Direct Control
● By selecting a unit and pressing (e) you switch into the direct control mode.
● Movement is done through the WASD keys.
● When in direct control, by pressing (t) you can switch between top- down and 3rd
person view. Third person mode “3P” is available for infantry, while 1st person view
“1P” is available for officers, snipers and vehicles. The current mode you are in is
shown in the unit portrait.
● While in 3P mode, you can right click or scroll up with your mousewheel to go to 1P
(except for infantry). In first person, you can use a scope or binoculars if one is
available. Units that don’t have a first person view will stay in 3rd person.
● If you are in a squad, you can issue an attack or move order by pressing the middle
mouse button while aiming at the terrain or an enemy respectively.

← Clicking on the unit portrait will centre the camera on the selected unit(s)

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First person view
In Direct control, you can switch to the first person view of any units that have a first
person capability by pressing (t). Zoom in to get the view as shown below:

1. Crosshair/ reload indicator. This indicates reload progress for the selected weapon,
the selected ammo and whether you have a clear line of fire. When you aim, you will
either see a green or a red dot. Green indicates the line of fire is clear; red means
there is either an object or landscape in the way, or you're out of range.
2. Minimap. The vehicle you’re controlling flashes in blue and white.
3. Vehicle overview. Shows slightly damaged components in yellow, heavily damaged
components in red. It also displays the fuel state, the speed and the terrain the
vehicle is on.
4. Weapons and munitions indicators. Shows the weapons you can select by pressing
the corresponding number key. In this example, the main gun is selected; to change
ammo type of the main gun, press (space). To switch to one of the MG’s, press (2)
or (3). Some vehicles have more than 3 weapons; any of those (that are available to
the player to control directly) will be displayed here. In some vehicles, not all of the
weapons are available for direct control.
5. Efficiency indicator. This indicates the expected capability to fight. Tank crews will be
better at making your vehicle efficient than other soldiers (they also repair the
vehicle more quickly) and veterancy adds to efficiency as well.
6. Event history.
7. Scores and timekeeping (Online play and skirmish only).

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Minimap controls

● Show/hide Minimap: press M or click the icon

● Bring up minimap Options: Click the icon

● Minimap Options: Ctrl+M

● Mini map transparency can be modified via the sliders.

Mini Map size can be controlled via the and icons

Camera Controls

● Zoom - Mouse Wheel

● Move Forward- Move cursor to upper edge of screen or press (W) or (Num8)
● Move Back- Move cursor to lower edge of screen or press (S) or (Num5)
● Move Left- Move cursor to left edge of screen or press (A) or (Num4)
● Move Right- Move cursor to right edge of screen or press (D) or (Num6)
● Free Rotation- Move mouse while holding down the middle mouse button
● Turn camera left - Numpad 7
● Turn camera right = Numpad 9

Gameplay
To visualise how to use the controls in-game, we have compiled a set of guides for basic
gameplay.
These tutorial videos can be found on our Youtube channel.
Click HERE to view the official tutorials playlist.
Click HERE to view the community tutorials playlist.

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Game modes
CtA - Gates of Hell offers different game modes.
This is a brief description to outline how each of these works.

Battle zones
In this multiplayer mode, the maps have control zones that are marked by a dotted line.
The zones can be captured by infantry.
The side with the most “capture weight” in a capture zone will raise the flag.
Elite infantry and officers are the units with the most “capure weight”, so you need less of
these to capture a zone than you would with non- elite units.
When the flag is fully raised, the zone will be displayed in green on your minimap when it’s
yours, and in red when the enemy has control. Having control of a zone raises your
resource count. The aim is to get to the pre- determined number of victory points first.
Points are scored by killing enemy units and capturing zones. The side that has the
majority of zones in its control has a bonus in resources.

Domination
In the Domination multiplayer mode, the aim is to dominate as much of the map as
possible. When a domination round starts, there are just a few domination zones, but as
these are brought under control, new domination zones appear and the map expands. The
aim is to dominate as much of the map as possible. The side that is first to get to the
“victory points” count wins; the side that loses its HQ loses the round instantly. HQ’s can
be fortified by engineers. A video tutorial on the subject is available on YouTube.

Conquest
In conquest, you use a dynamic campaign generator to play campaigns. You compose your
own army, and research the tech tree to develop upgrades. You compose your starting
army, and any subsequent waves of reinforcement call-ins. Then you pick a target from the
general map and start the battle. Battles are either defensive or offensive; if you win the
battle, you gain research points. You take any units to the next battle that were yours
when the previous battle ended. Any captured enemy equipment will remain yours, and
migrate to the next battle like your own units do. You can set the campaign length, with an
option to play an “endless” one.
Conquest can be played by a single player, or in co- op. The interface and research are
explained under “Conquest”.

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Skirmish
In Skirmish, you play a single scripted battle against the AI and environment. The number
of players can be one or more, the maximum number varying per mission. Each mission
has its own set of objectives. As soon as you have fulfilled all objectives, the mission ends.
It also ends when you are defeated.
Even if you play this mode alone, technically speaking you are using the multiplayer
engine, just like in conquest. This is why it can be found under Multiplayer in the main
menu. How to set up a skirmish is described under “Hosting”.

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Troubleshooting
Our troubleshooting guide can be found on Steam. It contains solutions for all known
technical issues.
If your game gives you any trouble, the guide is the first place you should go to.
You can Click HERE to view it.

To get answers to almost every question about Call to Arms - Gates of Hell,
join our Discord community! Click on the image below to get there.

Links
Click on any of these to view us on Steam & social media.

CtA - GoH On Steam

Ostfront Store Page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/400750

Talvisota Store Page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1911520/

Community hub:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/400750

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CtA - GoH On social media

Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/barbedwirestudios

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/gatesofhellgame

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/gatesofhellgame

Vkontakte:
https://vk.com/gates_of_hell_game

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/gates_of_hell_game/

Fan wiki:
https://gatesofhell.fandom.com/wiki/Gates_of_Hell:_Ostfront_Wiki

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