Goalpost (mission)

"Locate and secure the U.S. Vice President for immediate extraction."

- Level description

"Goalpost" is the ninth mission of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The level takes place in Hamburg, Germany. The player controls Derek "Frost" Westbrook throughout this mission. The primary objective is to secure the Vice President from being a hostage.

Characters

 * Derek "Frost" Westbrook (playable)
 * Sandman
 * Grinch (heard only)
 * Truck (mentioned only)
 * Rhino 1 (destroyed)
 * Rhino 2 (disabled)
 * Carter (K.I.A.)
 * Rhino 2 Gunner
 * Rhino 3 (Destroyed)
 * Vice President of the United States

Plot
In the starting cutscene, chemical attacks are reported throughout Europe, particularly in London and Paris. The U.S forces respond by sending decontamination units to affected areas. Ramstein Air Force Base reports attacks by Russian ground forces in Germany, asking for immediate assistance against "the entire Russian army". Further on, many areas of Europe are seen in camera feeds under attack by Russian forces, like France, Poland, Belgium, Italy, Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. It is then reported that the U.S lost contact with the delegation in Hamburg. Overlord calls for Metal 0-1 to reroute to Hamburg to participate in a principal-level hostage rescue - the U.S. Vice President.

Frost and his team ride in a Black Hawk heading towards Hamburg, along with other Black Hawks, Ospreys and LCACs carrying Abrams tanks. Russian flak turrets and missiles constantly fire and some of the American aircraft used in the assault, including an Osprey, are destroyed. After landing, Delta Force, U.S Army Rangers, and the U.S. Army tank unit Rhino advance up the beach, while under fire from Russian defensive positions. Once clear of the beach, Metal Team take cover in a plane's wreckage, before starting their advance up the street. While clearing the street, U.S forces encounter enemy snipers and tanks, as well as a large infantry force. Once the first street is cleared of enemies, the U.S forces take a left and find themselves in a parking lot.

Rhino 2's commander, Carter, explains that the only way through for the U.S. forces is through the parking garage and out the other side, and that the tanks may be too heavy for the ramps in the parking garage to cope with. Immediately afterwards, Carter is killed by enemy sniper fire. The tank quickly deals with the sniper threat, and Frost replaces Carter in his role on the mounted minigun. Russian Mi-28s start attacking the tanks, but trophy systems were set up immediately and the tanks were protected.

As Rhino 1 and Rhino 2 start to advance toward the parking garage, enemy forces start to retreat into it, making them easy targets. The tanks clear the ground floor, with Rhino 2 at one point ramming straight through a toll booth. However, when the two tanks try to ascend via a ramp in the parking garage, the ramp collapses under the weight and sends Rhino 2 crashing down, with Frost narrowly avoiding being crushed by a falling car, he disembarks to find everyone still combat effective. Sandman arrives and he and Frost, along with the tank crew, fight their way out of the parking lot and back on the streets to continue to their objective.

Once Frost, Sandman and the tank crew are on the streets again, an enemy T-90 arrives and opens fire, but is quickly destroyed when Rhino 1 emerges from a building. However, the victory is short lived, as Rhino 1 is destroyed by mortar fire. The U.S forces hurry inside a destroyed building. After clearing all hostiles from the office building, the U.S forces emerge again onto a street, where they fight the last pocket of resistance.

After turning a corner, the remains of the Vice-President's convoy are found. Delta Force then heads into a building on their left, and once higher up, see Russians defending a room. The Russians see the Americans coming and quickly close the door, intending to execute all the hostages. Sandman and his team breach the room and rescue the Vice President in a slow motion-style shootout. Raptor 4, an MV-22 Osprey, then arrives to exfil the troops and the Vice President.

Video Walkthrough
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Intel Items
20. Cross the beach, then spot the crashed and destroyed plane on the north end of the street. The intel is nestled inside of the plane's nose section.

21. At the top of the street, look for a tall white building with an "L" shaped wall at the bottom. The intel is underneath here, on top of a weapons crate.

22. In the building with the Vice President, on the first floor, look on the east wall of the building for the intel, located in a cubicle.

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Intel Locations

Trivia

 * The opening cinematic for "Goalpost" indicates that Russian chemical attacks focused on Counter-Terrorist forces or Intelligence agencies, such as MI5 HQ in London, GIGN HQ in Satory, Brussels, CNI HQ in Madrid, Bern, AISI HQ in Rome, Prague, BND HQ in Berlin, Copenhagen, Warsaw and Budapest. It also shows Russian Military offensives striking all of these cities except for Copenhagen (although the spreading red on map does cover up Denmark, suggesting that it was also a goal in the offensive). The Copenhagen marker in the intro video is accidentally placed wrong in another country. The marker pinpoints an area east of the Swedish coastal town of Halmstad.
 * Canadian forces troops from New Brunswick were sent to Hamburg too, it can be seen in the cutscene but they are not seen in the mission though.
 * When the TV screens showcase the Russian invasion, two locations - Brussels, Belgium and Rome, Italy - can be identified and copied off scenes in the mission Bag and Drag, most notably, the end chase of Volk.
 * The title "Goalpost" refers to the Vice President's codename.
 * No matter what weapons Frost has before Rhino 2 crashes through the concrete ramp, his loadout resets to the M4A1 Grenadier w/ ACOG Sight and SMAW, but not on the Wii version.
 * This is the only mission in the Modern Warfare series to have a beach landing.
 * Oddly, there are no German soldiers in this mission, when the mission is in Germany
 * While going through the parking garage, sometimes AI friendlies will stand in front of the tanks and get run over. However, if the player stands in front of the tanks, the tanks will just push the player along, and the player will not die.
 * Rhino Two's tank crew are vulnerable, but they will respawn upon death.
 * This is the first mission in the Call of Duty series where the player sees the interior of a tank.
 * If the player looks closely inside the room with the hostage before it is closed, there won't be anyone inside, except the Russian closing the door. During the breach, the rest of the Delta Team will already be standing in the room when the player looks to either side of him.
 * If the player picks up an M4A1 with any attachments at the beginning of the level, the iron sights/optics will have the same amount of zoom as an ACOG sight.
 * The wrecked C-130 found near the beginning of the level, is the same model from Afghan.
 * In the Wii version, Frost mans the minigun from Rhino 1 instead of Rhino 2.
 * If the player throws a grenade at the door just as the Russian runs into the room, it will stick in the air and bounce back when the door closes.
 * Shooting or knifing any of the tank crew before they exit the tank causes them to die upon finishing their animation.
 * There is a chance that the Blackhawk that drops you off may not take off and just sit on the beach.
 * The Osprey closest to Frost, when he exits the helicopter at the start of the level, says "Marines" on the side, but has a mirror image of "USAF" on the tail.
 * Sometimes one of the soldiers may get ran over by a tank while doing a hit reaction animation. When this happens, the NPC will hover in front of the moving tank until the animation ends, after which he will die instantly.
 * The Vice President's dead bodyguards reused an FSO agent model from "Turbulence", because they have the Russian Red star on their jacket and the hammer and the sickle on their belt.
 * Strangely, there is no Desert Eagle found in this level since the sound of gunshots before breach is similar to gunshot of Desert Eagle either at room where Vice President is held.
 * If the player throws a flashbang before the Russian runs into the room, he can be stunned and the player can go into the room before he closes the door. The Russian will disappear and the room will be empty. The player can still breach the door, and he will instantly be outside the door.
 * Radio chatter can be heard from the jets shortly before the top of the office that destroyed Rhino 2 is destroyed.
 * This is the only mission where Grinch and Truck are not deployed into the battle with the player.
 * If the player switches to a grenade launcher on an M16A4 the skin will change to the Modern Warfare 2 M16A4 skin.
 * There is a unique animation when breaching with the grenade launcher on an M16A4.
 * There is a glitch where the player can kill the Vice President and Sandman will act as if he were alive.
 * There is also a glitch when the Russian soldier with a G18 kills the Vice President. The mission will not fail, but Sandman and the others will return to the breaching door.
 * There is a unique animation when breaching with a picked up G18.
 * There are sometimes Rangers with SCAR-L's near the end of the level, which are not seen in use by them on any other mission.
 * If the player times it just right, when exiting the parking garage soon after exiting the tank, he/she can destroy the Havoc that is chasing an Osprey. Although the Osprey will be saved, this has no effect on the mission's progression.
 * If the player successfully hits the Havoc, it will appear to pass through the street and crash underneath the map.
 * The tank crewmen mistake a Havoc for a Hind two times in the mission. Once on the beach, and second soon after Frost enters the tank.
 * When Rhino 1 bursts through the wall to engage the T-90, the tank commander's name and appearance will have changed.
 * When fighting on the beach at the start of the mission, Ranger AI reinforcements that spawn to replace dead ones come in via an endless number of Blackhawk helicopters that land on the beach, rather than just appearing.
 * After getting off the Blackhawk with Sandman at the beginning of this mission, the player can be killed by the helicopter if he/she jumps up as it lifts off the beach.

Achievements/Trophies
Welcome to WW3 (10 / Bronze Trophy ) - Complete "Goalpost" on any difficulty.

Payback (25 / Silver Trophy ) - Complete "Mind the Gap", "Goalpost" and "Return to Sender" on Veteran difficulty.