The End of the Beginning

The End of the Beginning is the eleventh level in Call of Duty 2. The mission is based in El Daba, Egypt. It is also the level featured in the pre-release demo of the game. The following sections are a walkthrough.

Getting Started
The player spawns in a truck. When it stops, get off and run to the building in the center of the area.

Get to the right of the building, some troops hiding behind junk on the other side will be there. There's a respawner to the right of it, so the player will have to get relatively close to disable it, but not close enough so that the enemy hits the player. The best way to do so is to go right and hide behind the jeep and the kiosk next to it. Troops will throw grenades at the player once getting to it, just run back until they explode. Now, hide behind the jeep and snipe the troops with the rifle. Try to peek out, shoot then go back while cycling the bolt. Keep doing this until everybody is dead.

Go left and get near the MG42 gunner on the second floor, but don't get near him! Instead, walk until the two MG42 gunners in front of the building can be seen. Take them out, then focus on the porch to the right of the second story gunner and take him out as well. When they're all out, go into the building.

When exiting the building, the player will end up in a small alley. There's an MG42 to the right, eliminate this threat. There are two troops next to him, so toss a grenade to flush them out.

The Guns
Get out of the alley and the player will see the guns. To disable them, the player only has to kill one operator. This means that even though the game may say that a gun has been taken out, most of the operators will be alive and will attack the player.

Since this is a pretty long area, stay near the entrance to the area and snipe the enemies with the rifle. The only real threat is an enemy on top of a roof at the right. Take him out and it should be smooth sailing. Keep on firing, and all the enemies in the area will be eliminated.

Grabbing the Radio
After taking out the gun operators, move forward until arriving at a small bazaar just past the third gun. Just past the wall on the left is a building that has a radio, the player needs to get to it. There's an MG42 on the second floor, so a direct assault is out of the question. Instead, flank it from the side.

Go through the doorway on the right and get on the left side of a nearby building. Enemies will be pouring out from the left side of the building. Take them out, get near the end of the building, then look to the left. The player will see a small hole to crouch through. Do so, and end up at a side-entrance to the building. Go in.

Go to the left until a stairway on the right is visible. Troops will be coming from and across it, so toss a grenade at the stairway then go back to the front and go to the right side. Take any enemies on the right side first, then anybody that's left on the stairs. Go up them, then find the way outside. There's a radio on the second floor porch, so use it.

Finding the Intel
Now the player needs to find some intel at a nearby house. Get out of the house and take a left. Go through the doorway that was taken earlier, but this time go right. The player will then see a street blocked by garbage with MG42 gunners firing at the end of the street. There's a side entrance on the left, so get on the left and look for a door made out of metal bars. Go through it and follow the allies to an unopened door. One of the allies will try to break it open, but will get killed in a hilariously over-the-top manner by an MG42 on the other side. Toss a grenade into the room, then run in and take out the gunner and anybody that's left with the SMG. Take a left and the player will see troops running into a staircase. Take them out, then go up the staircase and take a right.

The player will be in a room overlooking the MG42 gunners at the end of the street. Take out the troops in this room with the SMG, then get near the gap (not close enough so that the player can see the left side of the troops) and open fire with the rifle. These attacks will draw the fire of troops in the building across from the player, so go back and get ready for them. One is on top of the roof in the center, one is on the left, and the last is on the right, hiding behind a window. When they're out, advance until the left side of the gunners can be seen. There's an enemy there, so take him out. When he's down, go inside the building.

Inside the building, there are troops hiding behind the doorway on the other side of the entrance. Throw a grenade. If the grenade misses and the enemy moves out, follow them and eliminate then with the SMG. When they're dead, go into the room they were in and take a right to a staircase. Go up it, but when getting on the second staircase, do a 180 degree turn and toss grenades into the holes at the top. There are troops hiding behind a table there, and it's easier to kill them at the stairs than right in front of the table. After the grenades go off, get to the top and turn left. There is intel on a table. Take out anybody that's left, then grab the intel.

Getting to the Exit
After grabbing the intel, get on the porch outside and jump off it. Get to where the gunners are and take a left. There is another metal bar gate. Go through it and find three enemies trying to retreat. Take them out and head forward to the exit. The player can get to the exit from the stairs or from the bottom path.

Trivia

 * The string for the first objective in this map appears in the unused Call of Duty 4 single player level "Descent". After killing the Germans that are trying to retreat to the docks, the strings for adagio from platoon will play.
 * Throughout this level, dogfights between British Spitfires and German Ju 87 Stukas can be seen in the sky. Since the Ju-87 was, in reality, a dive bomber and not a fighter, this is a gross mismatch as the Spitfire was one of Britain's premiere fighters.
 * This level is named for a speech that Winston Churchill gave once the Axis were clear of Africa - "It is not yet the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, however it may be the end of the beginning.
 * The first demo of Call of Duty 2 featured this level.
 * Near the exit, an officer will be ordering men to fall back, if the player shoots him with the Thompson while he's talking, he will die as soon as he stops talking.