This is a collectable card game based upon the second world war. Playing a card game properly, requires knowledge of the cards you’ll play with yourself and cards which you might be up against. The only way to get that knowledge is by reading the cards. This is an effort you have to make for yourself.
At this moment every card in the game is bound to a faction. There are 5 factions: Germany, Japan, USSR, United States and United Kingdom. When you make a deck you can add 30 cards in it no matter what faction they’re from. So you can make a deck with Germans and British units, Japanese equipment and Russian or American orders. I’ve always felt that this is kind of weird but that’s the way it is. Besides, if you start out you probably won’t have enough cards to make a one-faction only deck. Finally, the best way to learn a card is to play with it. If you play cards of all kind of factions you’ll to learn about the specific capabilities of these factions as well.

As you start out you’ll have very few cards. You’ve probably figured out yourself that you’ll need more and better cards to advance. The easiest way to get more cards fast is to go into the shop and buy packs like crazy. This is also the most expensive way. This is up to you.
However, there are cheaper (free) methods to get cards as well.

Every day when you log into the game you’ll get a bonus: At day 4 you’ll get a free random card. Most of the time this’ll be a rare. At day 7 you’ll get a free general pack. That’s good news, because a general pack provides you with at least an epic card and if you’re lucky even a legendary. After day 7 the daily bonus will be reset and you’ll start in day 1 again.
So learn yourself to log in every day of the week to pick up your daily bonus even if you’re not playing.

The campaign goes from level 1 all the way up to level 190 (at the moment). The further you’ll get in the campaign the better it is. Every now and then, while fighting your way up in the levels, you’ll be rewarded with single cards or packs.
Finishing a number of levels with 3 stars rewards you with a free pack as well. Although it might seem tempting it’s a waste of time. Keep finishing those levels, no matter how many (or few) stars you’ll get for it, and climb up. Once you’ll have access to better cards it’ll be much more easier to obtain the 3 stars.

There are several chests in the shop you spend your hard earned gold on.
An enlisted chest will cost you 250 gold
An ensign chest will cost you 500 gold
A supply chest will cost you 500 gold
A general chest will cost you 750 gold
Chests are like a lottery. Don’t spend your gold on it because you’ll need it for something else.

Finishing a personal raid will give you cards as well. You’ll get 4 tickets every day to play a raid. That’s 28 tickets a week. Use those tickets to try and do as much damage as you can on an easy raid. If you beat the raid you’ll get a free pack for it in return. There are several raids you can play. Try to avoid Operation Z and Operation Drumbeat because these are by far the toughest raids you can play at the moment.
Of course, there are also groupsraids you can play but before you can participate in these you’ll need to be part of a platoon. I’ll explain about this later.

In this topic I’ll describe three ways on how to get extra help. There are 3 ways to get extra help:
A. Forum
B. Websites of specific platoons
C. Join a platoon

If you click on the “settings” button (which is in the lower right of the screen) in the game and scroll down you find a shortcut to the forum. In the forum you’ll find several posts written by players to help you further. Some of them are guides on how to beat hard missions. Some of them are posts in which legendary / epic cards are divided into tiers. Etc. Read whatever has your interest and learn from it.

As far as I can tell, there’s only one platoon (mine) which has its own website. Feel free to check it out: www.oakleaves.jimdo.com

A platoon is group of real people. So here is a chance to make friends with other players. But there’s more,… Once you’re a member of a platoon, you’ll share a few common goals.
Every member of a platoon can contribute platoon points for the platoon he’s part of. You’ll gather platoon points by playing missions, by playing PVP and by playing raids. At the end of the week you’ll be rewarded for the contribution you’ve made. Then you’ll see about 10% of every platoon point you’ve gathered that week returned to you in gold. So the math is very simple: Join a platoon to create extra gold or remain a lone wolf and get nothing.
Platoons can also fight group raids. The rewards you’ll get for having participated in a finished groups raid are much better than the rewards you’ll get for finishing an individual raid. Rewards for groups raids are always handed to you at the end of the week. Before you can participate in group raid you have to buy yourself in. The buy-in fee will cost you 1.000 gold. This is the best investment in the game for your gold. For every group raid that you can participate in, you’ll have to pay for the buy-in fee. Once you’ve paid you can play it forever. So make sure that you have the gold available once you join a platoon.
How do you know that you’re in a good platoon? The platoon leader and his team of officers will help you with all the questions you have. You simply ask your questions on the platoon chat and see what kind of answers you get in return.
Platoons are ranked as well. The more platoon points they gather, the higher the ranking and the bigger the chances that they’ll finish a lot of raids which means a possibility for more weekly rewards.
How to get into a platoon? Understand that once you’ve send a request to join a platoon that the commander and his officers will see your request. Not only will they see your request but also your name and the current level you’re at in the campaign. Every new player to the game is given a specific name by the developers. It’ll be something like: fs_etcetcetc. You can change it in whatever you want to be known by in the PVP section of the game. Select it and then select customize character. Right there you’re able to change your name.
Now ask yourself if you were a platoon leader yourself: Who would you rather welcome in your platoon: Harry73 level 78 or fs_etcetcetc level 15?
Another way to get in a platoon is to break the silence on the global chat. Simply introduce yourself and tell that you’re looking for a platoon to join.
How to stay in a platoon? First of all, once you're in a platoon, don't be silent: Communicate on the platoonchat! Secondly, remember that the goal of a platoon is to gather platoon points and to finish as many group raids as possible. Well inactive players won’t contribute to that. Most platoon leaders will be happy if you finish your daily duties and give notice (on the platoon chat) that you won’t be active for a specific period of time. For example when you’re having a holiday or have to study.

Basically there are 5 types of cards:

• Common cards
  
• Uncommon cards
  
• Rare cards
  
• Epic cards
  
• Legendary cards

Every deck you make can hold 2 of the same cards except for legendary cards. The limit for legends is one (of the same legend) only. So you can put several legends in your deck (if you have them) but never two of the same.

If you happen to have 3 copies of the same common? You can only play 2? True. So sell the extra copy back to the computer and get at least a few gold coins for it in return? Hold back your horses! Because before you’re going to sell your extra card back to the computer you should be aware of what your future in this card game looks like. Although this is advanced game play.

Some cards can be crafted, after the crafting process you normally get a better card in return. I’ll show you what’s required,…
5 of the same common cards can be crafted into 1 new epic elite card
5 of the same uncommon cards can be crafted into 1 new epic elite card
5 of the same rare cards can be crafted into 1 new epic elite card
5 of the same epic cards can be crafted into 1 new epic elite card
3 of the same legendary cards can be crafted into 1 new legendary elite card.
You can also craft epic/legendary elite cards into diamonds but that is very advanced game play. So I’ll just mention it here but won’t go into further detail about it.
There’s more to crafting as I have explained above but for now this is good enough. What I’m trying to say is that before you sell cards back to the computer realize that you won’t be able to use these cards for future crafting anymore. It would really be a pity if you want to craft a card and have to find out that you’ve sold them back to the computer for a few lousy gold coins. So, think twice and preferably don’t do it.

Roughly there are 3 types of cards:

• Units
  
• Items
  
• Orders

It’s quite frustrating that you start your turn and there’s not a card you can play. Your hand holds only items and orders. So a good mix of units, items and orders is wise.
When deckbuilding make sure you have about 16 till 19 units in your deck. This leaves room for 14 till 11 items/orders. Experiment with this and make your deck into whatever suits you best.

Every level of the campaign has different goals you’ll have to meet. Sometimes, you’ll have to destroy your opponent, sometimes you have to destroy a specific number of (type) units, etc.
The most toughest levels are to my opinion the levels in which you’re asked not to destroy your opponent. At least, these levels gave me the most trouble.

• Avoid playing planes unless they can bomb. (Stuka, Horten )
  
• Make sure your unit(s) can maneuver (You’ll need it to kill units, every turn. A précised map is a good item to have on your side for example).
  
• Once you’re aware of what types of units your opponent plays a lot in this level, add counter units to your deck. (some units destroy an infantry/armored unit when they come into play).
  
• Add units to your deck that’ll let you damage enemy units once they get into play.
  
• Add orders that’ll let you destroy enemy units or let you do damage to it.

Make sure that you’ve gained a lot of life points before you meet the goals required to beat this level. Add 2 copies of “taking command” into your deck. You’ll collect your 3 stars levels easily. But as a starting player you probably won’t have them yet. So wait until you do and then come back.

As you start out you’ll probably be able to play an easy (and free to play) historical mission. You get to play a pre-constructed deck which is a nice chance to get to know cards you don’t have yourself. If you beat the mission you’ll be rewarded with 25 gold coins. Play these missions a lot.
As you get further in the campaign you’ll unlock the medium historical missions as well. Play them as well, they are tougher but rewards are better.
Finally, try to reach the level in the campaign where you’ll unlock the hard historical mission. Preferably get to that point as fast as you can. Hard historical missions are tough but the rewards you’ll get for completing these missions are by far the best you can get. Hopefully, you’re quite an experienced player already on the free and medium historical missions so you know what you can expect when starting the hard ones.

On the forum you’ll find a lot of information about how to beat these specific missions. I suggest you read them before you go into battle.
Become an expert on these hard missions and totally pillage them. There is no better way, then to get cards for only a few gold pieces. To give you an impression: A general pack in the shop will cost you 750 gold pieces. For that amount of gold you can buy yourself into 3 hard historical missions Dday. Rewards for finishing Dday is also the same general pack.

Finally, cards you’ve fought for are more precious that cards you simply gained by buying packs. At least, that goes for me.

There are 2 types of PVP this game has to offer. The first one is ranked PVP and the second one is friendly pvp.

If you’d choose this option you will be matched up with another real person or a bot.
The outcome of the battle will be taken into account on your ranking on the PVP ladder. The more ranking points, the higher you’ll climb on the ladder. The ladder itself shows only the top 25 players at this moment. A bot is not a real player, but a created player by the developers of this game. Most of the time they are very easily to defeat. A bot is never part of a platoon and it never plays items or orders.

This is also called “playing a friend”. This is an extra option to play a friend and test your deck verses his/hers. The outcome of this battle won’t be taking into account on the PVP ladder. To be able to play a friendly PVP match you have to be in the map screen or in the PVP screen.

Thanks for reading and good hunting to you all,
Cheers,

Pieterr

[Developer comment]: Again, thank you very much to @pieterr for sharing and allowing us to post here such a detailed guide!