Gears of War: E-Day Chapter 12 Walkthrough: Last Foothold and the Convoy to Fort Vigil

Chapter 12 of Gears of War: E-Day, "Last Foothold," drops Bravo Squad back onto the surface in the Kalona district as of November 2026. You've just dug out of the Locust tunnels and fought off a Corpser in the previous chapter, and now Captain Grey needs the evacuation convoy ready to move before the Locust catch up. The chapter opens up into a loose, explorable stretch of ruined city blocks before funneling you into Kalona Hotel and Landa Memorial Hospital, then locks you into a convoy escort that ends the chapter.

Official "Exfil Dom" trailer from the Gears of War YouTube channel.

Getting back to Oria Stadium

You surface in the open streets west of Oria Stadium. Head toward the stadium signage overhead and clear the first pair of Locust with a Gut-Puncher grenade if you still have one from the tunnels; it saves ammo for what's coming. Drop down through the ruined storefront into the COG trench line and check in with Tai, who's holding the position alone. Grab any supplies sitting in his tent before moving on, since you won't be able to backtrack once the convoy sequence starts.

Follow Tai's squad through the side streets toward Monroe Library. This stretch throws Drones at you from windows and doorways, and at least one Boomer joins in from the library steps. The Boomer calls out before it fires, so use that half-second to break line of sight behind a car or a collapsed wall rather than trying to out-DPS a rocket in the open. Clear the steps, head inside, and let the scene with the civilian convoy play out before pushing on toward Kalona Hotel.

This opening stretch is also the best place in the chapter to pick up collectibles if you're going for a clean sweep. The district holds COG Tags scattered in a tarp shelter near the library steps and a side alley off the first street, along with Hard Cases tucked into the road-gap edge you pass on the way down into the trench. None of it is required to finish the chapter, but Last Foothold carries more collectibles than any other chapter in Act 3, so it's worth the extra two or three minutes of backtracking before you commit to Kalona Hotel.

Kalona Hotel and the floating Locust

Kalona Hotel is where the chapter's pace changes. Wretches and regular Locust have Gears pinned under a rail bridge nearby; clear them first so the path to the hotel entrance is safe, then find Corporal Harris, who's been holding the evacuation trucks here the whole time. Helping load the trucks triggers the chapter's toughest fight so far: a large, hovering Locust trailing a cluster of spined sacs drops in over the street.

Don't try to burn this thing down with a rifle. Switch to the Lancer and target the exposed sacs on its underside whenever it dips low enough to expose them, then swap to a Gut-Puncher or a shotgun once it closes distance, since the sacs rupture and spawn more Wretches if you leave it alone too long. Keep moving between cover pieces along the street instead of holding one spot, because its attack pattern is built to punish players who camp a single corner.

• Use the parked cars and loading dock crates as rotating cover, not a single fixed position.
• Save any heavy ammo you've been hoarding since the tunnels for this fight specifically.
• Clear spawned Wretches before they swarm Harris's loading crew, or the convoy prep stalls.

Retaking Landa Memorial Hospital

With the trucks loading, Captain Grey sends you to Landa Memorial Hospital to pull medical supplies before the convoy can leave. Climb through the parking garage to reach the second floor; a Sniper posted across the lot will clip you if you cross the open ground without using the wrecked vehicles as cover. Wretches pour out of an Emergence Hole partway through, so clear that hole rather than just killing what spawns from it, or it keeps feeding enemies behind you.

Inside, Manu is already fighting to hold the reception area against Locust dug in behind sandbags and a gun crew up on the canopy outside. A heavily armored Locust pushes into the lobby once you've thinned the smaller group; use the reception counter as a breakpoint and lead with grenades rather than sustained rifle fire; it closes distance fast and hits hard in melee range. Once it's down, grab the medical supplies from the pharmacy on the second floor and loot the Hard Cases along the balustrade on your way back down if you're collecting.

If you still have time before heading to the trucks, the padlocked gate near the hospital leads into Rooftop Mayday, an optional detour where you climb to a rooftop to pull a civilian in a hi-vis vest to safety and survive a short attack from a chained, gas-bag Locust. It's not required, but finishing it is the only way to unlock the Striga stabilized-ammo mod in this chapter, and it's a far safer time to grab it than mid-convoy. Skip it if you'd rather move straight to the evacuation, since nothing past this point lets you return to the district.

Starting the convoy escort to Fort Vigil

Selecting the map by the trucks locks the district behind you, so finish any side objectives first. Once the convoy moves, you're on a terrace manning a mounted Vulcan against waves of Wretches, Drones, and acid-spitters coming up from the street below. Hold the trigger down in short bursts rather than one continuous stream; the Vulcan overheats, and you'll want ammo left for the Reaver that drops in a second wave of Locust partway through the escort.

The convoy's route runs through a scaffold section where Locust try to flank from above, then ends at a crossroads blockade. A Corpser surfaces here alongside a heavy weapon sitting in the road; grab the weapon immediately rather than relying on your rifle, since the Corpser's head is the only weak point and it takes real sustained damage to bring down from standard loadouts. Stay mobile around the blockade's wrecked cars while you wait for an opening at its head, because standing still to unload invites the second wave of Drones the Reaver drops in behind you.

Dropping the Corpser closes out the chapter: the stadium behind you collapses into a Locust sinkhole on-screen, Captain Grey redirects the convoy toward the bridge, and Chapter 13, "The Convoy," picks up immediately after with Bravo stopped at a raised drawbridge. If you're playing on a harder difficulty, it's worth saving a grenade or two from the blockade fight rather than spending everything on the Corpser, since The Convoy opens with another firefight almost as soon as the cutscene ends.

Quick checklist for Last Foothold

• Clear Monroe Library's Boomer from cover before pushing to the steps; don't trade shots with it in the open.
• Target the floating Locust's sacs with the Lancer while it's airborne, then finish it up close with a Gut-Puncher or shotgun.
• Destroy the Emergence Hole in the hospital parking garage so it stops reinforcing the Sniper and Wretches.
• Lead the armored Locust in the hospital lobby with grenades from behind the reception counter.
• Ration the mounted Vulcan's trigger during the convoy escort and save heavy ammo for the Reaver and the closing Corpser fight.

For the chapter before this one, see our Chapter 11 walkthrough covering the Locust tunnels and the first Corpser fight, and check our beginner tips for E-Day's weapons and difficulty settings if you're still getting used to the Lancer's chainsaw execution timing. Gears of War: E-Day is developed by The Coalition and published by Xbox Game Studios; full campaign and platform details are on the official Gears of War site and the game's Steam store page. Xbox Wire has more on the game's October launch and platform rollout, the game carries an ESRB Mature 17+ rating for blood and gore, intense violence, and strong language, and background on the franchise is on Wikipedia.