Vanguard Zombies is a prequel to the Black Ops Cold War’s Dark Aether story, and the otherworldly Elder Gods that ruled the Dark Aether before Forsaken. Vanguard Zombies takes a deeper dive into the origins of the different entities that roamed the land of Dark Aether before they were consumed by Forsaken in Black Ops Cold War Zombies. Vanguard has a very demonic take on the Zombies this year and has fascinating lore behind it. It follows an exciting story around Oberführer Wolfram Von List, a Nazi leading German who has gained control of one of the deadliest and strongest entities of the Dark Aether called The Kortifex.
Gabriel Krafft is another character who was first teased in an Intel found in Black Ops Cold War Zombies and now appears as a character in Vanguard Zombies. The Intel showed handwritten notes and sketched runes from Krafft’s journal related to the entities we encounter in Vanguard Zombies.
He is a demonologist helping us fight against Von List by taking control of our own"demons" or entities. These entities give us different powers similar to Kortifex, giving Von List the ability to raise the dead.
These entities are Saraxis, Bellekar, Norticus, and Inviktor. Now, why are these names important, and why should you know at least these characters? It is essential because the radios scattered around Der Anfang correspond to these characters. To understand these radios, you must know the general outline of the story, which you do now.
There are three types of radios in Der Anfang: The Von List radio, Krafft radio, and The Runestones. The Von List radio gives us Intel revolving around the Oberführer Von List, the game’s main antagonist. The Krafft radio provides us with the perspective of Gabriel Krafft, the demonologist who betrayed Von List, to help us fight against him. And finally, the Runestones contain the views and Intel of the different entities. There are ten radios in the main Stalingrad area, three in Hotel Royal, three in Shi No Numa, and three in the Tongo area. It means that there are a total of nine radios you can listen to. Unfortunately, unlike Black Ops Cold War’s radios, these are not added in the game as collectibles and cannot be listened to in the convenience of your main menu without worrying about zombies. You will have to listen to these while avoiding zombies in-game. It is not so much of an issue to listen to the radios in the Stalingrad area as it is a central hub, and once you’ve killed the zombies, they do not respawn. At least not until some time has passed anyway. The main issue comes when you have to listen to the radio during one of the objectives, as that is the only time you can listen to the radios in each of the objective areas (Hotel Royal, Shi No Numa, & Tongo). The zombies are constantly spawning during the objectives, so it is impossible to listen to the radio Intel unless you’re doing the Transmit objective and haven’t started it by approaching the floating zombie head. That is also only possible if the starting of the Transmit objective is close to one of the three radios on one of the objective areas due to the restrictive energy field.
The best way to listen to the radios relatively peacefully is during the Harvest objective on lower rounds (1-3). During the Harvest objective, the majority of the maps are open, and you can easily access pretty much all areas without worrying about the barriers. Hotel Royale still has a barrier during the Harvest objective. You just need to get lucky with this one map to access one of the radios.
This is how each radio (Von List, Krafft, & Runestone) looks like in the game.
Here’s a list of all the radios in Der Anfang.
Stalingrad
Here are the locations of all ten radios found in Stalingrad. You will need to complete objectives to open parts of the map before you can access some radios.
Krafft Radios
Radio #1
The radio is on some wooden crates directly in front of the mystery box at Fountain Square.
Radio #2
The radio is on a stack of crates and briefcases next to the wall, surrounded by some candles to the left of the Altar of Covenant at Fountain Square.
Radio #3
The radio is on a stack of luggage by the generator in front of the Pack-A-Punch machine at Fountain Square. The generator is directly in front of the Altar of Covenant.
Radio #4
The radio is on a wooden crate directly behind the Pack-A-Punch machine at Fountain Square.
Radio #5
The radio is inside the Boiler Room in a building located at Panzer Column East, directly left of the Venomous Vigor (Quick Revive) perk fountain.
Head inside the Boiler Room, you will find the radio on some wooden crates next to sandbags by the hole in the wall at the back. The radio is to the left of the Demonic Frenzy (Speed Cola) perk fountain.
Radio #6
The radio is inside the Apartments building located at Panzer Column West. The radio is inside an apartment with a broken wall that can be seen from outside the building.
Go to the apartment on the first floor. Look inside the wooden shelf in the corner of the apartment to find the radio by some human bones, skulls, and lit candles.
Von List Radios
Radio #1
The radio is found inside the Theater building located east of Fountain Square.
You can find the radio at the base of the Pharoah statues to your left as soon as you enter the Theater via the main entrance.
Radio #2
The radio can be found inside the Store accessed via a hole in the wall to the right of the Venomous Vigor perk fountain.
You will find the radio on the table to your right immediately after entering through the broken wall.
Radio #3
The radio is found on the ground floor of the apartment building. You can enter using the eastern entrance through the alleyway.
As soon as you enter, you will find the radio on the floor to your left.
Runestones
Runestone #1
There is only one Runestone at Stalingrad. Go to the back alley west of Venomous Vigor perk fountain.
At the end of the alley, you will find a large crate with a Runestone on it surrounded by candles and skulls.
Hotel Royale
Von List Radios
Von List Radio #1
The radio is found at the base of a large wooden pallet resting by the wall in the middle of the map area called Officer’s Mess.
Krafft Radios
Krafft Radio #1
The radio is found on a red table at the Employee Terrace area of Hotel Royale.
Runestones
Runestone #1
The Runestone is found on a table on the Occulate Terrace area of Hotel Royale.
Shi No Numa
Von List Radios
Radio #1
The radio is found on a metallic shelf next to the wooden board with a large world map in the War Room.
Runestones
Runestone #1
The Runestone is found on a large wooden crate in the Infirmary on the first floor.
Runestone #2
The Runestone is found inside a wheelbarrow in the Excavation Room on the ground floor.
Tongo
Von List Radios
Radio #1
The radio is on the floor next to a loading truck and a stack of wooden pallets in the Paddock.
Runestones
Runestone #1
The Runestone is inside a feeder at the back of the Livestock Pen next to a dead body.
Runestone #2
The Runestone is in an opening located by the wall at the Tractor Lot.
