Hell Let Loose: WWII Battlefields

The Mamayev Kurgan hill is the high ground of Stalingrad, and the game's Stalingrad map is built from real battle locations. The German attack on the city centre began on 13 September 1942; the hill offered control over the city, and it changed hands several times. The defenders held out until 26 January 1943. In Hell Let Loose, Stalingrad is named as one of the key battles.

Location precision: The game's Stalingrad map covers a wide area of the city; the pin marks Mamayev Kurgan, the city's high ground, not a spot named by the game.

Kursk is the battle the game names alongside Stalingrad. Wikipedia calls the Battle of Kursk "the single largest battle in the history of warfare", and it began with the German offensive Operation Citadel on 5 July 1943. In the southern sector, the 10th Tank Corps reached Prokhorovka on the night of 7 July. Hell Let Loose lists it among its key battles.

Location precision: The game's Kursk map is not tied to one spot in the sources; the pin marks Prokhorovka, a place named in the battle.

In Hell Let Loose, the game invites you to "land at Omaha Beach". On 6 June 1944 the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings, and Omaha was an 8 km stretch of the Normandy coast. Opposing the landings was the German 352nd Infantry Division, whose defences were set in strongpoints along the coast.

After Omaha, the game asks you to "fight through Carentan". The real battle ran from 10 to 14 June 1944, with the aim of joining the Utah and Omaha beachheads. The 101st Airborne forced passage across the causeway into Carentan on 10 and 11 June. The town lies in Normandy.

Location precision: The pin marks the town of Carentan; the causeway and the game's map cover the approaches around it.

The Steam page promises "climbing Hill 400" after the frozen forests of Foy. The real Hill 400 lay in the Hürtgen Forest, a 140 km2 area just east of the Belgian–German border. The battle there ran from 19 September to 16 December 1944 and was the longest battle on German ground during World War II. American commanders recognized the importance of Hill 400 only at an advanced stage of the fighting.

Location precision: The pin marks the village of Bergstein, near Hill 400; the sources give no exact spot for the hill.