The developer route and one recorded multiplayer session describe the same loop, not five locked gates. Builds, oil, recruits, captures, and defense happen in between each other. Use the milestone you have pushed least as the next job.
Milestone 1: a base that keeps finishing work
Start the next construction or upgrade when you can pay for it. In the recorded session, finished work announced itself: Construction complete, Building ready, commander, or Upgrade complete. The proof you can see is a finished build where the project was. There is no published cash threshold that marks this milestone done.
Milestone 2: cash from a secured point
In that same session, players treated oil at a secured point as the money activity. Spoken cash climbed from about 5,000 toward 8,000 while they stayed on the pump. Those numbers are one player reading cash aloud. They are not a payout rate. A 15,000 spend was announced in the same session, and the recording does not show what it bought. Details are in Income and oil.
Milestone 3: a broader army
Recruit troop types, then unlock tanks, vehicles, and aircraft. Each new family is a milestone because the official text names families, not a single super unit. The force family pages list only the names the game itself uses.
Milestone 4: the first point that stays yours
Send the army to a strategic point. Point secured and Objective taken confirm the take. In the recorded session a point still fell after One of our points is under attack and We've lost the point, commander. Holding the point is a separate milestone from taking it. See Capture points.
Milestone 5: defend without stalling the builds
Base attacks recurred in the session: Commander, our base is under attack, Enemy forces are hitting our position, and Hostiles at the wire. Defend the base. Enemy armor sighted and Enemy aircraft named the kind of pressure. Vehicle down was among the most repeated lines. Replace the role you lost, keep a point you can pump, and keep the next upgrade affordable. The battle alerts guide splits those lines.
How to tell you are still on pace
The official closer is to upgrade, conquer, and become the strongest commander. That is a cycle, not a final checkbox. You are on pace when builds keep finishing, cash is still moving, and points you took are still yours after a push. No rebirth cost, rank name, or quest board is part of this route, because none of those systems is in the official description or the recorded session.