Game Rules Inventory Review

# Omega War Game Rules Inventory

Date: 2026-07-01
Product path: `unthinkable`
Status: living working register
Authority: working register; does not supersede canonical or review-approved source docs
Source docs:
- `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md`
- `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md`
- `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md`
- `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md`
- `prototypes/unthinkable/tactical-battle/deployment-plan-first/`
Maintenance rule: update or append a rule entry when an experiment changes, graduates, defers, or supersedes a mechanic. Keep canonical decisions in their owning spec/review document and cite them here.

## Purpose

This register collects approved, provisional, experiment-needed, deferred, and superseded tactical-battle rules in one place for the Omega War `unthinkable` path. It complements `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` by giving experiments a stable place to report what rule they proved, changed, or left open.

Statuses:

- `approved`: accepted by a canonical or review-approved source.
- `provisional`: usable for prototype work, with values or details still tunable.
- `experiment-needed`: required or likely, but not yet proven in runtime.
- `deferred`: explicitly out of current slice scope.
- `superseded`: retained only to preserve context for replaced wording or behavior.

## Battle Contract And Win/Loss

### Rule ID: BTL-001
Name: Fixed first battle contract
Status: approved
Rule: The first playable tactical slice is a single-player browser-first Conquest battle, UK/Commonwealth 11th Armoured Division vs Soviet 2nd Guards Tank Army, on one fixed tactical map titled `Conquest of Helmstedt`.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 1, 2, and 2.1; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` Purpose.
Experiment coverage: EXP-00, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: none for the first slice.
Implementation notes: Assault and Raid naming patterns are future mode patterns, not selectable variants in the current prototype.

### Rule ID: BTL-002
Name: Conquest victory and defeat
Status: approved
Rule: Win by holding enough capture-point value to drain enemy command score, or by destroying the enemy Advance Command Post after Phase C opens. Lose if player command score reaches zero, all deployable combat groups are wiped, or the Forward Command Post chain is destroyed with no recovery path.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 2.
Experiment coverage: EXP-04, EXP-06, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: exact command-score values and drain rates.
Implementation notes: The Forward Command Post loss should create a recovery objective rather than instant defeat unless no combat force remains.

### Rule ID: BTL-003
Name: Battle session features
Status: approved
Rule: The playable battle must support pause, manual save, autosave on tab visibility loss, restart scenario, and completion from start to win/loss.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 2, 9, and 14; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-10 and EXP-14.
Experiment coverage: EXP-10, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: final storage format and migration policy are deferred.
Implementation notes: Use `serializeBattleState()` and `restoreBattleState(snapshot)` only as planned contracts until EXP-10 proves them.

## Deck, Decklist, Card, And Fixture Rules

### Rule ID: DCK-001
Name: Decklist owns configured entries
Status: approved
Rule: An army organization is the historical force pool; a deck is a reusable playable force package; a decklist is the configured scenario/player/AI/saved fixture. `DecklistUnitEntry` owns phase, loadout, transport/passenger/equipment choices, `cardCost`, `cardCount`, `unitRequisitionCost`, wonder eligibility, and command-post availability metadata.
Source: `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Terminology and Organization, Deck, And Builder Contract.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-06, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: production deck-builder UX and campaign-wide deck management.
Implementation notes: Authored card identity must not own per-decklist availability or cost choices.

### Rule ID: DCK-002
Name: Card, category, type, and roster boundaries
Status: approved
Rule: A card appears in one primary category only. Category drives roster tabs; unit `type` drives tactical/popover rendering and rules class. Roster maps are derived UI projections, not persisted production schema objects.
Source: `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Terminology, Categories, Phases, And Configurations, and Single Source Fixture Data; `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md` Unit Type Axis And Transport Model.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-09.
Open questions: final production schema naming.
Implementation notes: Do not treat `roster` as a persisted domain object except when describing current prototype derived views.

### Rule ID: DCK-003
Name: Fixed slice decks and provisional fixtures
Status: provisional
Rule: The first slice uses fixed UK 11th Armoured and Soviet 2nd Guards Tank Army decks with Phase A/B/C rows from the vertical-slice spec. Fixture values such as damage, penetration, suppression, cost, build time, cooldown, resource income, and trait magnitudes are prototype tuning values.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-06, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: final balance, exact card counts, exact costs, and full deck expansion.
Implementation notes: Fixture data should conform to `research/unthinkable/unit-data-schema.md`; runtime exceptions must be recorded rather than silently normalized.

### Rule ID: DCK-004
Name: Historical display stats are not balance knobs
Status: approved
Rule: Vehicle, tank, aircraft, and support-transport display stats such as speed labels, operational range/Fuel rows, armor facings, health, and ammunition display should derive from sourced `realWorldStats` through a fixed conversion rule. Balance through `cardCost`, `cardCount`, `unitRequisitionCost`, phase/band placement, facility gates, unlocks, and availability.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 3.3; `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Categories, Phases, And Configurations.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-07.
Open questions: exact conversion rules and balance values.
Implementation notes: Do not adjust historical display rows to tune tactical strength.

### Rule ID: DCK-005
Name: Build-order compatibility
Status: approved
Rule: A build order is attached to a decklist and must encode compatible scenario and deck/decklist identity. Import rejects incompatible versions, scenario ids, deck ids, unknown units, unknown transport/passenger/loadout/configuration values, malformed phase data, or unsupported configuration values.
Source: `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Build-Order Compatibility; `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md` Scenario Naming Rule and Canonical State Shape.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-10.
Open questions: later payload migration from prototype aliases.
Implementation notes: `OWBO1`, `conquest-of-helmstedt`, and `deckFixtureId` are current prototype-compatible identifiers.

## Deployment Plan And Build-Order Compatibility

### Rule ID: PLN-001
Name: Deployment Plan owns pre-battle queue state
Status: approved
Rule: The Deployment Plan flow owns editable pre-battle planning state: selected phase, selected tab, add mode, queue, overlays, modals, build-order import/export status, and confirmation. After confirmation, tactical entry consumes a frozen queue.
Source: `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md` Purpose, State Vocabulary, Canonical State Shape, and Events And Transitions.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-09.
Open questions: production refactor timing.
Implementation notes: Current mutable globals are acceptable prototype implementation details; future work should preserve the documented state relationships.

### Rule ID: PLN-002
Name: Planner transport binding is initial-only
Status: approved
Rule: In decklist and Deployment Plan screens, a transport stays bound to its infantry/gun card as a per-card companion plus display-only cost delta. There are no independent transport queue or roster units in the planner.
Source: `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md` Transport-binding boundary; `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 3.4 and 4.1.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05.
Open questions: full tactical remount behavior remains separate.
Implementation notes: Do not mutate planner queue, imported build-order payloads, deck identity, or roster data when tactical runtime dismount/remount behavior changes.

### Rule ID: PLN-003
Name: Deployment Plan does not run comeback logic
Status: approved
Rule: Phase progression comeback awards are tactical-battle behavior only. The Deployment Plan must not compute score pressure, award command-structure upgrades, alter build-order strings, or add deck cards.
Source: `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md` Phase Progression Comeback Boundary; `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Phase Progression Comeback Rule.
Experiment coverage: EXP-06, EXP-10.
Open questions: exact pressure threshold tuning.
Implementation notes: Tactical runtime owns the pre-transition score-pressure snapshot and resulting command-structure state.

## Tactical Phases And Comeback Rule

### Rule ID: PHS-001
Name: Phase storage and player-facing labels
Status: approved
Rule: Store phase values as `A`, `B`, and `C`. Show Phase A/B/C in deck building and deployment planning. Tactical battle announces phase starts with short newsreel-style popup labels: Phase A/Vanguard, Phase B/Main Body, and a dynamic Phase C label such as `[Nationality] Breakthrough`, `[Nationality] Commitment`, or `Stalemate`.
Source: `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Phases; `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 11.
Experiment coverage: EXP-06, EXP-09, EXP-14.
Open questions: final scenario-specific copy variations.
Implementation notes: Tactical phases are continuous real-time windows, not turns.

### Rule ID: PHS-002
Name: Command-post-gated availability with timer phase transitions
Status: approved
Rule: Phase B and Phase C may arrive on timers with warnings and transition popups, but deployable unit availability remains gated by built command posts and facilities unless later approval changes the core spec.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` Tactical Battle Sequence Map; `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 6.
Experiment coverage: EXP-06, EXP-09, EXP-14.
Open questions: exact transition timing and warning cadence.
Implementation notes: Timer transition events should refresh availability through `availableCards(deck, commandPostState)`, not through deck mutation.

### Rule ID: PHS-003
Name: Phase progression comeback award
Status: approved
Rule: On Phase A to B and Phase B to C, the tactical runtime snapshots score pressure before advancing. If exactly one side is meaningfully behind, that side receives one automatic free command-structure upgrade. It must not grant score, units, wonders, requisition, income, resource stockpile, facility, or combat effect.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 6.1; `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Phase Progression Comeback Rule.
Experiment coverage: EXP-06, EXP-10, EXP-14.
Open questions: threshold tuning, with 20% of victory target as provisional starting point.
Implementation notes: Player-facing copy should be pressure-relief wording such as `Emergency command upgrade granted`; debug output may include transition, pressure values, gap, threshold, and award result.

## Command-Post And Facility Availability Gates

### Rule ID: CPF-001
Name: Battlefield base surfaces
Status: approved
Rule: The command-post system is a small battlefield base. Forward Command Post starts Phase A; Assembly Area supports infantry depth; Motor Pool/Tank Park unlocks Phase B armor and recovery; Artillery Battery/Fire Direction Center unlocks artillery and smoke; Air Liaison unlocks air cards and air recon; Advance Command Post unlocks Phase C and the wonder slot.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 6; `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Unit Availability Gates.
Experiment coverage: EXP-06, EXP-09, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: exact facility gate matrix and faction-specific display names.
Implementation notes: Use planned `CommandPostState`, `buildCommandPost(kind)`, `commandPostTick(dt)`, and related contracts only after EXP-06 proves them.

### Rule ID: CPF-002
Name: Locked units must expose their facility gate
Status: approved
Rule: A locked unit must name or derive the facility surface that unlocks it. The facility unlocks unit availability; it does not imply deck editing.
Source: `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Unit Availability Gates and Current Prototype Audit Notes.
Experiment coverage: EXP-06, EXP-09.
Open questions: whether enemy inspection cards derive gates from AI build model or display explicit hints.
Implementation notes: Current UK Phase B/C cards with missing `Requires` detail need scoped audit before fixture edits.

### Rule ID: CPF-003
Name: Battle economy resource categories
Status: provisional
Rule: Battle economy uses manpower for baseline deployment and infantry reinforcement, fuel for armor and Motor Pool/Tank Park escalation, and munitions for artillery, smoke, air, and wonder activation.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 6.
Experiment coverage: EXP-04, EXP-06, EXP-09, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: exact income, stockpile, and cost numbers.
Implementation notes: These economy resources are separate from per-unit tactical charges.

## Transport, Mount/Dismount, And Organic-Crew Vehicle Rules

### Rule ID: TRN-001
Name: Transport-lift vs organic-crew vehicle
Status: approved
Rule: Transport-lifts are detachable carriers or tractors with their own driver and can carry/tow eligible units. Organic-crew vehicles are deployed units whose crew is the unit; they cannot be mounted, dismounted, or re-crewed by other infantry.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 4.1; `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md` Organic-crew vs transport-lift.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: per-vehicle audit of all edge cases.
Implementation notes: Recce Carrier is organic-crew; Recce Patrol is infantry with a small-lift default.

### Rule ID: TRN-002
Name: Transport eligibility model
Status: approved
Rule: Infantry carry if lift capacity is greater than or equal to squad size. Weapon teams and guns tow if the lift tow class matches the gun class. Per-card overrides supply defaults or ordering only.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 4.1; `design/unthinkable/deployment-plan-state-model.md` Organic-crew vs transport-lift.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05.
Open questions: final capacity, size, and tow-class magnitudes.
Implementation notes: `On foot` and `Static` remain valid zero-delta baselines for comparison and exceptional deployment states.

### Rule ID: TRN-003
Name: Tactical dismount and free remount boundary
Status: provisional
Rule: Initial pairing comes from the decklist. In tactical runtime, deployed carried infantry may dismount, leaving the transport as a free battlefield asset. Any eligible infantry may later mount any free transport using the same eligibility model, but arbitrary free remount may be deferred from the first playable slice.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 4.1 and section 13.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-13, EXP-14 for initial pairing and basic dismount; none yet for arbitrary free remount.
Open questions: whether free remount ships in the first playable.
Implementation notes: A transport's mounted-passenger reference belongs to runtime `UnitInstance` state, not card rows.

## Cover, Suppression, Capture, Resources, And Tactical Charges

### Rule ID: CSC-001
Name: Cover states
Status: approved
Rule: Cover has open, light cover, and heavy cover states. Open applies full incoming suppression and damage; light cover reduces suppression and small-arms damage; heavy cover gives stronger small-arms mitigation but remains vulnerable to artillery, flame, and close assault.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 5.1.
Experiment coverage: EXP-03, EXP-07, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: directional cover implementation details.
Implementation notes: The prototype must show why an infantry unit survived or broke.

### Rule ID: CSC-002
Name: Suppression states
Status: approved
Rule: Infantry-like units use normal, pressured, suppressed, and pinned states. Vehicles may receive a lighter shaken equivalent for artillery or air shock, but do not use infantry pinning in the first slice.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 5.2.
Experiment coverage: EXP-03, EXP-07, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: exact thresholds and recovery curves.
Implementation notes: Suppression states should alter movement/fire intent through a state machine such as `suppressionTick(unit, incomingPressure, dt)`.

### Rule ID: CSC-003
Name: Five capture points
Status: approved
Rule: The Conquest map uses five capture points: two resource points near the player, two near the AI, and one central command point with strongest command-score pressure. Ownership controls resource rate and command-score drain; center matters without making side points irrelevant.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 5.3; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-04.
Experiment coverage: EXP-04, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: exact contest, income, and drain math.
Implementation notes: Planned runtime contracts include `CapturePointState`, `incomeTick(state, dt)`, and `victoryPressureTick(state, dt)`.

### Rule ID: CSC-004
Name: Per-unit tactical munitions and fuel charges
Status: provisional
Rule: Armed units carry `munitions` charges and firing spends one charge. Vehicles, tanks, and aircraft carry `fuel` charges and moving or relocating spends one charge. Logistics cards have one `logisticsKind`, either `munitions` or `fuel`, plus finite `cargoCharges`. Resupply/refuel restores up to two matching charges and spends one cargo charge.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 4.2; `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Categories, Phases, And Configurations.
Experiment coverage: EXP-05, EXP-07, EXP-09, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: final charge counts and UI affordances.
Implementation notes: Wrong-resource restoration is disallowed; non-combat abilities cost zero unless authored ability definitions add `resourceKind` and `cost`.

## Combat, Abilities, Smoke/WP, Minimum Range, TOT, And Burst Deferrals

### Rule ID: CBT-001
Name: Basic combat resolution
Status: experiment-needed
Rule: Runtime combat must cover weapon range, target selection, health, damage, suppression consumption, destroyed/retreat states, and visible loss explanation.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-07; `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 14.
Experiment coverage: EXP-07, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: final penetration tables, weapon catalog, fog of war, and balance.
Implementation notes: Planned contract is `combatTick({ units, weapons, coverQuery, dt })`.

### Rule ID: CBT-002
Name: Observer, air, and area-targeting abilities
Status: provisional
Rule: FOO improves friendly artillery attacks against targets in the observer's vision. Q Observe improves detection while holding weapons. W Strike Ground targets a ground point with ground-capable weapons, unavailable on unarmed Auster. E Area Patrol focuses aircraft around a selected area with role/weapon-based priority.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 6.2.
Experiment coverage: EXP-07, EXP-09, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: final FOO eligibility and exact accuracy/scatter benefits.
Implementation notes: Deployment Plan may show compact metadata, but should not add a full ability-documentation panel to the pre-battle screen.

### Rule ID: CBT-003
Name: Manual infantry engineering abilities
Status: deferred
Rule: Plant Demolition, Lay Mines, Bangalore Breach, and Lay Smoke are deferred manual abilities. They require future research on plant/lay/breach times, cooldowns, blast/mine-field magnitudes, detection, trigger models, smoke radius/duration, and LoS blocking.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 6.2 and 13.
Experiment coverage: none yet.
Open questions: ability timing, costs, penalties, detection, and trigger models.
Implementation notes: Sappers may plant faster through `Demolitions Expert`; magnitudes remain deferred.

### Rule ID: CBT-004
Name: Grenade auto-fire vs manual throw
Status: deferred
Rule: Current slice rule treats infantry grenades as auto-resolved weapon fire that spends a munitions charge and is range/target driven. A Company-of-Heroes-style manual grenade throw ability is an open experiment and deferred.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 4.2 and 13.
Experiment coverage: none yet.
Open questions: whether manual grenade becomes a later ability.
Implementation notes: Demolition charges and mines are not auto-fire weapons.

### Rule ID: CBT-005
Name: Smoke and WP separation
Status: deferred
Rule: Lay Smoke is a non-damaging targeted utility smokescreen that blocks line of sight. White phosphorus is a separate incendiary weapon that screens and burns/suppresses with damaging stats. Aircraft smoke-laying and multiple smoke/WP fitment audits are deferred.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 6.2 and 13.
Experiment coverage: none yet.
Open questions: LoS block model, delivery methods, fitment accuracy, and WP damage/suppression resolution.
Implementation notes: Do not collapse WP into the utility smoke ability.

### Rule ID: CBT-006
Name: Minimum range, TOT, and burst models
Status: deferred
Rule: Weapon `rngMin`, display-only derived `TOT`, and averaged `rof` exist as provisional/tunable display values. Runtime minimum-range dead zones, aircraft release/arming geometry, real crew-lay timing, first-round accuracy curves, per-shot traverse geometry, and burst-length/sustained-fire modeling are deferred.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 13.
Experiment coverage: none yet.
Open questions: future sim model details.
Implementation notes: Current burst behavior approximates sustained-fire differences statically, including water-cooled gun advantages.

## AI, Save/Reload, Performance, HUD, And Wonder Rules

### Rule ID: SYS-001
Name: Baseline tactical AI
Status: experiment-needed
Rule: AI must capture nearby points, contest center, build Phase B/C surfaces, preserve some units, use artillery/air/wonders only after prerequisites, defend damaged command-post surfaces, avoid cheating visibility for baseline decisions, and be able to lose.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 8; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-08.
Experiment coverage: EXP-08, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: final difficulty tuning and production-grade tactical AI.
Implementation notes: Planned serializable contract is `AiIntentState`.

### Rule ID: SYS-002
Name: Save, pause, autosave, reload, and restart
Status: experiment-needed
Rule: Pause stops simulation while camera/UI remain usable; manual save and autosave produce a recoverable state; restart resets the scenario without reloading the whole app; restore preserves unit positions, health, suppression, captures, build queues, resources, AI plan state, cooldowns, and orders.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 9; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-10.
Experiment coverage: EXP-10, EXP-14.
Open questions: schema versioning and validation details.
Implementation notes: Planned contracts are `serializeBattleState()` and `restoreBattleState(snapshot)` with deterministic entity ids and validation errors.

### Rule ID: SYS-003
Name: Performance ceiling and browser feasibility
Status: experiment-needed
Rule: The first playable prototype targets 60 fps on modern desktop browser, provisional draw calls under 100, representative ceiling starting around 40-60 active unit groups, no visible simultaneous-movement hitches, and save/restore without duplicate entities or corrupted command-post/capture state.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 10; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-11.
Experiment coverage: EXP-11, EXP-14.
Open questions: actual ceiling and worst-frame sources.
Implementation notes: If browser cannot meet the ceiling, desktop-wrapper fallback is packaging, not gameplay rewrite.

### Rule ID: SYS-004
Name: Tactical HUD projection
Status: experiment-needed
Rule: In-battle UI must project selected unit state, health, suppression, veterancy, traits, current order, cover preview, capture ownership, command-post surfaces, build progress, damage, unlocked phases, deployable roster, resources, wonder checklist/telegraph, pause/save/autosave status, and AI pressure without exposing hidden AI state.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 11; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-09.
Experiment coverage: EXP-09, EXP-13, EXP-14.
Open questions: final visual design and card-detail parity.
Implementation notes: Planned contract is `projectBattleUi(state)` returning read-only projections.

### Rule ID: SYS-005
Name: Wonder slot governance
Status: approved
Rule: Each side has exactly one active wonder slot in the slice. Future decklists may choose zero, but never more than one active `DecklistUnitEntry` wonder candidate. Active wonders must be Phase C, require Advance Command Post and battlefield-control prerequisites, telegraph before effect, be one-use or long-cooldown, and show source caveat for stretch or what-if content.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 7; `docs/decklist-rules-alignment.md` Wonder Governance.
Experiment coverage: EXP-12, EXP-14.
Open questions: final balance and alternate wonder roster.
Implementation notes: Preferred slice wonders are Trial Centurion Mk1 and IS-3 Guards Shock Group.

### Rule ID: SYS-006
Name: Wonder telegraph and counterplay
Status: experiment-needed
Rule: UK Centurion and Soviet IS-3 commitments must be gated, declared to all players, telegraphed, and answerable. They cannot appear before Advance Command Post and battlefield-control prerequisites.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` EXP-12; `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` sections 3.1, 3.2, and 7.
Experiment coverage: EXP-12, EXP-14.
Open questions: counterplay timing and exact activation route.
Implementation notes: Planned contract is `WonderState` with brought commitment, prerequisites, source caveat, declaration, warning, activation, cooldown/use count, arrival route, and counterplay status.

## Explicit Deferrals And Experiment Intake

### Rule ID: DEF-001
Name: Out-of-scope systems
Status: deferred
Rule: Current slice excludes campaign map, formation-token movement, auto-resolve, strategic AI, refit economy, multiplayer, netcode, matchmaking, accounts, payments, analytics infrastructure, production observability, full deck builder, all Central Germany decks, re-armed German campaign unlock, all expansion fronts, final art/audio, production content tooling, and durable database/storage decisions.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 13; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` Purpose and Experiment Rules.
Experiment coverage: none yet.
Open questions: future roadmap sequencing.
Implementation notes: Do not reopen these during localized tactical experiments unless a later approval changes scope.

### Rule ID: DEF-002
Name: Runtime contract promotion discipline
Status: approved
Rule: Experiments should isolate one risky mechanic. Runtime state remains separate from authored card data. Promote runtime structures such as `UnitInstance`, `CommandPostState`, `WonderState`, AI intent, and battle snapshots only when their contracts are stable enough for save/reload.
Source: `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` Experiment Rules; `research/unthinkable/tactical-vertical-slice-spec.md` section 12.
Experiment coverage: EXP-01 through EXP-14.
Open questions: none for the experiment plan.
Implementation notes: Throwaway DOM, styling, debug controls, and fake fixtures should stay behind unless explicitly compiled forward.

### Rule ID: DEF-003
Name: Experiment intake entry format
Status: approved
Rule: When an experiment proves, changes, defers, or supersedes a mechanic, update this register by editing the existing rule entry or adding a new one with Rule ID, Name, Status, Rule, Source, Experiment coverage, Open questions, and Implementation notes.
Source: this register; `research/unthinkable/tactical-battle-experiment-plan.md` Experiment Rules and Test Plan.
Experiment coverage: EXP-00 through EXP-14.
Open questions: none.
Implementation notes: New entries should cite the experiment path and any promoted compiled-battle contract once implementation exists.