Proposed Divisions and Decks Roster - Omega War
Stage 2 research/design artifact review · staged cycle: proposed-divisions-and-decks-roster · page updated 2026-06-12
alignment_status: review - Stage 2 of 3 (artifact approval).
The non-canonical working packet is
The non-canonical working packet is
research/_working/preliminary-proposed-divisions-and-decks-roster.md.
This page summarizes the proposed playable roster, deck bands, forward command post unlock mapping,
campaign evolution rules, evidence caveats, glossary candidates, and the gated path to
research/proposed-divisions-and-decks-roster.md.
1. Recommendation Summary
First playable slice: UK 11th Armoured Division vs Soviet 2nd Guards Tank Army.
Base-game Central Germany recommendation: eight ordinary decks plus one conditional campaign unlock. West: 11th Armoured, US 2nd Armored, US 1st Infantry, US 82nd Airborne. Conditional West-aligned unlock: Re-armed German Kampfgruppe. East: 2nd Guards Tank Army, 8th Guards Army, 1st Polish Army, 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division.
Current revision state: Stage-2 feedback has been incorporated for 82nd Airborne identity, wonder-weapon options, command-post naming, and anti-rush governance. Canonical write remains blocked until the next final approval.
Route after approval: write the canonical roster proposal, then continue to
/game-genre-map.
1.1 Working packet and source posture
The full packet is the review source of truth:
research/_working/preliminary-proposed-divisions-and-decks-roster.md.
The packet reuses approved artifacts first and only performs targeted verification for promoted rows and genre-deck mechanics.
| Checked item | Finding used here | Source link |
|---|---|---|
| 11th Armoured / Comet | The Comet source identifies 11th Armoured as the first formation to receive Comets and the only division completely refitted with them by war's end. | Comet tank |
| 2nd Guards Tank Army | 2nd Guards Tank Army was the first Red Army tank army into Berlin; the Berlin Victory Parade displayed 52 IS-3s from the army. | 2nd Guards Tank Army · Berlin Victory Parade |
| 8th Guards / GSOFG | 8th Guards took Berlin's surrender context and appears in GSOFG with Guards rifle corps/divisions. | 8th Guards Army · GSOFG |
| 82nd Airborne | 82nd entered Berlin for occupation duty in August 1945 and was relieved in early November. | 82nd Airborne Division |
| Polish People's Army | Polish Land Forces grew from 370,000 in May 1945 to 440,000 in September; First Polish Army fought through Berlin and disbanded after the war. | Polish Land Forces · First Polish Army |
| Genre deck mechanics | WARNO/SD2/CoH3 remain calibration only: useful for card categories, activation points, transports, call-ins, and onboarding, not historical proof. | WARNO preview · CoH3 overview |
2. Roster Triage - RDQ1
| Priority | Deck | Bloc | Status | Archetype | Confidence / caveat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slice | 11th Armoured Division | West | Include | Armoured brigade group | High; Comet identity verified. |
| Slice | 2nd Guards Tank Army | East | Include | Guards tank shock | High; Berlin and IS-3 parade hook verified. |
| Base | US 2nd Armored Division | West | Include | US armored breakthrough | High; Berlin/Potsdam/Pershing identity carried. |
| Base | US 1st Infantry Division | West | Include | Durable line infantry | High; "division that stays" role carried. |
| Base | US 82nd Airborne Division | West | Include | Airborne pathfinder vanguard | High; Berlin occupation duty checked; revised toward highest mobility and brittle troops. |
| Conditional base | Re-armed German Kampfgruppe | West-aligned | Campaign unlock | Scarce rebuild | Medium; Unthinkable/custody support exists, stock scale remains capped. |
| Base | 8th Guards Army | East | Include | Guards rifle assault | High; Chuikov/Berlin/GSOFG support. |
| Base | 1st Polish Army | East | Include | Satellite mass | High/medium; growth role strong, exact deck list can wait. |
| Base | 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division | East | Include | Fire-plan | High historically; fun-risk needs prototype validation. |
| Backlog | Fronts 2-5 formations and local forces | Both | Defer / attachment-only | DLC/front-specific | Do not promote Danish, Italian, Austrian, or other local rows without a focused pass. |
Gate - RDQ1 Roster Triage required
Accept the include/defer/attachment triage above as the Stage-2 proposed playable roster?
3. Launch Roster - RDQ2
| Milestone | Roster | Why this size |
|---|---|---|
| First tactical slice | 2 fixed decks: 11th Armoured vs 2nd Guards Tank Army | Tests the full deck/base/band loop without requiring a deck-builder UI. |
| Base-game Central Germany | 8 normal decks + 1 conditional re-armed German unlock | Enough asymmetry for campaign variety; still small enough for a solo-dev front. |
| Later fronts | Expansion/backlog rows only | Prevents the divisions research pool from becoming an all-front launch promise. |
Gate - RDQ2 Launch Roster required
Accept the 11th Armoured vs 2nd Guards Tank Army slice and the 8+1 Central Germany base roster?
4. Deck Archetypes - RDQ3
Clarification for RDQ3: "British FOO" means a Royal Artillery Forward Observation Officer using the British artillery spotting chain, including Auster air observation where available. "CCA/CCB flavor" means giving the US 2nd Armored deck a combat-command identity: task-organized Combat Command A and Combat Command B battlegroups with flexible mixes of tanks, armored infantry, reconnaissance, tank destroyers, artillery, engineers, and logistics.
| Archetype | Decks | Gameplay promise | Weakness / risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armoured brigade group | 11th Armoured | Comet timing, Royal Artillery Forward Observation Officer/Auster spotting, mobile armor. | Infantry density must stay lower than infantry decks. |
| US armored breakthrough | 2nd Armored | Combat-command flexibility through Combat Command A/B-style task groups, Pershings, logistics. | Must feel like a flexible US armored combat-command deck, not a generic tank deck. |
| Durable line infantry | 1st Infantry | Reliable rifle/artillery core and long-campaign staying power. | Less flashy; persistence and objective design must carry it. |
| Airborne pathfinder vanguard | 82nd Airborne | Pathfinders, paradrops, forward-deployed beacons, rapid infantry concentration, and strong air-support coordination. | Highest mobility, but brittle troops, scarce armor, and limited staying power if tempo stalls. |
| Guards tank shock | 2nd Guards Tank Army | Deep-operation pacing from recon/desant to IS/ISU shock. | Infantry should stay thin versus mech/rifle decks. |
| Guards rifle assault | 8th Guards | Dense infantry, engineers, SU-76, urban/fortified assault. | Lower mobility and fewer heavy tanks. |
| Satellite mass | 1st Polish Army | Soviet-pattern tools with Polish identity and growth pressure. | Needs copy and card choices that do more than reskin USSR. |
| Fire-plan | 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery | Spotting, timed artillery, heavy support unlocks. | Must not become low-interaction artillery spam. |
| Re-arm rebuild | German Kampfgruppe | Scarce improvised force assembled under Allied desperation. | Highest framing and evidence-scale risk. |
Gate - RDQ3 Deck Archetypes required
Accept the archetype map and faction roles?
5. Card Rosters and Deployment Bands - RDQ4
5.1 Band contract
| Band | Deck meaning | Forward command post unlock surface |
|---|---|---|
| A - Vanguard | Recon, scouts, forward detachments, engineers, light armor, early team weapons. | Forward Command Post / Recon Post / Assembly Area. |
| B - Main Body | Line squads, standard tanks, assault guns, regular artillery, AT/AA, logistics. | Motor Pool / Field Workshop / Artillery Battery / Supply Dump. |
| C - Commitment | Heavy armor, breakthrough artillery, elite reserves, air/strategic support, one wonder slot if any. | Advance Command Post / Fire Direction Center / Air Liaison / Army Group Liaison. |
5.2 Representative card rosters
| Deck | Band A | Band B | Band C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11th Armoured | Recce, motor rifles, sappers, Cromwell support, 6-pdr/PIAT. | Comet, Firefly, 17-pdr, 25-pdr/Sexton, FOO/Auster. | Centurion stretch, Tempest/Typhoon, AVRE/Crocodile; Tortoise, Centurion trial troop, or RAF cab-rank strike only if wonder-gated. |
| US 2nd Armored | Cavalry recon, M8, armored rifles, engineers, M24. | Sherman 76/E8, Jumbo, M10/M36, M7 Priest, CCKW, M32. | M26 Pershing, Super Pershing wonder, P-47/P-51, Long Tom. |
| US 1st Infantry | Recon, rifle squad, engineers, bazooka, 57 mm AT, mortars. | Rifle mass, MG teams, 105/155 artillery, attached Sherman/TD, M16 AA. | Heavy artillery, air strike, veteran regiment card, limited armor attachment. |
| US 82nd Airborne | Pathfinder, airborne rifle, airborne engineers, bazooka, mortars, forward drop beacon. | Airborne MG/mortar, glider support, jeep/pack howitzer, forward air-control party, limited link-up armor. | Elite reserve drop, P-47 support, off-map artillery, emergency airhead reinforcement; heavy bomber carpet-bomb strike or mass combat drop only behind anti-rush gates. |
| German Kampfgruppe | Aufklarer, VG squad, Pioniere, MG42, Panzerfaust/Panzerschreck. | StuG, Hetzer, Pz IV/70, PaK 40, leFH 18, Flakpanzer stock. | Panther/Jagdpanther limited, IR package, Me 262 token; wonder only with framing gate. |
| 2nd Guards Tank Army | Razvedchiki, tank riders, T-34-85 desant, SU-76, sappers. | T-34-85 mass, SU-100, ISU-122/152, Katyusha, Studebaker. | IS-2, IS-3 shock group, rolling Katyusha barrage, heavy artillery, Il-2/Il-10. |
| 8th Guards Army | Scouts, Guards rifle, SMG squad, sappers/ShISBr, SU-76. | Guards rifle mass, Maxim/SG-43, mortars, ZiS-3, SU-76. | Assault engineer reserve, ISU support, heavy artillery, Il-2. |
| 1st Polish Army | Polish scout/rifle, sappers, 45/57 mm AT, Soviet support teams. | Polish rifle mass, T-34-85 attachment, SU-76/SU-85, ZiS-3. | IS-2 or 1st Armoured Corps-style attachment if campaign escalates. |
| 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery | Recon/FO, security rifle, sappers, ZiS-3, mortars. | 122/152 mm batteries, Katyusha/BM-31, supply/command, limited assault gun screen. | 203 mm/B-4 style heavy fire, breakthrough barrage, air-recon link. |
5.3 Wonder-weapon option menu
Wonder weapons are late-game pacing valves: one per deck, Band C only, expensive, visible, and tied to forward command post infrastructure plus battlefield-control or campaign-progress gates. They should break stalemates and create an earned snowball finish, not reward a greedy rush.
| Deck | Option A | Option B | Current direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11th Armoured | Tortoise assault gun detachment | Centurion trial troop | Keep as stretch; RAF cab-rank armored breakthrough strike may be cleaner for the slice. |
| US 2nd Armored | Super Pershing spearhead | Long Tom / 8-inch corps fire mission | Super Pershing is the clean identity option if rare and expensive. |
| US 1st Infantry | Corps heavy-artillery time-on-target | Veteran regiment full-strength call-up | Heavy artillery fits best; armor attachments stay campaign-dependent. |
| US 82nd Airborne | Heavy bomber carpet-bomb strike | Mass night drop / emergency airhead | Carpet bombing is attractive as an earned finisher, but it needs strong telegraphing and counterplay. |
| German Kampfgruppe | IR night-fighting assault package | Me 262 token strike | Use only under framing gates; avoid fantasy superweapon emphasis. |
| 2nd Guards Tank Army | IS-3 Guards shock group | Army-level Katyusha rolling barrage | IS-3 group is most legible and tied to the Berlin parade hook. |
| 8th Guards Army | Assault engineer storm group | Heavy ISU / artillery concentration | Assault engineers plus fire support preserves rifle-assault identity. |
| 1st Polish Army | Soviet heavy attachment release | Political surge / mass replacement wave | Prefer manpower/equipment surge over independent wonder flavor. |
| 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery | B-4 / 203 mm deliberate breach | BM-31 saturation barrage | The deliberate breach is the deck-defining finisher if maneuver weakness remains real. |
Gate - RDQ4 Card Rosters / Bands required
Accept Band A/B/C and the representative card-roster contract?
6. Forward Command Post Unlocks and Campaign Evolution - RDQ5
| Forward command post surface | Unlocks | Intent |
|---|---|---|
| Forward Command Post | Band A infantry, recon, engineers, light AT, basic supply. | Information and screen-building tools. This replaces modern FOB language. |
| Barracks / Assembly Area | More infantry, MG/mortar, medics/replacements. | Infantry decks feel deep before tanks arrive. |
| Motor Pool / Tank Park | Band B armor, halftracks, recovery, mobile AA, TDs. | Deck identity becomes a build-order commitment. |
| Artillery Battery / Fire Direction Center | Artillery, FO upgrades, counter-battery, smoke. | Artillery power requires visible investment. |
| Advance Command Post / Army Group Liaison | Band C heavy armor, elite reserves, wonder slot. | Late commitment moment, expensive and interruptible. |
| Air Liaison | Fighter-bomber/recon air and late strategic support. | Air is a base choice, not a universal button. |
| Field Workshop / Logistics Depot | Repair, recovery, veterancy preservation, refit options. | Bridge to campaign persistence. |
6.1 Campaign evolution
| Deck family | Evolution rule |
|---|---|
| US | Points/Pacific events threaten availability; individual replacements preserve cards but dilute veterancy/cohesion. |
| UK/Commonwealth | Demobilization, dated departures, and cannibalization create hold/release choices. |
| USSR | Corps-to-division consolidation and cadre rebuild let burned formations return changed. |
| Polish People's Army | Growth adds manpower and Soviet-pattern kit, but command dependency limits independent wonder toys. |
| Re-armed Germans | Mid-campaign unlock after re-equipment event; stock cards arrive unevenly and with required framing. |
Gate - RDQ5 Base Unlocks / Campaign Evolution required
Accept the forward command post unlock surfaces and faction-specific campaign evolution rules?
7. Governance, Glossary, Evidence, Write
7.1 Governance rules
- Every playable deck row must carry a status: slice, base, conditional base, backlog, attachment-only, flavor-only, or reject.
- Every card row inherits the arsenal zone dial: baseline, stretch, or what-if.
- Wonder cards stay one per deck, Band C only, named and documented; they are earned late-game finishers with anti-rush gates.
- Re-armed German decks require POW/custody-remobilization framing; no romanticized Wehrmacht continuity.
- Genre precedent calibrates interface/economy only, never historical plausibility.
Gate - RDQ6 Roster Governance required
Accept the confidence, wonder-slot, local-force, and re-armed-German framing rules?
7.2 Glossary candidates
| Term | Proposed definition |
|---|---|
| deployment band | A dual-purpose deck and battle-gating bucket: Band A Vanguard, Band B Main Body, Band C Commitment, unlocked through forward command post surfaces. |
| refit culture | A faction-specific campaign persistence rule for how a deck repairs losses and preserves identity. |
| campaign unlock deck | A playable deck withheld from the opening roster until a campaign event makes its availability and framing legible. |
Gate - Glossary Candidates required
Which glossary terms should be appended at Stage 3?
7.3 Evidence and gaps
- German depot-stock inventory totals remain unresolved; re-armed German scale stays medium and conditional.
- Soviet division granularity below army/corps remains uneven; exact data implementation needs a later formation-list pass.
- Danish, Italian, Austrian, and other local rows remain attachment/flavor until a focused expansion-front pass.
- Fire-plan deck fun is unproven and should be prototyped.
- Wonder-weapon options are design-level. The 82nd bomber strike especially needs telegraph, cost, counterplay, and balance proof before data lock.
Gate - Evidence Completeness required
Is the targeted roster pass sufficient for a canonical proposal?
Gate - Canonical Write required
Approve writing research/proposed-divisions-and-decks-roster.md at Stage 3?
Gate - Post-Approval Route required
After Stage 3 writes the canonical roster proposal, what happens next?
8. Compile
Feedback-only YAML
Use for revision requests without answering every gate.
Final approval answers
Aggregates all 10 required gate questions plus any section feedback. Enabled when every required gate has a selection.
Page: alignment/proposed-divisions-and-decks-roster-omega-war.html · review · 2026-06-12 · proposed-divisions-and-decks-roster (Stage 2 of staged workflow)