Desert StormTeam planner

Shareable user guide

Build fair teams with confidence.

A practical guide to adding players, collecting weekly requests, building Team A and Team B, publishing the war plan, and completing attendance.

20 starters per team 10 substitutes per team Three-week rotation history Updated October 2026
1

The complete weekly cycle

Quick start

If you already know the planner, this is the shortest route from a new week to a finished plan.

Prepare

Set the week

On Overview, enter the new planning period before changing registrations.

Register

Load fight requests

Use Import to load Team A, Team B, or a combined request list.

Review

Check player status

Confirm registration, availability, eligibility, player type, and any manual overrides.

Publish

Finish the war plan

Review warnings, publish, assign map positions and substitutes, then export the plan.

Recommended habit: finish the previous week’s attendance before starting the next planning period. This keeps the three-week rotation accurate.
3

Before importing anything

Start a new planning week

  1. Open Overview.

    Find the Planning period box near the top of the page.

  2. Enter the correct week label.

    Use a clear label such as Week 43, then select Update.

  3. Check the status cards.

    The overview shows registrations, the 60 available weekly places, team readiness, and whether the plan is still a draft.

  4. Resolve last week first, if needed.

    If the previous plan is still published, record attendance before beginning the new cycle.

Why the label matters: request imports lock against the current week label. Do not import a new list while the planner still shows the previous week.
4

Roster management

Add and maintain players

Use one record per real player. Name aliases let the importer recognise old names, spelling variations, and later name changes.

Add a player manually

  1. Open Players and select Add player.

    A roster record form opens.

  2. Enter the current player name.

    Add old names or common spellings to the aliases field, separated by commas.

  3. Choose their weekly team request.

    Select Team A, Team B, or Both. When Both is selected, the Preferred team is used if the teams need the same number of players.

  4. Choose the player type and weekly status.

    Set their type, registration, R3 eligibility, availability, and any temporary override.

  5. Enter the previous three weeks.

    For each week, record team, role, attendance, and whether the player signed up. The order is oldest to newest.

  6. Select Save player.

    The player appears in the roster and becomes available to team planning.

Regular (white)

Rotates normally and must be paired with a dedicated substitute when placed in a white starting position.

Flexible (blue)

May rotate if troops are low. Blue players do not require a substitute pairing on the war plan.

Protected (yellow)

A protected core player is locked as a starter when requested, eligible, and available.

Weekly override

Choose Automatic, Starter, Substitute, or Week off. Automatic should be used for normal rotation.

Overrides are cleared when the week is completed.
Registered

The player requested to take part this week. Unregistered players stay on the master roster but do not enter normal selection.

Available and R3 eligible

Both should be enabled for normal selection. Turn either off when the player cannot participate.

Making weekly changes: on the Players table, update Registered, Available, or Override for several people, then select Save weekly changes. Use the pencil button when you need to edit a full player record.

Fix duplicate names

Open Names when one person appears more than once. Choose the correct record under “Player to keep,” choose the duplicate, and merge them. The duplicate name becomes an alias and useful history is retained.

Check both selections carefully. A merge changes the roster record and cannot be undone from the screen.
5

Weekly registration

Import the fight requests

The weekly request import tells the planner who wants Team A, Team B, or either team. It is separate from importing the master roster and attendance history.

Weekly request list

  1. Open Import.

    Scroll to “Upload this week’s fight requests.”

  2. Choose the list coverage.

    Use Combined A + B, Team A names only, or Team B names only.

  3. Upload a CSV or paste the names.

    Each row needs a player name and team. Existing names and aliases are matched automatically.

  4. Select Import and lock requests.

    A combined import locks both teams. A single-team import locks only that team so the other can still be loaded later.

  5. Review the matching log.

    Check exact, alias, approximate, and newly created matches before building the plan.

A — Team A only B — Team B only A + B — either team
Name,Team Voloki,A Shepherd,B Hadi,BOTH
Imports are intentionally protected. After a team’s first successful weekly import, that team is locked for the planning period. This prevents a later upload from clearing or overwriting the request list.

Master roster or attendance import

The upper import panel accepts the downloadable roster and history templates. Choose Merge to preserve existing players while matching aliases and similar names. Choose Replace current roster only when the uploaded file is intended to become the entire roster.

Use Replace with care: it replaces the current roster data. For normal weekly registrations, use the fight-request section instead.
6

Fair selection rules

How the planner builds teams

The planner fills each team from eligible weekly requests, applies protected players and manual overrides, then uses recent participation and attendance to make the remaining choices.

20starters per team
10substitutes per team
Starter
→
Substitute
→
Week off
  • Only registered and eligible players enter the normal weekly pool.
  • Regular and flexible players must also be available and not subject to a previous-week no-show omission.
  • Requested protected players are placed into starter positions before the normal rotation.
  • Manual overrides are honoured before automatic assignments, provided the requested role has space.
  • Two attended substitute weeks give a player extra priority for a starter position.
  • Attendance, no-shows, recent roles, and sign-up consistency influence the automatic recommendation.
  • Players who selected Both are allocated where capacity is most needed, with their preferred team used when the need is equal.
Recommendations are not permanent assignments. The plan remains a draft until you publish it. You can correct status or add an override and then review the refreshed draft.
7

From draft to battle-ready

Review, position, and publish the teams

  1. Check readiness on Overview.

    Each team should show 20/20 starters and 10/10 substitutes. Resolve any warning before publishing.

  2. Open War plan.

    Review the draft assignments and week-off lists for both teams.

  3. Select Publish plan.

    This locks the generated assignments as the current published plan and enables exporting, alliance mail, replacements, and attendance.

  4. Open the position editor for each team.

    Place all starters into support or map positions, arrange substitute order, and set each starter’s during-DS type.

  5. Pair every white player with one unique substitute.

    Saving is blocked if a regular white player does not have a substitute or the same substitute is assigned twice.

  6. Select Save & publish positions.

    The visible war plan updates immediately.

  7. Export and communicate.

    Use Download PNG for the visual plan and Copy mail for the combined alliance message.

Yellow — STAY

Protected player. Remains in position during the battle.

Blue — MAY rotate

Flexible player. May rotate when troops are low; no substitute pairing is required.

White — WILL rotate

Regular player. Must rotate with the dedicated substitute shown below their name.

Do not regenerate casually. Regenerate & publish rebuilds the plan from current roster rules. Use it only when you intend to replace the current assignments; otherwise use the position editor or Replacement tab.
8

Last-minute changes

Replace a player without rebuilding

Use the Replacement tab when a published starter or substitute pulls out and you need a direct one-for-one change.

  1. Make sure the plan is published.

    Direct replacements are applied only to the current published plan.

  2. Open Replacement.

    Filter to Team A, Team B, or Both to show the team card you need.

  3. Choose the player pulling out.

    The list contains that team’s currently selected starters and substitutes.

  4. Choose the replacement player.

    The replacement can be any currently unselected player from the full roster, including someone normally associated with the other team or not registered that week.

  5. Select Apply replacement and confirm.

    The incoming player takes the outgoing player’s role and map slot.

  6. Create fresh exports.

    Download new war-plan images and copy the alliance mail again after every replacement.

The two players must be different. The incoming player must also be unselected. If someone already appears as a starter or substitute in either team, they will not be available as a replacement candidate.
9

After Desert Storm

Record attendance and complete the week

  1. Return to War plan.

    Open “Complete this week & record attendance” below the published plans.

  2. Record every selected player.

    The choices are No, Yes, and Late. Attendance defaults to No so no player is accidentally recorded as attending.

  3. Use Mark all Yes when appropriate.

    Then change only the late players and no-shows. This is faster for a well-attended battle.

  4. Select Complete week.

    Confirm only after every result has been checked.

Completing the week: moves the new result into each selected player’s three-week history, clears manual overrides, and returns the planner to a draft state for the next cycle.
10

Common questions

Troubleshooting

A team has fewer than 20 starters or 10 substitutes

Check that enough players are registered, eligible, and available. Also review no-show omissions and manual overrides that may be using a full role.

A player is missing from the request import

Search the Players and Names tabs. Correct their current name or add the submitted spelling as an alias, then review the import matching log.

The request import says the team is locked

This is expected after the first successful import for that week. Confirm the planning-period label before importing a new week.

A position will not save

Every selected starter must appear exactly once. Every white player needs a different substitute, and each selected substitute must appear once in the substitute order.

A replacement player is unavailable

The player may already be selected in Team A or Team B. Only currently unselected roster players appear in the incoming-player list.

The exported plan is out of date

Any saved position change or direct replacement updates the published plan. Download the PNG and copy alliance mail again after the last change.

Final weekly checklist

  • The planning period shows the correct week.
  • Team A and Team B request lists have been imported and checked.
  • Player eligibility, availability, types, and overrides are correct.
  • Both teams show 20 starters and 10 substitutes.
  • Every white starter has a unique substitute.
  • Positions have been saved and published for both teams.
  • Fresh Team A and Team B PNGs have been downloaded.
  • The latest alliance mail has been copied into the game.