I want more hours of grinding for points to show off a shiny General icon.
not at launch, there will be a hidden skill “rank” at launch, for matchmaking. In a few weeks time (1 or 2 wk? I don’t have link to the official post about your question), I believe they said the usual public, visible ranking system will be incorporated - a sort of pre-season they call it
So there will be a trueskill rank like in HW1, but it won’t be visible? As long as we get something like the HW1 ranking system in the near future I will be happy. 
This is what they’ve said:
> 17. Will Halo Wars 2 launch with a competitive multiplayer ranking system?
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> Halo Wars 2 will have skill-based matchmaking taking place under-the-hood to ensure that players are matched into fun, competitive games online.
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> This shouldn’t be confused with the player’s “Spartan Rank” which is tied to XP progression, not skill. Since all new players start with a provisional skill rating it’s not uncommon for players to potentially match with/against players who have a higher Spartan Rank until their true skill rating settles. Still, it’s important to note that Spartan Rank does not correlate to player’s skill at all.
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> Shortly after launch the team will be instituting a formal ranked competitive system into the game that’s similar to what’s offered in Halo 5. This intentionally isn’t included at launch for a few reasons:
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> * First, a social/unranked environment is going to be more inviting and less stressful and allow players a chance to get familiar with the game, the units and the multitude of strategies and tactics at their disposal.
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> * Second, delaying a ranked seasonal model also allows the development team to monitor and respond to any balancing issues that usually only arise after players have spent considerable time exploring units and developing strategies and synergies. It’s easier for players to be exposed to these “hot-fixable” issues in a social, no-stakes environment than in the midst of heated ranked competition.
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> * Lastly, we’re looking to time ranked playlists/seasons with DLC releases which allows the team to roll in any new fixes or tweaks that couldn’t be addressed via a “hot fix” and the introduction of new leaders is a natural opportunity to reset and roll-over a new season.
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> Overall this is definitely something the team is passionate about and takes seriously so for now, at launch, think of it as a “pre-season” and help us refine the game with your feedback and then we’ll kick off a proper ranked playlist season cadence shortly after.