Yes, they did. That is why when they announced Spearhead is gonna be paid feature general reaction was "WAT?!". Because what is Spearhead if not an improvement people are looking for? Taking that the possibility of pincer attack is presented on the official wiki I presume we can call it "normal".
I am looking forward to see what can be achieved in patch alone though.
The problem I have with this is that an armoured spearhead attack is almost as trademark as it gets when it comes to European WWII offensives.
How will this work if you don't have the DLC? Will the AI - Germany still be useless at punching through lines with tank divisions? Or will the AI be allowed to use it, just not the player? If that's the case, then how can they justify charging for a feature that they deem essential for the AI to work properly, but not essential for the players game experience?