\documentclass[12pt,titlepage,a4paper,twoside]{article}
    \include{packages}

    \renewcommand{\thesection}{}
    \renewcommand{\thesubsection}{\arabic{section}.\arabic{subsection}}
    \makeatletter
    \def\@seccntformat#1{\csname #1ignore\expandafter\endcsname\csname the#1\endcsname\quad}
    \let\sectionignore\@gobbletwo
    \let\latex@numberline\numberline
    \def\numberline#1{\if\relax#1\relax\else\latex@numberline{#1}\fi}
    \makeatother

    \title{$title$}
    \newcommand{\subtitle}{$subtitle$}
    \newcommand{\wordcount}{$wordcount$ \xspace}
    \author{Some Author}
    \date{2018-01-01}

    $if(wordcount)$
    \include{header-footer}
    $endif$

    \begin{document}

    $if(wordcount)$
    \input{title}
    \tableofcontents
    $endif$

    \thispagestyle{empty}
    \cleardoublepage
    \setcounter{page}{1}

    $body$

    \end{document}
