Thanks for your reply @piers.

Just me being anal, I have trouble with a lot of painted figurines especially in the 20mm to 28mm scale. I know that the hobby should be expressed in a way so everyone should enjoy it their way and that an artist has the right to express themselves.  To this end we have seen some amazing painting styles come out of fantasy and science fiction.

Some of these styles have started to come across to WW2 historical gaming. I collectively call them super realism. Under this pop your eyes and blow your mind styles colour goes well off base on historic vehicles. Even using the argument of the were many suppliers and reasons to create a huge variance in a given colour, these colours are still off base. Just like any other styles it is starting to develop its own rules such as what I mentioned about helmets earlier. I have to keep reminding myself that many of the young players of WW2 wargames are not here for the history.  As it States in the Bolt Action rulebook that it is here to recreate battles of a Hollywood style and feel  rather than a historical recreation. I am in no way mocking BA as it is WH40K version 4 at its core and they are a solid rule set. Back in the 90s we played 40K WW2 and had a lot of fun with it.

I don’t believe I can say that I should have the freedom to take a British WW1 army and use blitzkrieg tactics in 1918 and remain historically accurate, by the way it can be done. For my anal core if you  chose an army you are taking on the good with the bad, including their thinking or ways of doing things or in other words its doctrine.  I play purely within that doctrine and well documented field tactics for the time of the battle. I have never felt that I am giving up freedom or robbing myself of a chance or winning a game either. The players in my group say that any game against me is hard fought and that everyone of my armies look and feel different.  So for myself I am very anal about doctrine and enjoy running my plan through its framework that tends to point out mistakes in your plan. So if I am considering a new army the first thing I try to get my hands on is its field manual.

I have no issues with people doing things their way, it just rubs my anal sensibilities the wrong way. 😉