I think he means the reality of war, one of the main reasons not to have pregnant women or children in the game and be content with the present level of abstraction in that sense. Although none of this justifies pikes through walls 

Sorta. I think the Iphicratean peltasts were like that.

Actually the modern game as we know it (not counting pong, which is a sports game lol) originates from TTRPGs like DnD, which in turn come from the work of authors such as Tolkien.   Maybe your’s isn’t, I’ll have you know that I find reality very fun.  

https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/osprey-blog/2026/roman-cavalry-helmets/ Battle helmets began to evolve in the 2nd century AD, adopting what has become known as the pseudo-Attic form. An example from Theilenhofen (Germany) even incorporated a stylized moulded feather crest atop the bowl. Although still a copper-alloy sheathing over a ferrous core, they now imitated the classical Attic style of helmet in the actual bowl, although cheek pieces changed little in their form and decoration. Tinning was still used to emphasize the details of the underlying brass, so it might be said that battle helmets had changed while remaining essentially the same.   The Later Principate saw further developments, with another conservative throw-back form, the pseudo-Corinthian helmet, becoming popular for cavalry. These changes in design probably owe more to fashion than to changing needs, since the cavalry helmets of the Early, High and Late Principates are essentially the same: one-piece bowl, decorative skinning and independent hinged cheek-pieces. The pseudo-Corinthian form aped the larger cheek pieces of contemporary infantry helmets, however, and ultimately fused them into a single visor, leaving a T-shaped opening for eyes and mouth, as with a helmet from Heddernheim (Germany). It was then a short step for the two types of helmet – battle and face-mask – to reunite. Replacing cheek pieces with a visor on the pseudo-Corinthian type of battle helmet made it a simple matter to add a removable face mask into the T-shaped opening and, thus, two types became one with the hybrid Pfrondorf (Germany) helmet.  

Right. We are delighting in the challenge. The strategy. Competition. The history. For many, history is their "Fandom." Killing and destruction isn't the point. The drama is the point. Lessons learned and relearned. Achievement and politics.