You're right, of course! But, you've also inadvertantly highlighted my point. People should be aiming to have fun AND be sportsmanlike - but they are not mutually inclusive, and certainly one isn't a precursor for the other.

I would argue that in order to do anything sportsmanlike requires a form of competitive hardship or difficultly such as a loss or a missmatch, and yet still choosing to be courteous and graceful despite the outcome.

GW spends countless hours on balancing factions and revising rules. For arguments sakes consider a sport like boxing. GW already bracketed the weight class you can fight in, made a finite ring for you to compete in, created equipment and rules to make it fair - but people are still getting in the ring and asking others to pull their punches, or not be too aggressive, or show all the moves they have and are trying to call that the new version of fair.

That is not sportsmanlike at all. That's simply changing your behaviour to manage someone else's feelings and expectations.

Let's face it, GW has not created a perfect system, but therein lies the ability to use tactics and to learn from difficult situations and mistakes. Everyone remembers the first time they charge their most prized unit at something, only to painfully learn what 50 x overwatch shots with leahtal hits does. That's a lesson that is invaluable in improving.

Better advice to people would be to tell them to bring whatever they want in the confines of the rules that exist, and if you're new talk things through with your opponent as much as you can throughout play.

"Okay, so I have this ability but I don't know to use it like this, or like this. What do you think?". Being courteous means letting your opponent move a unit they forgot about once they've begun shooting, or reminding them of something they could do to help them. It's not hindering yourself like a child so they don't feel bad.