I have always run tons of variants and faced the "romanticism" people have for standard. Even minor adjs that really improve (IMHO) the game like Milan somehow make the game "sacreligious"(yes have been hit with that term). When I was 10 I was already an SPI/AH wargamer; games with true realism; complexity; historical accuracy. Dip was a kids game played when had non-wargamers in a group. I never could get many WGs to play it once rules like beleagured garrisons; no supply lines; 1 german army not > 2 russian armies (tannenberg/mansurian lakes); etc came up. No variant can stretch dip up to the level of the wargames but they are what can get done so I do them. I'd sacrifice balance for historical feel any day but Standard & some variants work as games. I & A are not as big underdogs as people make them out. People get too caught up in the mysticism of dip vs just playing it.