ORIGINAL: KG Erwin
Minefield, I would think that in a PBEM match, one would be limited to choosing units from the nation they represent, as opposed to picking & choosing from the various nations. This is what I meant about "gaminess". Do you want a reasonably historical matchup, which is what SPWAW is all about, or a "fantasy" game?
While your experiences with PBEM may have led you to believe it was gamey, not all PBEM games are created equal. Some players prefer not to be limited at all in force selection, some prefer reasonable force selection (not all Tigers and Panthers), and some want very strict force selection based on the formations present at that location at that time. It is all up to the players to discuss this beforehand so that they have an enjoyable game. Of course not all battles in WWII consisted entirely of one nation against another. Some players like to play Allies vs Axis, and this is where the accuracy of the minor nation OOBs comes in.
This variety in game play can be found in solo play as well. There are some scenarios that use historical force selection and some that are purely 'what-if' or even really out there (tank-o-rama comes to mind).
Obviously I'm striving for a more historical gaming experience. My preferences over at the Depot state that I prefer not to face motorcycles, cavalry, and bicycles unless there is proof they were involved in combat for the time period and nations we are using. I believe these units are modeled poorly and I get tired of seeing cavalry repeatedly rally and run through the fire of multiple MGs to assault a tank. My activity on this post shows my efforts to point out errors in the OOBs so that players will be aware of this beforehand. It is very unlikely that a player will be able to use his edited OOBs for PBEM as the other player would have to go through the OOB to make sure it was corrected rather than modified for cheating. So all we can do is point out the units that are screwed up and ask our opponents not to use these. The 8 cost infantry squad and the panther with an extra main gun are just a few examples.
Since one nation's OOB is limited to x number of units, the designers often put less common units in other nations as another person has stated above. Czech's OOB contains some German units IIRC. So it is not far-fetched that someone would want to use minor nation units in a battle--it might even make the battle more historically accurate.
