Fantastic looking board, and I love the genre. Can you tell me more about the rules? Are they specifically for this period?
As to the markers, I am afraid that they are here to stay and most of the games that I play use them to excellent effect. In my opinion, they are a decent trade off for less off-table bookkeeping and forgetting important factors. The notion that they " spoil the look of the game" may be true, but strike me as very much a hold-over from the early 21st century Chris Peers school of war gaming where he's constantly chiding us in his rules not to use them ;-) I do agree that for photos meant to show off painting and terrain one can pick them up, however. YMMV.