Some people like rules-light games and some like rules-heavy games.
For example, the Captain's Edition of Star Fleet Battles covers a lot of ground, but a bunch of new players aren't going to be able to open it up and play it with alll options available in one evening.
BattleTech was originally easy to start with, but as rules got added, it became less of a beer-and-pretzels game. The same can be said for Car Wars.
I think the Company lists are quite useful. They serve as examples and can also be used for new players or to save time (so you can play rather than work through a spreadsheet). Also, not everyone uses metal miniatures -- I'm happy to use markers or paper minis close enough to what they represent (sorry, I hate painting minis and do a terrible job anyway).