Pointlessness

Why my posts have become less frequent lately.

So Warhammer: Age of Sigmar is out, and it has no point values, and the old time WFB players are
pretty upset.

Lots of wargames, particularly historical games, have no points, relying on either a game master or a player to set up the armies and the victory conditions for each scenario.  Such games can be quite satisfying, and are often a convention staple.

Moreover, point systems are quite often flawed. Listen to wargamers complain, and it's almost never about rules or rules systems, it is about army lists and unit points.  Are they too high?  Are they too low?  Are the overpowered?  Does this unit "suck"?  More often than not, it's the point value of the unit that we complain about, not underlying the rules representation.  

When I design games, the point values give me more anxiety and heartache than any other factor in the game.  They are the hardest to tell if I've gotten them right, whether the balance is there or not.

Why not just take Sigmar's hammer to points, and obliterate them altogether? What purpose do points serve?  What is the point of points?

It seems to me that points serve several purposes in wargames, which are quite useful:

1) Points are a social convenience.  Any two players who are familiar with a game can throw down a scenario, choosing roughly evenly matched forces.  But it takes time, and coordination.  The players need to meet, agree, negotiate, and design.  It's work.  Points make it possible to have pick-up games.  Make a list at point value X, show up at the store, and play your opponent's X point list.  You don't need to know your opponent, or his army, or ever have met him before. Moreover, a list gives a certainty that you can find an opponent.  I can safely buy and paint model X, and I will always find an opponent, as long as my list is "legal."

2) List design is creative. People like making lists. Johny likes lists because he can play with themes and units.  Spike likes lists because he can hunt for a competitive advantage. It's fun to tinker and customize.  Codices and army books suggest army designs.  "I'd like to do a 1939 tank army."  "I'd like to make a drop pod army."  "Hey, did you see you can make a list of nothing but cavalry? With a train, too?"

These positive factors often outweigh the negatives of a pointed game, and all the crazy balance problems they bring.

I don't know if Age of Sigmar is going to fly or flop.  (My money is on flop.)  But without points, it's departing radically from the features