A very good point, sir .... hadn't really thought about that too much .....
I've thought about it a lot. Really a lot. If you're flying around the entire map in F3 view, you aren't using fog of war, even if we could somehow trace line of sight and only display units that the CinC can actually see... forget about the game's fog of war calculations, units blinking in and out of existence with half the enemy shown one minute and the other half shown the next... talk about a nightmare. That free helicopter ride gives you a situational awareness that no one had 200 years ago.
The free roaming F3 camera is much better used during a replay if you want fog of war during the game at all. If you are using fog of war, the replay, with fog of war turned off, is the only way to see what went on during the battle. After a multiplayer game both sides would watch the replay, then discuss it. "I didn't have any idea you had so many forces on the left flank." "Good job sneaking around my right flank." "So that's where all those cavalry came from!" If you don't watch the replay, you'll never see this kind of thing. Watching the replay is half the fun of a multiplayer battle.
Are people not used to having replays?
Hook