>>96502373
Because the underlying physics are really hard for people to intuitively understand. With space combat, every unit and object is necessarily always moving, and braking is harder than acceleration. So if you are trying to model a ship vs. ship combat using a standard grid (with each ship or object represented by a miniature), you are left with the following unenviable options if there is any difference in speed between any of the units on the board:
1. Move each unit one by one at a given interval to "correct" for absolute positions
2. Correct positions by moving a smaller number of units relative to other units (which requires trigonometry and/or vector calculus)
3. Move the map itself under the miniatures (possible with vtts, good luck with physical)
4. Ignore representation of distance entirely and go for range bands

This doesn't even get into the problem of representing 3D and how accurate simulation of gravity would require you to use a 2D game board to model hyperbolic space. Pic related in how to map a complex hyperbolic tangent function over a standard 2D grid.

tl;dr I would absolutely love more space combat, but would anyone be willing to play it with me?

>>96502481
A true man of culture