I definitely agree. Even when a BRP game did insert a small nod to 'realism' that involved slight additions (like the mace halving chainmail protection, in Hawkmoon) I tended to disregard it. Stormbringer 1 always brought the feeling of flashing sword booming on dented shield, all the excitement of favorite books and movies, and it still does it better than anything else I have found. And most importantly, it does it without distracting from the storytelling, which was (I thought) the whole point of rpgs. Every version of BRP does to some extent, but SB1 always has been my 'sweet spot' for rules vs. playability. With some of the wildness toned down (I didn't make players take beggars or use the Elemental Lords casually, for instance).
Books/stories that I always thought SB1 captured perfectly, besides the Elric stories of course: Conan, David Drakes' 'Dragonlord' and 'Killer', Nifft the Lean stories, Wandor, The Lost Prince, Coramonde, Sir Walter Scott stories, 'Men of Iron', the list just goes on and on. The system just helps tell the story without bogging down in details...and the variable armor system is a big part of why it does.
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