Revisiting Combat as Sport vs Combat as War

[Duff]

Fairnes and using the rules as they are intended is not the expectation in a figt that is Combat as War. The only goal is to win, by whatever means necessary. Using cheesy exploits in the rules is not considered bad sportsmanship, it's regarded as the right way to play. The way that the game is supposed to be.

I disagree on this point. The "combat as war" mindset can be done as a character choice and still be played within the spirit of the rules. You might say the players are doing "combat as sport", just from a slightly more zoomed out perspective where the rest of the world and underhand tactics are part of the game. So your players in the bee fight won't use rule exploits (and might even not use particularly optimised builds) but will use owlbears and mud and fire to win the fight.
I refer to the characters which don't try to do this a simple thinkers - They see a problem and they work out how to solve it with the tools they have. They fight a monster using their best skills, weapons and tactics, but aren't looking to change the world so they don't have problems (or the problems are easer to solve).

If you're exploiting the rules ruthlessly, your players are also approaching it as "conflict as war".
Heavily optimised characters walking into a fair fight might even be characters approaching combat as (high stakes) sport with players playing CAW