Distinquishing between games focused on tactics versus strategy is useful, but calling this distinction "combat as war versus combat as sport" is not. For one, it is misleading because sports do not universally or even generally lack strategic layers; if you engaged in any sport to compete even at a low amateur level, you'll know this.

For two, if people know and understand what words "tactics" and "strategy" mean, you can just use those words. Seriously. The need to define idiosyncratic colloquialisms like "combat as war" strictly is a self-created problem. It's a simple analogy most people with two brain cells could get from the original description. In any situation where the original description is not enough, the correct solution is to ditch the analogy and find better words to describe your point. In this case, the exact terms already exist and eliminate need for the analogy.