Im sorry, but though i mostly agreed with your first statement, "trying to meet every enemy movement by turning into him, facing him forward" was exaclty that real pilots in real war did.
You're referring to maxim number 6 of Boelcke's Dicta, where it states;
6. If your opponent dives on you, do not try to evade his onslaught, but fly to meet it.
However the logic behind this maxim is something very different from just turning and meeting everyone in a HO angle everytime.
In fact, waiting while enemy will attack from your 6 before counteract (scissors, barrel roll, etc) far more gamey. This is possible (and preferred) because of luck of "death/fear" factor in game, we can afford that risk because we will not die then we loose. If somebody attack you, you are in danger already. Turn toward him and your enemy in danger too, he cannt just shoot in you w/o rist to get hits. That is how "death/fear" factor works in RL.
Not having to HO doesn't necessarily mean you wait for the enemy to do something so you can turn the tables against it. Like you mentioned such a "passive" response is another 'gamey' method, most usually preferred by the vets against a n00b attacker.
However, like mentioned above "turning into the enemy" is a move that holds a lot more purpose than just to bluff a HO. The logic is totally different. Boelcke specifically describes the situation as "if the enemy dives on you", which implies a situation where the enemy pilot has alt advantage on you and is coming with a typical diving attack pass.
He demands you must 'turn into the enemy' because that will present a situation where the enemy pilot must take a snap shot in a very steep dive at high speeds, where the window of opportunity is small and the lead angle is extreme. Not only that, but also according to how the enemy plane 'recovers' his dive after missing the shot against you, it might present a good opportunity to turn the tables.
In other words, Boelcke's not suggesting to take a HO shot everytime someone attacks you. He's saying you must be more aggressive in your counter maneuvering to minimize the chances of being shot down while maximizing the chance to turn the tables, instead of just passively watching the bad guy come down on you and then moving out of the way when he's close.
Again, this is something very different from the typical HO situation encountered in the MA. It is also very different from what happens in real life, where the tactical environmnet concerning aerial combat is very different from both our MA and the skies of WWI, when Boelcke came up his with Dicta. In WW2, by far the most preferred method of defense is the Luftberry circle, dragging the bad guy around in a practiced standard turns so some other guy can come and clear your six.
Calling HO as "gamey way" just silly wrong.
The "gamey HO" is as gamey as the pilot behind it. Since many pilots in the MA are gamey in their way of thinking, calling the standard "HO" tactic so preferred by these same people "gamey" is only fitting.
