No, people fall for marketing tricks all the time.
So tell me this.
How many chargers have you had fail? How many batteries do you ACTUALLY have? I'll bet my next paycheck that it's way more than four batteries, and no failed chargers.
Kits are cheaper than bare tools + separate batteries, thus people who are deep into cordless tools end up with way too many batteries than necessary. So for the 20 or something tools that you have, how many hands do you have to operate them all at once? If you have more than three batteries of a specific brand/voltage, you can't reasonably use all three continuously as a single person.
Your hypothetical situations on what "could" happen is driving your paranoia, and is leading you to form weird needs for super extra hyper redundant systems, that really gets you nothing.
You get to badger everyone w/ your Milwaukee pride though I guess, which, like any deep loyalty to any specific brand, reduces your credibility down to very little. Try something new for once, variety is the spice of life, and then you can talk more intelligently and make objective comparisons having actually tried something new.
the vast majority of people on this forum will all agree that when it comes to cordless tools, investing in a good line is a better option then investing in seperate platforms for just 1 or 2 tools and ending up with a drawer filled with seperate batteries and chargers. It would be nice if you could get your point across without passing insults in every thread you appear in.
I can think of 4 dead chargers I have off the top of my head. 2 18v Bosch, (I have 3, only one works now and I had to buy the other 2 off eBay) a paslode, and a Dewalt just at home. I know I replaced at least 6 or 8 Dewalt 18v batteries before I sold off or gave away most of those tools. At work dead Dewalt chargers can be found all over the place. (Not cause Dewalt is bad, it's just what they order using conventional methods and we have a lot of employees) some guys in here swear they can't get more than 2 years off Milwaukee battereis - probably cause they juggle the same couple over and over, and use the tools heavily. Batteries, chargers and tools all break.
I have / had a multitude of cordless stuff. What I have on hand between work and home now - Dewalt 18v, 12v, 20v. Bosch 18v, craftsman Nextec 12v, black and decker 7v (I think it is, they are old but lithium) , Milwaukee m18, m12 both brushed and brushless, paslode, a few hilti tools laying around somewhere. Maybe 50 or so cordless tools between 2 work trucks and home. Maybe even more, I don't even wanna know. Not including all this other cordless stuff that just takes wall chargers like some lights I have.
I finally got tired or juggling chargers, batteries - and with the advent of lithium and brushless tools I spent DAYS online reading and comparing before I started buying Milwukee stuff. It was hard to switch from Dewalt. I still own and buy competing tools from both brands. I have one truck outfitted with Dewalt and another with Milwaukee. It just worked out that way from different things I got from different places. My brushed Milwaukee impact driver is stronger than my brushless 20v Dewalt. My brushed m18 sawzall cuts better and feels better than my 20v dewalt, esp with the rubber fore grip. My $89 Dewalt 20v spot light is a clunky toy compared to my new M18 search light that is a spot/flood/hybrid light, and IP65 rated. I never intended to amass the amount of Milwukee stuff that I have - but every purchase has exceeded expectations and Ive been very happy with them, which is a common trend on here and why the Milwaukee addiction thread is one of the most popular threads on here. Everything else sits quietly in a bag except for my Milwaukee stuff at home. There just no reason to grab anything else, and the M18 & M12 combo charger is big help. I can keep the batteries for my tools and my heated jackets on the same charger. Having multiple chargers for the same platform is a big help too, cause I can charge my personal stuff at work too when I bring in heated gear instead of having to lug a charger to every different truck I might be working out of. If I know I'm walking into a bad situation, like storm damage, I can grab extra batteries from home to keep cordless lights going all night. When Milwaukee releases their new cordless cable cutter, I can have the vendor just order the bare tool, and save some $$ instead of trying to get a greenlee that would need its own charger and batteries. At some point people DONT need extra batteries and chargers, and you just buy all the bare tools you want at a lower cost.
The fact is though - Milwaukee started the whole race for a competitive brushless cordless 1/2" impact in the general consumer market. Theirs is the oldest, and still one of the best. Not because of what I think, but becuase of its track record and huge following from eveyone else that owns it. Every other big tool company copied and followed Milwaukees's model. NOBODY came close to their torque specs when it was new, and it's been years now and still nobody has released anything that really exceeds it by a wide margin. The top 3 contenders are all very close. The mere fact that Snap On demos against the Milwaukee in their events says something. I persoanlly own the Milwaukee fuel 7/16 hex drive impact wrench, their fuel 1/2" impact, their fuel 3/8" impact, their fuel 1/4" impact driver, among many more. I cant imagine juggling different batteries and chargers for every one. It just doesn't make sense "to chase torque specs" as someone put it... Esp when Milwaukee is in the top tier for all those models.
As far as 1/2" impacts go (which is what the OP asked about) - There are other choices now - and info is posted on most of the considered brands in one of my above posts so he can make his own choice.