I am sorry but you are demonstrably wrong. Even with the greatest degree of min maxing your skills will pale compared to someone five or six levels ahead of you and you wouldn't be able to come close to DC checks for skilled crafting even with a 19 roll. In regard to the backstory you are asking for a feature that already exists, your level. If you are level 1 and have a soldier backstory you didn't fight in many engagements and are not experienced. If you start at level 5 with a soldier backstory you've obviously seen more combat. Please stop holding on to something that is categorically false.
You're making comparisons inside the "game terms" logic, comparing a Lv1 character with a Lv6 character.
There's no "demonstrably wrong" here. The PHB doesn't state anywhere that a Lv1 character can only be a barely adolescent of your given race, with no prior life that would translate into XP. The PHB *does* let you chose backgrounds for your character. Said backgrounds usually involve past deeds and experience that, when done in a campaign, would already qualify as adventuring. How do you renconcile that with your strict interpretation of "character power in game terms" absolutely HAS TO EQUAL "character background in narrative"? There's no easy formula to this, and I believe campaigns and new characters at the beginning of campaign get much more interesting if they don't have to be "just starting out" all the time.
You seem to be approaching DnD from a strict game terms point of view and probably believe that narrative has to absolutely follow game terms to the letter. I happen to disagree, I find that approach impractical even, and needlessly restricting, and I've played enough campaigns where you start at Lv 1 without having to be a noob in both personality and accomplishments. I don't think there's some "truth" to be found here, it's, like many things in DnD, a matter of preference.
