Tools, Techniques Forum is way more than that???

No investigation needed

it is not a forum, it is a group, just like the "Modeling Subjects" group,,,,,,and in the "Home » FineScale Modeler » Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials" Group, there are six forums, grouped together,,,,,,,,just like the multiple forums in the "Modeling Subjects" group

I see. I guess my issue is that if I want to see all posts for Painting, I can't by just subscribing to Painting because only the original post shows up in my news feed.  The replies all get lumped into this Tools "group". So then I see lots of replies from other groups I'm not following, i.e. Photography.