Transparent base gives more 'body' for lack of a better word to paint when it has been over reduced, without changing the colour value of the reduction. I love Wicked paints for their versatility, and the fact that I find their transparents very vibrant especially when cleared, and use them all the time on a variety of surfaces from automotive, to fabric. But it is fair to say different colours perform differently, and require different mixing. For instance the yellow I have is very thin right out of the bottle, and I rarely need to reduce it, even at low pressure, the moss green by comparison seems much thicker and benefits from filtering, and I usually tweak the pressure a bit. So it is possibly just a case of getting to know your paint (which I think is true with any brand) , it soon becomes second nature and not something you have to think about, and maybe adjusting your technique distance/angles etc.
People prefer different brands for different reasons, and if you are only intending to paint on paper/board then maybe you don't need the versatility of Wicked, but may find E'tac or Com-art more suitable. However, IMO Wicked can perform just as well, I have an Iwata eclipse hp-cs, which is .35 nozzle, so not the smallest, and can get what I consider very fine detail, so don't worry that you have wasted your money, just play around until you get to know it, and maybe try something else next time if you feel you need something they may be more specifically suited to what you intend to paint.
