"Skill of the player" means the ability to win by choosing the right combat tactics. If a battle is won only due to, for example, morale dropping 3 times in a row or a spellcasting stack (Wizard, Master Djinn) casting exactly the spell we need, or a creature's special ability triggering (blindness, petrification...), then that's also a grind, and in the end, a "fast" playthrough will take no less real time than a "slow" one, due to the need to replay each battle about 50 times.
I don't understand the authors who create maps of size XXXXXXXL: in the same time that a player spends on one such map, they could complete half a dozen normal ones. Personally, after about 8-9 in-game months, even a good map starts to bore me, and here...
I also strongly disagree with those who, like one author on YouTube, believe that the Town Portal makes the game too easy and should be banned. And if the Town Portal is also banned on an XXXXXXXL map, then it's scary to imagine how much time it will take to complete the game.