Ideas and suggestions.

Strictly speaking, Indre doesn't need an unlimited timer. He streamed the other day. He's fine with the seasonal timer plus an extra minute or two per turn.
In general, if someone doesn't understand why a timer is needed in Heroes, they should watch Indre.
He is perhaps the most prominent representative of the perfectionist type of gameplay, where playing Heroes becomes a work of art.
It is this art that Wick is trying to destroy with his speed-up features.