IMHO, compared to the 3rd one, the 4th has a plus that is equal to the minus you described. In the 4th, there isn't that huge amount of rules and prohibitions that exist in the 3rd. Of course, in the 3rd they are all designed for random games, but take a look at the current "Seasons" tournament.
For example, this

On most maps, Dimension Door and Fly are disabled. + Diplomacy skill is disabled for Ryland, Kira, and Adela + the possibility of any hero obtaining it. + Heroes such as Sir Mullich, Logisticians, Ciel, Luna, etc., are disabled. For 4th-level Specialists and Tanta, the specialty spell has been replaced with Arrow or Blindness.

And some other things are disabled separately on specific maps.
In the 4th, however, often only secondary magic skills and navigation with invisibility are disabled on maps. Rarely are certain 5th circle spells disabled. And that's it! Even then, disabling skills is not done for balance, but only to speed up the game. That is, in the 4th, people play it as the devs made it. Or rather, they fixed its obvious bugs and that was it.

Ves azart ot togo kak ty snosish polchisha ,svoimi sotnjami chto bilo v 3 chasty propal

What hordes? Everything is wiped out in the 1st-2nd week, read the reports. Neutrals in the 3rd are times stupider than in the 4th. They get blatantly lured into corners, shot by ballistas, etc.

i chto eti zhe 1000 skeletov mogut sdelat v 4ke ?

Against an opponent's army — not much. But for a second front, about 200 skeletons are quite suitable at the start of the game.
By the way, depending on the map, hobbits can be effective.