Everything you've drawn here applies to a game with leveling and classes. I am talking about tempo and capturing buildings. Yes, I prefer the Chaos patch, and that is not by chance. Of all the implementations and innovations, I consider only the level 2 build-up, three starting stacks, the magic overhaul, and well—troop transfer—to be worthy additions to the Chaos patch. Everything else only adds randomness and levels out (not balancing the map, which was what Chaos aimed for when making the chaos patch), but rather levels out player skill. With classes, 4-way supporters, leveling—with each of these innovations, more randomness is added. I wrote somewhere before that I try not to push for capturing Dragon Utopia, precisely because that is also random. Yes, it's easier for me to win on class than to devour cons and Dragon Utopia in week 1 like breakfast sandwiches. That's why I'd rather play when I have an exit from a one-way path and one road from spawn, than if the opponent has a 4-way supporter in the opposite case.

You are touching upon too deep a topic. Including one-way paths won't solve this problem. Something else is needed here—fixing Dragon Utopia, giving less money, placing meaner guards, cutting cons and hives, etc.

However, I'm not sure that's the right path. From recent impressions—Roland's game with Vasya in Kingisepp under Chaos rules. In all my time playing Heroes, I've never been torn apart so one-sidedly; there were always some chances to find something, maybe snag some angels or at least build and level an army. But there, with a poor layout, it was impossible even to run away—as soon as I stepped out of spawn, I was taken down.

The reason I'm so fussy about one-way paths is that they never balance layouts; rather, the opposite—they add imbalance. Someone gets a decent piece of the map with hiding spots, cons, and Dragon Utopia, while someone else is trapped in a stone bag of 1-2 zones with murky prospects of getting out anywhere within a reasonable timeframe.

Your nostalgia for Chaos rules is associated in your mind with one-way paths, although there they are more of a companion than the constructor of gameplay.

P.S. I have a template project that (I hope) satisfies both your and my wants. Maybe something will come of it.