Social poll.

Firstly, in HD, the replayable autobattle in online play is only possible without mana; the only caveat is that its turn depends on whether bug fixes are enabled (in short: can you use the Hive with Hydras or not?).
Secondly, what specifically from the "heap of stuff" that comes with the Autobattle do you dislike?
Here's a list:
1. The ability to protect maps and saves with a password?
2. The inability to use the transparent 'terra incognita' def?
3. The ability to start the game timer only after closing the window that informs the player that their turn has been passed?
4. Displaying MP?
5. Highlighting creature turns and a new cursor shadow in battle?
(The other features of the tournament extensions work even without both players using the same version).

But isn't it just him who liked the replayability of the quick battle? The question would be better phrased differently. For example, what is more preferable in other versions of the mod than in the newest ones? And it turns out that in 2.98 there is MP display and simply the ability to use quick battle combined with bug fixes. In RC5, you can replay the SoD quick battle. SoD's motivation is based on Hydras, while VT's is based on saving time (there's a chess timer there). And the new versions limit. To some extent, they even impose the mod's features. Of all the listed points, only point 3 can somehow affect the gameplay (and I have already noted that a pure SoD player, unfamiliar with the mod, will not suffer any consequences. Since the fact that a player does not use the mod may, in general, indicate a lack of tournament ambitions, and he will not care what version is on the other end). So, everything can be used freely without restrictions.
By the way, regarding point 2. In battle, the very bottom status bar seems to have expanded (in height) and is now overlapping the resource information panel.

I have the feeling that the problem is not with the functionality of HD, but with the unwillingness to understand it (too many words in the description?).

It is still quite difficult to understand the functionality of the third version for the uninitiated, and especially for a beginner. And if you can figure out the visual part of the settings, i.e., what is displayed in the interface, then it is sometimes not possible for even experienced users to cope with the descriptive, multifaceted functionality. Many people who are not sophisticated in the concepts of working with files want a simple installation without unpacking archives. Then, in the game itself, there should be a button to display the current options. Sometimes you can forget what option is being played.

The main part of the tournament features of HD were made at your request, and for you, the local community!

Everyone understands this perfectly. And they are only happy. Routine work on fixing errors is underway. And with Quick Combat, it just turned out to be a fluke. The author wanted to make a pleasant surprise, introduced it (and I think that he was rather prompted to do so by his own overwhelming creativity at that moment, and not, so to speak, by the urging of the "heroic" pushers), and then canceled it... For the sake of objectivity, it should be mentioned that the author discovered a bug in the QC mechanism, fixed it, and presented it in a new form. But. Give a child an ice cream, and then take it away. Bug fixes still need to be addressed systematically. For example, remove them comprehensively and taking into account the opinions of the players. There are other bugs in the game of comparable magnitude that affect gameplay, and they remain in the game. So, a conditionally "good" bug was removed, but many others still exist in the game.

And now it turns out that I did something wrong, and we are arguing and fighting.

This only applies to the situation with QC. It's not easy to try to put the genie back in the bottle. But this is a natural working process. It's not without its thorns. When everything is smooth, it becomes boring :)