A bit more criticism regarding the template: the color has a significant impact. In World Tree, it was possible to balance it somewhat with trading. Here, I'm not sure how...

Added 1 hour 15 minutes ago
A couple more points.
Are rests needed? If so, how many?
Should passing by a shifted structure be prohibited?

Regarding the color, the situation is unpleasant, I agree. Possible solutions include making a bank or giving blue a little more gold (the question is, how much), and of course, how easy it is to implement. And ultimately, blue has a slight advantage on a small map with resource points.
Regarding restarts, I don't think it's a very important issue; one restart won't take much time. It's only needed if you don't want to play with that particular pair of castles.
Regarding the shifted guard, perhaps the prohibition should remain to avoid an encounter on the first turn, although this scenario is unlikely. It's open for discussion.