I meant to make this post awhile back, sorry bout the delay. I used my design of the hex board and it went fantastic. To reiterate the board is in this setup.
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5
B1 B2 B3 B4
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
Start zones are A1 and C5
This setup made the games feel no different from the basic board whatsoever. So yay proof of concept. One of the only differences is that there are two extra spaces. This can mean a lot when it comes to zone exclusives but since the "board halves" are still accessible in two moves by any mage it changes little. A mage that relies on zone exclusives has almost no extra advantage either way. This formation also makes it so warlord doesn't have any disadvantage with his outposts.
Walls have already been discussed. I feel like the best way to do it is the "two prong" method as it allows you to make a wall across the whole board using three walls.
I found no other real change in gameplay as far as 1v1 goes. If I were to do any more I would likely use the shape originally discussed.
Anyway just wanted to update that hexes make a good substitute if you like them better even for 1v1. I just don't like squares since they can't do circle representation real well. But in a game like this it really doesn't change a whole lot I've found.