I watched the Gold Squadron Podcast this afternoon and they pretty much said the same things regarding timings, which makes sense.
I quite like the change to bids and have to say, I wouldn't be bother if the initiative was on a dice roll each turn - not really any different to Malifaux and it really makes you think about planning ahead in case you don't get the initiative. Don't have much time for people who come in with a huge bid to get the initiative because the only way they can win is if they can go last.
The discussion around banned lists and restrictions was interesting. Not sure on the banned lists, although I understand the logic. I think restrictions on the numbers of X that you can take is probably a better solution, it's something we've all experienced in other games. Maybe in tandem with being able to take a pool of 125pts (random number pulled out of thin air) from which you select your 100pt list from for that game. Again, not much different from some Mailfaux Tournaments where it's just fixed faction.
Not that any of it is really going to effect me much as I'm hardly a big (or even small) tournament player.