@strigvir I agree with you; I use the gate connectors in the way you describe: basically once one gate colour is strong enough, you can connect it to another and take over vast areas of the map very quickly; there is no "corridor by corridor" fighting, it's just a big overwhelming land grab at the end (not that it isn't satisfying, of course! ;-) )
I quite like the numbered-connectors that are in some of the other CSM maps, allowing you to join specific gates, rather than all gates of the same colour.