You're definitely right, a watch doesn't Need to cost a kidney to be interesting. The Tissot in steel is a great offer, and slim proportion is a quality compared to the others (VC and Montblanc especially). Only Patek has also good proportions.
Now the lugs: too thick? I think it's part of the design and it gives some personnality. Exactly like the duometre. Both case are not far away and I suppose it would appeal to you as the duometre does. I won't be that hard on that point but this is subjective.
More objectively, the caliber finish and size seems closer to Tissot than to the other we see, the rotor lacks even the geneva stripe of the Tissot. Although it looks at first competitively priced I would have expected a bit more for 5000€ . The transparent caseback was not a necessity here, I would have hide that...
Another problem with all the WT except Patek is the size of the caliber, whether the module takes some place or it's an older small caliber. And so it's difficult to get a correct sized caliber through the caseback. Vacheron, Motnblanc Tissot, all have that problem except the Patek again.
But I understand you will prefer the dial of the Montblanc compared to the Tissot, definitely a big plus. Thanks for underlining the "lambert projection", that gave me a smile.
At 5k€ for steel and 14k€ for Pink Gold, it's nearly a new market position for this complication. It's hard to compare to Patek or Vacheron because of the difference of finish especially on the caliber, and in the high Price range, even though I am a Vacheron lover, Patek wins it all the way, a true Icon. Everything is great in the Patek WT: proportions, caliber look and finish, dial... It's hard to compare and actually a watchmaker shouldn't face it directly, it's so good.
In the lower Price end, there is only the Tissot maybe some others with ETA calibers and this Montblanc. The Tissot is unbeatable, but the dial and the practical touch may bring some customers to multiply the financial effort by four.