#3 has been used (and banned in SGOTM) in Civ IV to map terrain. #1 and #2...well...those pre-date even IV
. They're very handy though, same thing with "use one of worker's movements, start improvement, cancel, continue to destination 2 hexes away you actually want to improve", because it gives you a turn of improvement on a hex you'd have otherwise put nothing into improving without slowing down your intended improvement build at all.
V still has some micro hell, it's just not as bad as previous games.