You are putting a lot of good thought into this and that reflects a strength in your game as well. You know your game much better than me and reviewing stats can be deceiving unless there would be a way of extracting only recent stats of say your last 10 rounds from default tees. So. I will try to offer a couple things to help you digest or feel better about your decisions.
DampandDusty: but on the long irons I sometimes need more stopping power. My only concern is they have only 3 for forgiveness.
Certain courses and conditions, stopping power can be a challenge on some holes even with the high end equipment. There are some instances where I have observed top players upgrade or downgrade the ball they play to the course and conditions being played. For example courses with severe elevation changes and C13/C14 greens can sometimes require a ball upgrade for more bite (control) on the greens.
The concern with forgiveness is valid, but look at the precision for those clubs. The forgiveness is in line with other high end clubs available so they will still play better than your current irons.
DampandDusty: I get a lot of looks at birdie now, but moving to the back tees since making Legend just under a month ago has made the emphasis on accuracy on longer 3 wood/long iron approach shots more important.
This is not a criticism or judgement, but if you are getting plenty looks at birdie now... then maybe take a closer look at your putting stats on recent rounds played. Maybe you are getting plenty looks at birdie but your putting could improve slightly. Even if you pick up one stroke over 9 holes, it makes a difference.
Again stats can be diluted over time so your stats are not necessarily reflective of current play, but if I were to look at your putting stats... I would say try to flip flop your 1 and 2 putt percentages from 41 - 54, to 54 -41. Also concentrate a little more on those putts in the 5-10 foot range... those can be your bread and butter putts that you want to be making more off. Then as you get more confident there, focus on the 10 -15 foot putts.
DampandDusty: So a decision to be made. Map Chrome Soft with current irons (the higher spin rate means they come up shorter than Hex Chrome+) or wait for new irons and map then.
no doubt, mapping helps… but it can also frustrate you when shots come up well off your expectations... why? variance is built into the game... you are still going to have shots that deviate from what you are expecting. so how do you recover? short game, putting, etc...
in part due to this idea... I have never mapped any ball. I have learned tendencies of what balls with more or less spin will do, when I change balls up between various courses, but I can't tell you my 5 irons goes X yards in low winds flat lie with full BS. It is possibly a weakness in my own game and I may find it necessary to eventually go through the mapping process, but I have gotten by without doing so for now.
Again, it truly sounds like you are thinking properly and insightfully into the game. I am just sharing a little more that may be helpful...if not you can easily disregard. : )