You can have a small FPGA test board here http://be.eurocircuits.com/shop/offtheshelf/product.aspx?&an... for 60€. The tutorials (non-free) can be found there http://www.elektor.com/magazines/2012/december/taming-the-be...
It doesn't seem to solve the other two problems, though I suspect that solving the second (lack of open tools) would go a long way towards solving the third as well (ubiquity of hardware available to target).