I don't know whether this will be useful to you or not, but I designed a circuit to do what you want - to prove to myself that I could.
My priority was low cost. I was aiming for simplicity as well. I'm not sure whether I achieved that, but I can't see any way to simplify it further without affecting reliability.
The circuit is powered directly from the mains and should be considered live. It must be rigidly mounted in a non-conductive enclosure with only the wires accessible.
These wires are marked CN1~8. CN1 and CN2 are the Phase and Neutral inputs to the circuit, and CN3~8 are the six connections to the output relay K2, which control the external equipment.
It provides a DPDT (double-pole double-throw) aka DPCO (double-pole changeover) relay output which changes over to the opposite state each time the circuit is powered up.
The circuit must be powered up for at least 2 seconds on every run, to give the capacitors time to charge up. It must be switched off for at least 60 seconds after each run, to give them time to discharge. If this requirement is not met, there is a possibility that the circuit will not change over properly.
The circuit takes power directly from the AC mains supply using coupling capacitor C1 and diode D1 to generate a positive half-wave rectified but unsmoothed voltage peaking at about 27V DC on the anodes of D2 and D3.
R1 is a fusible resistor that protects D1 and the other circuitry if C1 fails short. C1 must be an X2 rated component, designed for continuous connection across an AC mains supply. R2 discharges C1 when power is disconnected, for safety.
The current circuit state is retained by K1, a DPDT latching relay with two 24V DC coils. This relay retains its state, even without power, and only changes its state when the coil for the opposite state is energised.
Positive voltage peaks at D2 and D3 anodes charge C2 and either C5 or C6, depending on the state of K1. Initially assume K1 is in the position shown in the schematic, the "reset" state, and the current from D3 will charge C4. C5 will not be charged. The voltage on C4 is passed to the "set" coil, and into R6, Q3 and R7.
When mains power is initially applied, C4 charges up in about 0.5 seconds (the charging current is limited by the reactance of C1). C2 also charges up. Once the voltage across C2 reaches about 7V, Q1 conducts and holds C3 discharged. C3 does charge (via R6) briefly at power-up but only to about 0.1V which is not enough to trigger Q2 into conduction.
While power is present, the circuit remains in a stable state, with Q1 conducting and holding C3 discharged, and keeping Q2 and Q3 OFF. C4 charges up to about 27V.
When power is removed, the half-wave-rectified voltage across D1 disappears quickly. C2 discharges through R3, Q1, and R4, and when its voltage has dropped below about 7V, Q1 turns OFF. This allows C3 to be charged up by current from C4 flowing through R6.
After power has been removed for about a second, C3's voltage reaches about 0.7V, and Q2 starts to conduct. Q2 and Q3 are connected as an SCR; once Q2 conducts, Q3 is biased into conduction and supplies more current to Q2's base. Both transistors saturate and Q3's emitter pulls down to about 1V. The 27V across C4 is applied across the 'set' coil of K1 and causes K1 to switch over.
This changeover action in K1 does not affect the supply to the 'set' coil, because that voltage comes from C4 which was charged when power was present previously. C4 discharges into the 'set' coil of K1, flipping it to the 'set' state.
Once the voltage on C4 is too low to sustain conduction in Q2 and Q3, they turn OFF. K1 is now in the opposite state.
When power is next applied, K1 will cause the current from D3 to charge C5 instead of C4. Then when power is removed, the same action will occur, but this time C5 will be charged, and the 'reset' coil of K1 will be activated.
The second set of contacts on K1 control K2, which has a 230V AC coil. K2 drives the external circuit. The specified relay is rated for 8A and 230VAC on its contacts.
When power is applied, if K1 is in the 'set' state and K2 is energised, there will be a short delay before K2's contacts change over. The pull-in time for K2 is not stated on the data sheet, but it should be less than 0.1 seconds. So K2's contacts will actually be in the wrong state for a short time when mains power is applied.