[Norfleet]

I find provinces to be more reflective, particularly at the 60-70% mark. VPs paint an annoying bullseye on your capitol visible from the beginning of the game, lessening the value of scouting, and tend to weaken the game by making it only as strong as the weakest link: If you only need 2 capitols out of the 5 or so players in the game, all you have to do is bury an unsuspecting newbie. Hardly even a real fight, since odds are his capitol won't be defended while his army is out in the field. Of course, in a REAL game, you'd probably fail to hold onto it.