I like the idea of a faster pace with tile changes - I think bonus tiles would be interesting at each tile change. A couple of multipliers of sorts (x2 or x3 or x10) scattered across the board - once the tile is occupied it's gone. This would allow for greater excitement at terrain changes and give smaller players better chance to speed up game play. The multiplier could be on a sliding scale to benefit smaller players more so than larger players, based on army size.