Love it.
What I keep hearing is diplomacy. And what I've always wanted to do what sit down with the AI and make some real deals, decide who gets which city before the war, where the border line is going to go (because I really want that iron), and stuff like that.
As to the limits on units. I believe the intent here is to eliminate SoD, Axe rushes, and make wars more protracted and difficult. If they use Zones of Control a lone archer on a hill in a forest on the other side of a river dug in and fortified at a critical choke point could well keep an entire army at bay. It could be the change us peace-nik builders have been hoping for.
They've also mentioned advisors. And here (dream upon dreams) what I really hope for is that I can hand tune the advisors (by modding or whatever) and put the game on cruise control and let it play itself. This may sound heretical, but there are many times when I would prefer to just sit back and pretend I was the Leader of an Empire and, you know, do a little delegating.