I actually didn't really mind the old system. I was going to lose in the long run but that didn't bother me. The fact that the Vrael, a totally new nation, stood a good chance of beating or crippling me, who had been building up for some time, proves that.

I would instead pose an alternate on the replenishment system. You replenish 10% of your army cap a turn. There ceased to be an incentive for Alexios to keep conquering for the entire rest of the RP as it was going to take 20+ seasons to fill his army cap. But, the system I propose prevents blitzkrieg still. It will take 8 turns for Romania to be profitable in terms of manpower spent/increased replenishment. So Alexios will have to take the defensive for quite a while to recoup his losses, while still having an incentive to continue conquering.