I haven't actually played Era II, so I could be wrong about this, but the biggest difference between it and VCMI as I understand it is that mods in ERA II replace the existing towns, whereas with VCMI the town mods add to the existing ones. Thus in VCMI I currently have the option of 19 different towns to chose from. When I make a random map, even if I play an 8 player game, random towns can chose some of the towns I didn't make players. SO potentially I have access to more than just eight armies. Plus VCMI was easier for me to download and install, being a neophyte to the whole mods scene. Not that I have anything against anyone preferring ERA II.....to each their own!