You have a couple of different subjects here.
Cards. I chose not to have cards for a couple of reasons. First, Hex, and a second Risk-like game coming out soon, are not meant to be Risk clones. Second, Strategy Gamers is focused on strategy gaming, not luck gaming. The more random elements you add to a game the more you take away the pure skill factor. I do not wish to dilute the skill of a player through the luck of the draw. Therefore, I left cards out of the design. I will reconsider using a cards option periodically.
Maps. there will be many more maps including those with dashed lines/spacing between regions.