Well my issue is that, say you have a 2 king, and all 1 pawns. A 4 or a 3 strikes, threatens the king on the first move, and neither can you block him or he moves out of the way, game over.
This scenario is one reason why I'd actually like to see the game played on a 9x9 board, 8 pawns, 1 king, and both kings are centered. While this doesn't develop play quickly, it certainly kills many "go first" advantages. Darkesword will say "nah, doesn't need to be changed" (also said this to a checkmate-style rule), but it's just a thought - someone with C++ skillz could work it