I recently started a game of 1860AD as Prussia. Some thoughts from first glance:
a) Cities:
I really think it would be best to just remove Bern. It makes no sense to give it to Sweden - if it's a problem to have it as a neutral city, why keep it in the game at all? Switzerland is insignificant in size and due to its neutrality never really played a major part in the European struggles of that time, so I would advise to remove it entirely. The solution with Bern being Swedish only leads to awkward cultural borders later in the game.
I was somewhat surprised to see Hamburg being Danish while Frankfurt and Munich are Austrian. I reckon this is done to reflect the fact that they were not part of Prussia in 1860, and to keep other Nations than Prussia from assaulting them (therefore not making them neutral). Is that correct?
b) Flags
Some flags seem to be missing. I noticed Prussia and Denmark in particular, their flags are displayed as solid black.
c) Strategy
Well, here is what I did, just for the record. My short-term goal was to overwhelm Austria without losing too many of my forces, as to remain the military dominant power in central Europe. Therefore, I ignored Denmark at first. In the long term, I was hoping to conquer all of central Europe, preferrably in the order of: Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Italy.
Turn 1, Winter 1860 AD: Started to research Assembly Line at 100% science, moved all my Riflemen, Artillery, Cavalry and Grenadiers towards Frankfurt/Munich. Started production of Artillery in all cities except for Cologne (Airship). Spain declares war on me.
Turn 2, Spring 1860 AD: Started to bombard the defenses of Frankfurt and Munich.
Turn 3, Summer 1860 AD: Continued to bombard Frankfurt and Munich, regretting to have placed my Artillery between both cities. First Airship starts to bombard the defenders of Frankfurt. I notice that my culture pushes back the culture of Frankfurt and Hamburg around Cologne, despite not having allocated any points toward it.
Turn 4, Fall 1860 AD: First Artillery and second Airship are complete. I continue to bombard Frankfurt. My Workers are tasked to construct a Railroad connecting my Empire in the W/E-direction.
Turn 5, Winter 1861 AD: Third Airship, second Artillery. I bombard Frankfurt, attack with the remaining three Artilleries and take the city (6 defenders) without casualties. I send a machine gun to garrison it and move the first part of my army east, preparing to cross the river Danube. Frankfurt is ordered to construct an Airship once it leaves revolt (4 turns). I sink a Danish frigate threatening my ressources in the baltic sea.
Turn 6, Spring 1861 AD: My army crosses the Danube, advancing on Munich. I sink another danish frigate at the expense of one of my own. I get one Airship per turn now from Cologne, and one Artillery per turn from Berlin. I notice that Swedish culture in Bern is expanding rapidly, encompassing the tiles bordering Frankfurt. I plan to take Munich and then split my army to attack Vienna and Prague simultaneously.
Turn 7, Spring 1861 AD: The remainder of my forces cross the Danube. I get two Artilleries that are positioned on the hills NW of Prague, to start reducing their defenses next turn.
Turn 8, Fall 1861 AD: I conquer Munich without casualties. My vanguard advances north and south of the Danube, to close on Prague and Vienna. Unfortunately, my Airship from Cologne was destroyed since it was relocated to Amsterdam because of the Air unit limit.
Turn 9, Winter 1862 AD: My Airships relocate to Munich and Leipzig, I move the remainder of my army to the siege of Vienna and Prague. Berlin starts constructing a Machine Gun, to be stationed in the newly conquered cities once completed. I construct a copper mine east of Berlin.
Turn 10, Spring 1862 AD: I conquer Prague, losing one Grenadier. My new Machine Gun garrisons Munich. In reaction to the ever-expanding Swedish culture in southern Germany, I set Frankfurt and Munich to produce Culture.
So much for the first 10 turns of my game of the 1860 AD scenario. More details to follow.
Best Regards,
Martin