Notwithstanding all the bugs (and there have been way too many) ... I believe it would be more fun if you changed the way you play as the allies (Brits, Austrians, Prussians). I first started as the Prussians ... but in 1805 there is nothing you can really do except to stay away from Napoleon. Army reform doesn't occur until 1810 ... that's over 250 boring turns away. So then I started as the Brits ... which is a bit more exciting and I was hopeful that Army reform would at least occur in 1808 (as it turns out the Reform Event is incorrectly stated as 1808 ... It really starts in 1810).
So how about this ... Have the Brits manage all the units in the coalition...they provide the funds and some units. As countries join the coalition you manage them. To the extent a country bows out (Pressburg Event for example) you no longer control those units. Diplomacy would need to change somewhat ... I can imagine contributing a significant amount of money might convince the Prussians to join. With this approach the player at least has something to do early in the game.
As an aside ... I played several years as the French and made it as far as eastern Russian .... but gave up when I could never tell who my enemies were. It seemed like and on again off again thing with the Austrians and Prussian even though I had sizable forces in those regions. Previous posts have made reference to redoing the Rhine Confederation Event and I agree. It would seem that maintaining a sizable garrison in Berlin and Vienna should stifle any uprising.
Not to beat a dead horse ... but this game just doesn't seem ready for Prime Time. I've endured countless crashes, non-functioning events, and turn times that take forever (on the plus side I managed to read an entire book over the weekend playing this game). I have hard time imagining how testers would not have encountered these play issues if they played the game through its entirety.
This was an era of big armies clashing ... yet my screen is covered with units all over the place ... some sort of fix is need here.
I really enjoyed CWII and To End All Wars, I did not care for Thirty Years Was (too slow and boring). Previous posts have suggested the developers bit off more than they handle. As a software developer I'm sympathetic to the trials and tribulations involved in releasing a product ... but this game just seem ready!