Choices for an "alpha test" game

I think I will get far more done in the context of a trial game than I would thinking abstractly.  My first thought on a test game is the "Imperial Phase" of the Franco-Prussian war.  It is

• geographically confined, 
• fast paced, 
• has many potential actors, 
• can be expanded into a wider game
• does not need a naval component
• a topic I already have a grip on
• involves areas that I am likely to use for future campaigns.

Indeed, I could start with the area around Metz and the  few days around the battles of Mars-la-Tour, then expand it.

Other choices would be specific campaigns from one of the Silesian wars; but they have widely dispersed but strongly interconnected factors in play.