Rules for 1866/Italian Unification etc; plus, painting Austrian white

[TheBlackCrane]

In the current 'too many ideas for new year projects' phase I'm having, I've been thinking of putting together some 15mm forces for 1866/generic late C19th wars, and I've been looking around for rules to use. Ideally battalion/brigade level rather than divisional for the moment, does anyone have any thoughts on Neil Thomas' Nineteenth Century Wargaming book?

Any suggestions for good rule sets which capture the period?

Also, painting white uniforms? Every type of white I've ever used to paint with seems to take three or four coats to even approach looking right no matter what colour undercoat & base I use, I'm sure I must be missing something simple, any suggestions?

Thanks!