I agree with kikka. Cause, if there is already the possibility of a "what if..."-OOB, then the end point of the simulation should be in the sense of "what if..." flexible.
Of course you can't go on too far in time, cause some time the improvements of weapons, organisation of the army, etc. are so different to the napoleonic era, that you digress too much from the historical circumstances.
Unless there will be an option in the game, that covers research and development (but I think that's going too far).