For instance, I think there will be submarines and balloons. There will be a number of technologies included that were not historically released (or not widespread during the 1700's). Adjusting projectile range is also very easy - in fact, I did it last night on my installation of Medieval II.
It should not be a problem to bump speeds up to the 21-22 knots that most WWI battleships were capable of.
Adjusting unit speed has always been very simple. The game definitely has steamships, so getting the vessels to move against the wind and emit smoke will not be an issue. Yes, I know that it's a big leap from sailing ships to those metal monsters, but consider: Now that the game will feature 3d sea battles for the first time, some people have even been speculating about adding dreadnoughts. There's already substantial interest in creating a WWI mod for this game - in fact, at least one WWI modding team has already been formed. As you probably know, the Creative Assembly's getting ready to release their latest masterpiece.
