between what year does the game take place?

[Sir Beane]

So wait hang on, if its only 1700-1799, what happens to the Napoleonic Wars?

I was anticipating 1700-1820, as explained/confirmed in the ETW summary thread.

The summary thread is a wee bit out of date at the moment. 1700-1820 was indeed the original intention it seems, but a look at one of the recent videos clearly shows that the game ends in 1799.

As for the Napoleonic wars? Kick them off early without Napoleon! Who needs him anyway (except France.) If the game behaves the way it should then towards the end Europe should heat up nicely anyway.