I have not played ETW, or a demo, so I obviously do not know much about the game yet, but, the impression that I have gotten looking at the reviews, interviews, screenshots/videos, etc was that the game may be being rushed a bit, and certain aspects of it not as developed as they should be. In particular, I mean naval combat and the SP campaign map. Naval combat is the flagship of ETW, and is something that fans have wanted for a very long time, so I am sure that know how important it is that it is as well developed as land battles and up to Total War standards. (I have not seen the naval combat, so I am not sure if it is up to par with land battles or not, but reviews have made me suspect that it is not) Also, MP campaign is something that everyone has wanted for a long time, and could be one of the largest and most popular features of the new game. This is something that SHOULD be included with the game, not added on later. It is also something that needs to be up to par with the SP campaign.
I am not writing this to bash you CA, but to tell you that if you need more time you should just postpone the release a month or two if possible. Everyone WILL still buy the game, AND they will probably like it a lot more. I know that your distributers have deadlines on you, but I do not think that it would be an unwise business move to delay it a bit IF you need to to make sure that those parts of the game are up to Total War standards. I have been a fan of Total War from the start, and am sure that you will deliver an excellent game again, but please, if you need the time and if it is possible, just take the time to get it out right the first time.

Vuk