Hah, yeah, well, we'll see. At this time, what we've got is basically Native, with a few new features (and a few features removed) but running with about 1/3rd of the code
Everything from Caravans, Farmers, Bandits to Patrols, etc. is included in the mix (replacing thousands of lines of code handling all that stuff in Native). I've written a pretty cool piece of code that auto-populates the world over time or when entering / exiting a location, so that things don't feel too empty, while keeping it very very efficient, so that framerates and memory use on the strategic map are both really low.
The strategic AI's going to be (comparatively) easy; it'll basically run each little kingdom, directing it to take over the nearest neutral locations, then make war on each other over time. Unlike the last iteration of Blood and Steel, it won't be a huge constant bloodbath from the start; instead, the procedural elements should mean the player has some time to take over neutral locations and start up their own empire, if they move fast.
Once that's written and works, at least after a fashion, I'll probably move on to dealing with the specific issues with the endgame stuff that never got more than half-baked last time. I may want to take a pause, though, to work on finishing the strategic map first. Or deal with the artwork stuff that needs doing to take this to the place it needs to get to; I need a lot of new things built for scenery, etc. eventually.