How do the Mongol and Timurid Hordes gain more troops and money?

[andrewt]

In Horde mode, the Mongols have amassed a large amount of money and troops until they settled down. I've mostly beaten them back but the Timurids have now appeared. Do these guys just keep gaining both troops and money until they settle down?

The Mongols, for me, settled down after around 60 turns. When they finally did, they had over 10 stacks and well over 200k florins. If this is the case, is it much better for me if they settled down quickly?



Historical question: The faction leader of the Timurids when they appeared is Kaglakha or something like that. There's a Timur the pious family member. Is that the same as Timur the Lame or is he dead or somewhere else during this time? I'm wondering why he isn't the faction leader.

[Gampie]

The Mongols and the Timurids are scripted and come in waves of several stacks. The Mongols have around 8-10 stacks and the Timurids a bit less. When you destroy these, you will have destroyed their faction.

Furthermore, their army does not require upkeep (at least the armies which they get when they spawn - don't know about the armies they recruit).

[Quillan]

Most of the troops they recruit don't require upkeep, either. It does depend upon the troop type, though. After they settled down in Smolensk in my Byzantium campaign, they started building troops there. I could tell the difference because the ones they invaded with had 6+ xp while the new constructions had none. The mongol horse archers, heavy archers, light/heavy lancers and khan's guard (IIRC) had upkeeps of 0. However, some of the foot units and all of the new artillery required upkeep.