What exactly the NPC Lords are getting from their villages?

[Handel]

Is looting the enemy villages hardcoded in the AI so they always do it no matter it serves for nothing (besides looting the player's villages of course)?

 

[GJScarritt]

The AI rebuilds their own armies by either staying in their own Cities or waiting by their own villages, so if a Village is looted, that AI Lord can't recruit.  (Don't quote me but it has been posted though I haven't searched to see what exactly goes on, so I'm going by memory), but they also have their own 'hidden' income from those Cities/Castles/Villages, which figures in on how fast they can recruit.  Also, a City/Castle that is under Siege will not recruit new soldiers, which hinders the AI.  Blocking Caravan/Farmer parties from reaching a City will hinder any Lords that are based there with recruiting.

Oh, and I'd say yes, it's hardcoded for the AI to loot enemy villages during war, and I have a feeling that the lower your relation is to that Realm, the more they will make a bee-line to your own village to loot it, no matter if they have to pass through the entire Kingdom to get to it.

I'm sure there's an algorithm in there that directs a Lord (or a whole Campaign party) to either loot village after village or to immediately siege/take something.

 

[Handel]

The AI rebuilds their own armies by either staying in their own Cities or waiting by their own villages, so if a Village is looted, that AI Lord can't recruit. 

I am absolutely sure after a large battle the escaped several lords gather in the nearest faction-owned castle/town and recruit their troops there. The recruit started when they got healed and proceeded with about 10 soldiers per day.
I've read looting the villages gives points in the war and after the score reaches certain difference the war can end at random time; but after the latest patches I started a new game and the Nord and the Mameluks didn't stopped their wars until they captured all the castles and towns of their enemies - so they went to the very end. Now it seems the war ends when after a certain time the score remains approximately equal - several victories exchanged, couple of towns change the hands 1-2 times etc.

 

[Hatonastick]

Oh, and I'd say yes, it's hardcoded for the AI to loot enemy villages during war, and I have a feeling that the lower your relation is to that Realm, the more they will make a bee-line to your own village to loot it, no matter if they have to pass through the entire Kingdom to get to it.

I've wondered about this myself.  This has been my experience in every single one of my current games (I have one per faction).  The more I peeve a faction off by wiping out opposing armies and capturing their lords, the more likely I am to have my villages razed while I'm away -- even when it's a village a long way, away and there are plenty of other targets to choose from in the area.  So now I concentrate on profitable businesses in towns for my cash flow (in addition to the usuals), especially since they are easier to defend against overwhelming numbers of opponents.

 

[Remedius]

Wenches largely though presumably there must be some hash stored in some somewhere.  (Mazigh - you can't move for the stuff!!)

Some Lords loot as a way of getting revenge for a prior defeat or to hurt a rival or are ordered to by a campaigning Marshall. If you can track down a campaigning marshal and his army around him in the periphery will be a collection of burning villages.

An observation.

 

[DEmperor]

i think they will get less money to recruit troops