The Mongols originated on the Central Asian steppe and favored horse archery due to their nomadic lifestyle. Their mobile tactics included feigning retreats to lure enemies into traps. They would weaken armies with horse archers before attacking with lancers. To take cities, the Mongols used siege engines and launched diseased bodies over walls. Under Genghis Khan's leadership in the early 1200s, the Mongols unified their clans and went on to conquer vast territories across Asia and Eastern Europe using their mobile warfare skills before their empire eventually divided in the late 1200s.