Editing Almogavars (section)

=== Tactics ===
Their mission consisted of exploring the land where the army was advancing, standing at forefront and flanks, harassing the enemy, attacking their garrisons by surprise and intercepting their convoys. They preferred to fight in open order, but if they were in trouble they could form a compact mass to fight off repeated cavalry charges, as happened against the Moors at Alcoll.<ref>Almirante y Torroella, José (1869). ''Diccionario militar, etimológico, histórico, tecnológico, con dos vocabularios francés y alemán''. Madrid: Depósito de la Guerra, p. 40.</ref>

Almogavars acted as light infantry and could act in collaboration with heavy cavalry, but unlike other medieval infantry troops they did not require their support. In the mercenary companies, besides Almogavars, there were units of "knights, infantry, archers, scudars, and men guarding the weapons of galleys", each one with a specific mission that could be coordinated on the battlefield. They always retained their autonomy and were a permanent militia, because their modus vivendi consisted of making raids in enemy border territory.<ref>Ríu, 1988: 432.</ref> For this reason, they always carried light arms in order to move swiftly during the raids, which could last two or three days before getting to villages with decent booty.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boya Balet|2014|p=27}}</ref> For this reason, their long marches proved their endurance, speed, and frugality.

In the Europe of those times armoured heavy cavalry was the dominant shock force, so their tactics proved to be an innovation. The Almogavars were uncomfortable riding, and always fought on foot.<ref>{{Harvnb|Boya Balet|2014|p=29}}</ref> Acting as light infantry, the first thing they did was throw their spears at the knights, piercing their armour and shields from a distance, but especially fatally wounding the horses. They also got into the enemy formation to cut the hocks of the animals with their heavy knives, or impaled them with spears. In the melee they did not hesitate to use their heavy knives or maces to disembowel horses, and when the agonized mounts collapsed they rushed at the horsemen with their knives to kill them.