forum.wgcwar.com

Andreas Johansson wrote:

David Kuijt wrote:Byzantine Menlavtoi (sp?)

Menavlatoi (or Menaulatoi, depending on how you like to transliterate αυ in Byzantine Greek).

A troop type I might have thought a good fit for Raiders is almughavars, but turns out they're Light Spears instead (at least in the Catalan Company list). I'm of the impression that almughavars didn't use long spears but did have shields, so this seems unexpected?

The images I've seen are the reverse -- a long spear and a couple of javelins. I think that's based upon a description of an Almughavar fighting Byzantines in a Byzantine source; I'll have to wait until I get home to find it. Wait, it's repeated here on the wikipedia page on Almogavars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almogavar ... an_Company, Bernat Desclot writing in the 1280s or so.

Note that the word Almughavar is applied to a variety of Iberian-region light troops, some of whom are rated as Light Foot rather than Light Spear. It may be those are of whom you are thinking, with shields?

Googling for images show a variety of armaments, but most are shieldless with moderately long spear. Not sure where my imprevious impression came from.

(Oddly, using the spelling "almogavar" shows fewer spears and more shields.)