Not much is known about the Alan army and its structure. According to al-Masudi, the Alans could muster 30.000 men, while one century later, at it's presumable peak under king Dorgolel, the Alans could muster 40.000 thousand man, which is, even if we consider that these numbers might be exaggerrated to some extend, fairly respectable for a kingdom of its size. The army was probably multi-ethnical. Except of the ruling Alans there were Turks, Slavs and other local Caucasus people, like the Dvals, that lived within the borders of the kingdom and were therefore probably enscribed into the army as well.
The mentioned 30.000 soldiers were described as horsemen, implying that the Alans were still an equestrial society despite having settled down. The average Alan warrior would fight as a horse archer using a composite bow and a sabre or an axe for melee. During antiquity, the Alans used to fight as cataphracts, but are there no sources implying that they still did in the Middle Ages: Numerous amulets of stylized horsemen have been found, but none appears to depict horse armour. Even lances were not very popular anymore, albeit there is the mention of a "light lance" used by an Alan mercenary shortly after the battle of Manzikert, which he used in combination with bow and arrow.
For defense there were used small round shields, armours and helmets. The most impeccably proven type of armour is mail armour, since it is attested both by the written sources and by archaelogy. These armours would have been manufactured on a high niveau, as Friar William of Rubrick, Laonicus Chalcocondyles and others attest. Furthermore, it is possible that, due to the Georgian influence, some Georgian-Byzantinoid armours might have found their way to the noblemen. A mural from a Zelenchuk church might depict stylized lamellar armour, though it's possible that the painter was not Alanian. Same for the armour of St. Eustace from the Nuzal church.
Concerning helmets, we know about two types: The Os-Bagatar helmet, which belongs to the Georgian "Wawel"-type and became increasingly popular in Georgia from 1200 onwards and some simple conical helmet how they are most probably depicted on two Medieval statues from Karachai-Cherkessia. The Os-Bagatar helmet had an aventail while the conical helmets have either an aventail or were put over a coif.
Finally, the Alans / Ossetians were also said to manufacture a "kind of bronze weapon, the so-called "Alanica" (Laonicus Chalcocondyles, 15th century). Perhaps the author talks about a gunpowder weapon?
For recognizability on the battlefield, the Alans in Byzantine service used flags, as stated by the 14th century chronicler Ramon Muntaner. While these might have been Byzantine flags, a relief from Kiafar attests that the Alans also used flags on their own. Perhaps these flags were decorated with clan symbols.
The Alans were famous for their skill and ferocity in battle. In the 12th century, Nicephoros Basilaces writes that the Alans are "the most warlike race among the Caucasians; if you see their host, you will look for bravery nowhere else; if you notice their valour in war, you will not mind facing a myriad of enemies." At the battle of Philippolis in 1189, against the German emperor Barbarossa, it were only the Alans that fought (and died) against the Germans, while the rest of the Byzantine army fled before the battle even started. Even in the 15th century, when the Alans were already transforming to the Ossetians, they were still considered to be "the best warriors in combat by far" (Laonicus Chalcocondyles). The fact that even the Mongols valued the Alan warriors for centures is only a further testament for their skill and courage. A courage which is probably explained with that the Alans were fairly obsessed with honour, the honour of the motherland and all Alans. To display cowardness was to dishonour your whole people. An other aspect of honour was the blood revenge. For example it were mostly Alans who hunted down the remnants of an Sicilian army after the latter had conquered Thessalonici in 1189, in an attempt to avenge the Alans who died in that siege. For the Ossetians, blood revenge would remain common until fairly recently.
All in all, the Alans would have been a full-blown warrior society.
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