couple of questions

[daboarder]

SO I've always wanted to do a fantasy army. But in my typical fashion I want to play one of the strongly themed armies. Basically I want to run an all cavalry force.

The three armies I've looked at over the years to do thise are

Wood Elves (celtic elves FTW)

Warriors of chaos (marauder horsemen and knights)

Vampire Counts

Is it possible to get a rundown of not just the odds of running a successful cavalry army these days, but also the relative health of the above armies when run that way?

[Chronowraith]

Cavalry has issues in 8th edition. In previous editions a unit of 5-10 could pretty much mow through opposing blocks of infantry. In 8th edition they usually charge in, get bogged down, and then picked off a couple at a time before they finally run away in spectacular fashion. So ANY cavalry army will be at a disadvantage from the get-go and sadly, the best armies for cavalry aren't on your list above. Bretonnians still do the cavalry theme best.

Of the armies you listed, Warriros of Chaos would be most viable. Take several cheap units of warhounds (not cavalry but we'll call them "hunting dogs"). Bulk out the rest of your Core with marauder knights (go with armor and shield, fast cavalry are unnecessary in this type of list) and then the rest of your army should be Chaos Knights, maybe a chariot or two, and some skullcrushers/hellstriders to your flavor.

Wood Elves are really hamstrung by their old book and really only have a couple viable builds (mostly without cavalry). Vampire Counts actually can't do an entirely cavalry themed force as they lack cavalry in the core section of the book (with all their cavalry being special or rare).

Warriors of Chaos offer the most diversity with Chaos Marauders, Warhounds, and Chaos Chariots for Core choices. It then has Hellstriders, Chaos Knights, Dragon Ogres, and Gorebeast Chariots for special choices. Finally Skullcrushers for rare. Most are great choices but you'll need to make up for somewhat lackluster mounted core choices.

I hope that helps.

[MAVV]

Warriors is likely your best bet for this if you're not inclined towards Bretonnia. Chariots+dogs for core, plus knight/character deathstars can do really well. Put a BSB on a Daemonic mount with the mark of Tz, Armour of Destiny and Third Eye will help a lot too.

The thing you would struggle with a lot is steadfast from ranked infantry, which is really the strength in most armies this edition. You charge any cavalry into a unit of skaven slaves, for example, and you will either sit there the entire game or eventually flub and run away. It's a hard army to win with, but the theme is awesome and would be a blast to play.

VCs can actually do all-mounted with a ton of undead dogs to fill out your core. I mean a LOT of dogs. The power in that army is a blender vamp lord in a unit of Blood Knights or Black Knight bus.