Modeling: Wound Markers

I've gotten the go-ahead to post pictures of the finished Wild West Exodus demo table. I'm finishing up the gallery refit, and I'll have those up next week.

In the mean time, here's a short tutorial on some wound counters. I couldn't get them finished in time for the battle with Steve's Empire, but I have them for next time.

Wound Markers

My initial wound counters were made ages ago for games of Warmaster. They're simply 40K bases with skeleton shield icons on them. Over the years, they've been getting scraped up from knocking around in my dice bag, and it's time for new ones.

 

 

The new markers are modeled as tombstones, using left over sprue.

 

 

I use the cross intersections from the older skeleton sprues. If you're building some of these for yourself, take note of the angled corner. Most sprues have rounded corners, but the angled ones look a little more convincing for tombstone crosses.

 

 

First I shave down any irregularities on the surface.

 

 

Next, using clippers and a hobby knife, I trim the ends to create a uniform cross-shape. 

 

 

Then the bottom is cut at an angle so the tombstone will sit slightly crooked.

 

 

I make sure the basic shape of the cross is consistent...

 

 

...then distress the edges and corners with a knife.

 

 

The tombstones are based on small coins, with some sand and ballast.

 

 

Finally, the markers are stuck to popsicle sticks, spray primed, and painted to match my army's basing scheme.

 

 

Here's the finished batch:

 

 

I've also made similar wound markers for my Skaven army, using the rat skulls in the old Clanrat regiment.

 

 

Simple but effective! The point with all these counters is to maintain the visual aesthetic of the hobby and eliminate the need to put dice on the table for any reason other than when they're being rolled.

'Til next time!