Vampire Counts Objective Markers (and Bats)

I'm gearing up for the new Old World Matched Play format. Here's a guide for how I made some army-themed objective markers.

 

As I was going through the photos in my phone, I realized that I never showed the new fell bats that I had finished earlier this year. I had added four more bats to bring the total to ten. If I recall, I assembled two of them on thin plastic card footprints while I was waiting for an order of 40mm bases to arrive. Then, I trimmed away the excess card and stuck it to the base.

 

 

It's always a bit of a struggle to match the deep browns and flesh-tones on the bats, but I got there in the end, and matched the rest of the unit perfectly. I extended the trees on a couple of them to allow the models to rank up and create more variety in the height of the models.

 

 

Their storage tray was custom made with foam to allow all ten to fit into the single tray. 

 

 

Making Objective Markers

These flags were originally made as trophies to give away to my opponents at grand tournaments back in the day. They were hand drawn, colored with marker, and then color copied. I found exactly four unused flags in my drawer, the perfect amount for making objectives!

 

 

The objective markers are supposed to fit on 40mm bases. I never cared for having scenic elements on proper model bases, so instead I cut some 40mm discs out of styrene card. I made a mound of Aves Apoxie Sculpt on each base, and let it cure.

 

 

These little hills would mark the site of hard-fought battles, so the objective point would be littered with fallen skeletons, and the Von Koss flag planted in the center.

 

 

I used a mix of skeleton and grave guard body parts, and Skull Forge Scenics resin skulls, and covered the ground with fine ballast.

 

 

Everything was painted to match my army's basing scheme, and then static grass and tufts were applied.

 

 

For the flagpoles, I used thick floral wire and some spear heads from the classic (now Tomb Kings) skeleton warriors. The wire was scraped up a bit to give it a more wood-like texture. The spear heads were drilled out and fit over the top of each pole.

 

 

Once the flagpoles were painted, I attached the paper flags. The center of each flag was trimmed to size and folded at the center. I also painted the white edge of the flag along the red portion with Army Painter Crusted Sore. Then, I spread Mod Podge on one half, and folded it over the flagpole.

 

 

While the Mod Podge was still wet, I flexed the paper to have the flag waving a bit.

 

 

When everything was fully dry, I lightly drew a flame outline on the flag and used a sharp knife to cut out the flames.

 

 

The final step was to paint the edge of the flag with a matching color of the flames– In this case, Army Painter Phoenix Flames.

 

 

Now I've got four markers to represent my army's objective locations. 

 

 

For my Tomb Kings, I've made some resin objective obelisks. These are available in my Skull Forge Scenics shop, in sets of either two or four:

 

 

Next up on the docket is to make baggage trains for my armies, and to finish off the batch of spell counters I've been working on...

'Til next time!