Armies - Theme Models, Objective Markers and Extras

This is not a subject, one would imagine, that gets much attention. Usually the warhammer player is so engrossed in getting their army painted that by the time they have enough painted to field on the table they either call it a day or move on to a new army. That, of course, is if they get the army finished at all.

So, for those few who get the army done to their satisfaction, and wish to continue, there is another level of dementia to descend into. This would be adding such non-combatant or not totally necessary models to the army such as themed terrain, themed models, elaborate movement trays, army display boards, objective markers and so on. Producing most of these models means you have already achieved the glorious objective, the painted army.

Personally I love all this kind of paraphernalia, as it adds character to the army. I recently had the fortune to see a really excellent Goblin army with plenty of odd bits and bobs. There were some great themed models, such as a chariot (or was it a pump-wagon) on an actual spring, so it wobbled when moved, and a fanatic whose base concealed a battery so, you guessed it, you could make him spin!

Other models I've seen in this vein recently have been Retroalias' objective marker from The Magnificent Bastards blog. From the same blog, Johnny Hastings' (of Pointhammered fame) dwarf traders are just pure groove. For an army with some narrative, these little touches can really bring the whole game to life in a way that facing bandwagon internet list no.5 can never do. As I've banged on about in the past, the visual aspect is one of the main reasons I play this game, and playing on a beautiful game table with 2 well-painted and if you're lucky themed armies is something you want every time after you've experienced it.

While looking about the webs for this post I saw this stroke of wonder from Blue of Blue's Marauding Miniatures. Words can't express how much I like the Cadbury's egg carriers. Cue round of applause.

For my own endeavours, I have great plans for adding flavour miniatures and models to all my armies, (chaos dwarf coal transport, anyone?) but for now they are confined to my vampire counts. I generally model casualty markers for each unit, which makes it easier to tally dead units at the end of the game. They were also very handy for marking destroyed zombie units that had been raised for victory points, though this is no longer an issue as raised units no longer grant points. Heh. I have plans for more undead terrain, camp followers, mighty empire army markers and so on.

Better get the bleedin' army painted first then, eh?