Reference photos, colour schemes with the exact paints for every area, and finished models from other painters — everything you need to start Skeleton Warriors for your Vampire Counts force.

Units (not including units whose troop type is 'swarms', 'war beasts' or 'war machines')

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Every paint below links to its equivalents in other brands.

What Skeleton Warriors looks like

Colour schemes

Vampire Counts — Skeleton Warriors

Beginner · 6 areas

A bone recipe over a light undercoat, which is the fastest full horde unit in the Old World to bring to a table-ready standard. Everything else on the model is deliberately dull so the bone carries it.

Bone

Wraithbone Citadel
Skeleton Horde Citadel
Ushabti Bone Citadel
Screaming Skull Citadel

Undercoat light Basecoat — Wraithbone, not black. The contrast paint in the next step needs a light ground and will look muddy over anything darker.
Shade the whole skeleton Contrast — One generous coat of Skeleton Horde over every bone surface. Let it pool in the ribs and eye sockets rather than brushing it out.
Bring the bone back Drybrush — Ushabti Bone across the ribcage and skull, then Screaming Skull on the cheekbones and knuckles only.

Grave shield and armour

Basecoat the bronze Basecoat
Shade and corrode Recess shade — Agrax Earthshade first, then stipple Nihilakh Oxide into the recesses — verdigris sells the centuries.
Catch the raised metal Edge highlight

Rotted cloth

Basecoat the rags Basecoat
Shade the cloth All-over shade
Drybrush the torn edges Drybrush

Old iron blades

Leadbelcher Citadel
Nuln Oil Citadel
Typhus Corrosion Citadel
Ryza Rust Citadel

Basecoat the weapon Basecoat
Shade the metal All-over shade
Rust the blade Stipple — Typhus Corrosion stippled unevenly, then a Ryza Rust drybrush over it. Leave the cutting edge clean so the weapon still reads as a weapon.

Eye sockets

Abaddon Black Citadel
Waystone Green Citadel

Deepen the sockets Detail
Light the eyes Detail — A single dot of Waystone Green in each socket. Two dots the same size on both sides is the whole trick; anything larger reads as a mistake.

Base

Texture the base Texture
Drybrush the grave earth Drybrush — Screaming Skull rather than a brown — it ties the base to the bone on the model above it.
Rim the base Detail

Every paint on this page

17 paints across every scheme and tutorial above. Tick what you need to build a list, or follow a paint through to find it in another brand.

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