I'm planning a campaign using Whitehack and Wonder & Wickedness as the rules, a hex-crawl world map, and random...

I'm planning a campaign using Whitehack and Wonder & Wickedness as the rules, a hex-crawl world map, and random tables inspired by Yoon-Suin and the old Slaine RPG book for the setting. I'd like to make some mind maps between factions and draw out some cool dungeons, but leave a lot of the rest to random tables so that the world can evolve as the campaign progresses.

My group have always used theatre of the mind, but they'd like a visual aid for combat which is still abstract enough to keep them imagining the combat rather than staring at miniatures. I'm thinking I'll make a grid or hex grid on a piece of wood, with glass over the top so I can use erasable markers to draw out rooms. For miniatures I want to use 15mm fantasy miniatures that I've found, and paint them all to look like this ivory miniature from the middle ages.

What do you use as a visual aid for where everyone is in combat, and do any painters out there have tips as to how I could achieve this ivory look with my miniatures?