February is destined to be the month of the Thirty Year War! I have a commission to paint a massive 48-model Bavarian tercio and a handful of mounted officers and of course I'm not going to miss the opportunity for some cheap blog updates by posting a running WIP. Here are the first bold three...
These miniatures are from
The Assault Group and this is the first time I've painted any of their models. I didn't even know they made Renaissance minis, being familiar with their more modern line, but these are sculpted by Nick Collier so that was all I need to know to get excited about this project.
The Thirty Year War is a very colorful period, with most of the units lacking true uniforms. Indeed many are grabbed in civilian clothes modeled after popular military styles. Coats and breeches can be of almost any color and in any combination. My challenge is to include this variety while trying to keep the unit from looking like a troop of harlequins!
There are a few tricks I use when painting such rabble. The first is to stick to muted tones - terracotta rather than red, gold instead of yellow, etc. The majority of the unit will also include earth tones mixed in nearly every model which will provide a blend of tans and browns across the whole to help unify the different colors. When I do choose to paint a figure with a gold coat and red breeches, he may be placed beside another fellow in red breeches and a brown coat so the screaming combination will be blurred by his friend. Finally, most of the equipment - bandoleers, scabbards, musket rests, etc. - will be painted the same so they look as if they were issued from the same stores. Maybe one in six will be different to still keep the campaign look.
So, we'll see how this goes! I'll post updates every couple of days. I have a few others projects running that I'll break in with as well, but my goal is to have the infantry finished by the end of the month... 48 models in 28 days...
