Secret project revealed!

So initial experiments have worked out quite well, so I can reveal what I have been up to the last few weeks......

Italian Wars using 30mm Zinnfiguren flats.......WTF!

Completely left field distraction; so how did I get here.....

I have been interested in the Italian Wars for years; memories of Peter Gilder's armies in early MW magazine, playing Machiavelli, etc all contributed. Many years ago, my mate Pete Foggin gave me some 15mm he had designed and cast - not sure if they were ever available commercially. I started adding and adding, made a start on DBA sized armies French and Milanese which I never quite finished and then changed focus to Impetus sized bases and Maximillian rules which are a DBA derivative but use armies of 23-30 elements, so double initial plans....

I have toyed with restarting, even trying to prune the unpainted horde to use the better figures such as Vexillia, but it has been a long time since I painted 15mm or worse, cleaned them up...

Then, bad week at work, needed some cheering up. Saw some cheap lots of flats on eBay. I had resisted previously, although very tempted by the SYW Zinnfiguren available; always drawn to them, the elegant look......several bloggers have indulged. Manfully I had not let myself be swayed. Looking at the flats, they had lots of knights / Gensdarmes which looked lovely with the plumes.....but could I paint them? Then....click! Oh WTF have I done!

So, there I was having bought lots of medieval / renaissance Zinnfiguren wondering not only whether I could paint them, but what I was going to do with them! I happened to glance at the bookshelves where a copy of DBA 3 sat. Hmm, it now goes up to the Italian Wars.....hmm.....Machiavelli campaign using DBA sized armies....hmm....this way it could be manageable and not grow like the 15mm version has. What about the painting? Would Contrast paints work?

So sorting through the figures, I worked out there was enough for Imperial German, some Spaniards, these could be French and these Italians....oh there's a Burgundian army....this could work!

So I started wit the French; there were a lot of "active" knights which would be just right for Gensdarmes d'Ordinance.....lets start humbler......Gascon crossbows:

The above are pure Contrast paints and Speed Paints metallics. Then it was Army Painter ink wash as a pin-wash, followed by selective highlighting with acyllics:

Looking good, lets add some more crossbow and Gensdarmes:

Went to town on the Gensdarmes, oil wipe (although water based oil paint!) followed by ink wash, pin-wash of AP ink, highlighting and tidy up, So far we have:

9x Gascon crossbow

7x Picard pike (Horde)

3x 3 Gensdarmes

To finish have another couple of elements of Gensdarmes, various general figures (for DBA RRR), 2x artillery, an element of mounted crossbow. All undercoated and ready to paint. To finish the French I have some cavalry (archers), Swiss, Landesknechts some converted Stradiots and probably need to add more |Picards. All but the Swiss and Germans are cleaned up awaiting primer.

The plan is to do Imperial, Spanish and Italians - a mix of Venetian, Papal and generic Italian troop types. Reinforcements have been sourced from the UK and Germany, and have just bought some Turkish looking cavalry.......

There is certainly a Burgundian army in there and possibly Swiss, Peasant Revolt plus more Landesknechts.....

So far, they have turned out quite nice and are quick to paint with the Contrast / Speed paints doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Washes and highlights lift them into the next league IMHO.

Of course, I have found buying flats is as addictive as normal figures.......if not more so!