Tiny Democrats

I’ve painted my first unit of 6mm Greek Hoplites for use with Rally Round the King. This unit represents part of the Athenian force at the battle of Mantinea. The figures and the shield decals are all from Baccus Miniatures.

For this game, I’m going to create casualty stands for each unit. The democrat casualties will have blue shields and the oligarch casualties will have red shields.

6mm figures are actually very easy to paint — what they don’t tell you is how boring it is to paint 6mm figures! The key of course (as with all miniature painting) is to have a brush with a good point. It doesn’t have to be an expensive brush, it just has to have a good point. That being said, a properly cared for Winsor & Newton Series 7 will last for years while the bargain synthetic will last a few weeks.

So why 6mm? I began this project with 28mm figures. The larger figures are nicer to paint and have more detail. The downside is the cost & size of table needed to play a game. In the picture above, the 28mm stand with 8 metal figures cost about $25.00 – the 6mm stand with 24 metal figures cost about $1.70.

Now that I’ve painted a stand of hoplites, I have a better idea as to when I will have the two armies ready. I’m thinking that if I’m not too distracted, I’ll have both sides ready for the table around Labor Day. However, they do have to compete with two other projects which may limit the time spent on this one.

As always, your comments, suggestions, honest criticism, baked goods and encouragement are appreciated.