What is the fastest DBA 3.0 Army to paint?

For me the barbarian war band armies of the Late Roman, Early Dark Ages, paint up quickly.
Early Vandal, Early Franks, Rugian, Early Frank, Bavarian etc etc. Armies who have few horses to paint!

First I glue figures to bases, spray on cheap primer, given them all a dark wash.
The I start with one color, using it once per base: a red shield, a red cloak, red pants, red scabbard.
Using this assembly line technique it goes pretty fast and you quickly wind up with not a work of art but an army painted to wargaming standard.

Here are my Franks:
www.flickr.com/photos/76644443@N02/16836687222/in/dateposted-public/

I assume that is a clever pun about naked slingers needing a flash and wash!!!

Simon

First, from actual experience, Nubians and Melanesians/Polynesians/Maori were the quickest to paint to a reasonable standard for me. Not having to worry much about clothing and equipment helps.
Uniformed armies are also relatively quick to paint. Roman legionaries, while boring, lend themselves very well to assembly line painting. Can be done quickly and you have a few other troop types for relief, so it is also fun. The same is true for most Chinese armies.

I would also think that armies with a high number of cataphracts and the like are easy and quick to paint. Thus Sarmatians and Parthians should be quick (Parthians I have tried, they were relatively quick if you do not get too involved with clothing ornaments). Sarmatians should be a piece of cake: Black paint, heavy dry-brushing in steel, a few spots of flesh and clothing and horse-gear, lances and that is it. Should also look good (It does look good on the single element of Sarmatian allies that I have painted as an option for the Dacians).

Since posing this question I have been on a couple of business trips and so have been able to hit the purple book and ponder it more. So here is what I think:

The fastest army to paint is a combination of the smallest army and the quickest figures to paint.

When it comes to the quickest figures to paint I reckon that the top 3 are:
III/75 Berber – most of these figures are clad entirely in black with only hands and occasionally faces exposed. So spray black, dry brush highlights before weapons and shields. Essex miniatures do nice figures for these.
III/70 Tuareg - again figures are clad head to foot in blue with camels being sand dry brushed bone. The only reasons these came second to the Berbers is the larger more difficult shields. Peter Pig do a fantastic range of Tuareg.
I/10 Pre-Vedic Indian or I/3 Nubian – in 3rd equal were the loincloth wearing Indians or Nubians which I could not separate.
The I/7 Early Libyans only got bumped down this list because of their headresses. Honourable mentions go to I/8 Numidians, II/5e Aitolians, II/30a Galatian, II/11 Gallic, II/6a Axumite and III/19 a or b Welsh and IV/9Eastern Forest American.

When it comes to the smallest army it is just a case of counting up the figures (pieces) in a typical army (1 for foot, 2 for mounted, 3 for chariot or Elephant etc.) On this metric I reckon that the smallest armies are:
I/3 Nubian – 32 pieces
I/7 Early Libyan and IV/9 Eastern Forest American – 33 pieces
II/5e Aitolian – 34 pieces
Honourable mentions go to IV/41 Early Swiss – 35 pieces (using the 3Bd option), I/10 Pre-Vedic Indian – 36 pieces and the III/1 a or B Welsh - 37 pieces.

So combining small and quick we find that the following Armies are the fastest to paint:
In the “All Mounted” category - the winner is III/70 Tuareg
In the “with an Elephant” category – the winner is II/6a Axumite
In the “fast but varied” category – the winner is III/75 Berber
In the “fast and colourful” category – the winner is III/75 Berber
In the book IV category – the winner is IV/9 Eastern Forest American
In the Book III category – the winner is III/19 a or b Welsh
In the Book II Category – the winner is II/5e Aitolians
In the Book I category – the winner is I/3 Nubian

So finally the overall top 3 fastest armies to paint are:
3rd - I/7 Early Libyans
2nd - I/10 Pre-Vedic Indian
1st - I/3 Nubian

So what have I learned? Well I’ll definitely be investing in the following armies II/5e Aitolian, III/75 Berber, III/70 Tuareg and III/19 a or b Welsh. I already own IV/41 Early Swiss, I/10 Pre-Vedic Indian and II/40 Numidians than I can use for Nubians. I’ll also definitely look at a II/6a Axumite army.

Mongol Conquest were in the mix but have a Cav Gen so are 1 Cav & 11 LH at the lightest which is 25 Cavalrymen = 50 pieces - which is high when compared to some of the smaller armies. That said I'd only ever play them with the slightly heavier 3 Cav option or perhaps 4 to 6 Cav option - but that's just me!

When it comes to painting them it wasn't the mix of browns but the silks and furs that drove the difficulty up...those highlights aren't much but that's another 4-5 bottles of paint opened. Then it may just be the Essex figures I have but the General comes with a Camel Standard bearer and Camel kettle drummer....which again made them more difficult.

Seems to me the Hellenistic Greek, II/31j Aitolians would qualify too.  Optionally, the army could be just 2xLH & 10xPs.  24 figures.   

I could envision...  One day to prep & prime, another day to paint, and a third day to base & flock.  Voila!