At last, after nearly five years since this project first began to take shape with AMMO by Mig Jiménez and its new brand IONIC, we can finally announce a new collection of books in encyclopedia format created for all lovers of wargames miniatures.
Three years ago, we published another book with a similar theme, How to Paint Miniatures for Wargames, focused mainly on painting infantry armies. But it fell short of what we truly wanted to achieve. Besides infantry, many wargames also include vehicles, and above all, they require scenery to recreate the battlefields where games take place. As a result, we have developed a series of five volumes (plus a “premium” or sixth volume) covering these three major themes: scenery, vehicles, and infantry. And we have done it from the perspective of a wargame army painter, not that of a display figure painter. This distinction is crucial: the balance between quality and time is completely different. Army painters must prioritize speed and efficiency to complete full units and armies within a given time frame, whereas display painters can dedicate that same time to perfecting a single figure or vignette.
We have called this collection an “Encyclopedia”, a somewhat ambitious title, perhaps, but one that reflects our goal: to gather as much information as possible on scenery, vehicles, and infantry, all viewed through the lens of army painting.
The challenge has not only been technical. The real difficulty lay in bringing together the immense variety of themes found in wargames, from historical to fantasy and science fiction settings. Added to this is the diversity of scales, as not all games are played at the same size. Ultimately, we decided to include tutorials in both 15 mm and 28–32 mm, the most popular scales. With all this in mind, each volume, and the Encyclopedia as a whole, has been structured progressively, increasing in both technical and theoretical complexity. The painting of vehicles and infantry has been divided into two parts, clearly separating quick-painting methods from advanced painting techniques. Despite all the challenges, we believe we have found a balance between these variables, resulting in a series that will be useful to every wargamer, regardless of personal preferences or skill level.
To make all this possible, we have had the collaboration of 21 incredible artists, without whom this project would never have come to life:
Alejandro Botana (@alekxandrosp), Alberto Mateos Jurado (@Alberto_Mateos_Jurado), Andreia Rodrigues (@Modest_Modeler), Diego Quijano (@Diego_quijano_modeling), Giuseppe Chiafele (@chiafele_giuseppe), Javier Rodríguez Lozano (@javipaintsminis), John Bonanni (jb_closetmodeler), Jon Gómez (@pintureando.miniatures), Juan Hidalgo (@jh.miniaturas), Matteo Reich (teomodels), Miguel Matías (miguelminis), Miguel Viñas (@Modelbrush), Myles (@lilegend_studio), Nathaniel Phillips (@warmasterpainting), Peter Motas (@myt4z), Rafael Guillén (@rghpaint), Rob Medwell (@Meddersminiatures), Sion Scannel (@emperors_paintbrush), Toni Garcia (@chkminis), Iván Sanz de Castro (@isanz.minis), and Wojciech Morelowski (@msterrainlab).
The Encyclopedia Volumes are:
Vol. 1 – Scenery
The longest book in the series, featuring dozens of step-by-step tutorials ranging from simple projects to highly detailed builds. It includes chapters on deserts, grasslands, forests, industrial worlds, medieval buildings, and even water and snow. Beyond painting, it also covers scratch-building and improvement techniques. To top it off, the book concludes with two full tutorials on creating complete gaming tables, one simple, and another depicting a spectacular fantasy harbor.
Reviews:
Vol. 2 – Quick Vehicle Painting
After an in-depth introduction covering the fundamental vehicle painting and weathering techniques, this book presents a series of step-by-step tutorials applying those methods to a wide variety of themes and scales, including World War II, Warhammer 40K, The Horus Heresy, and Star Wars.
Vol. 3 – Advanced Vehicle Painting
building upon the techniques from the previous volume, this book moves into greater technical complexity, using a broad range of modeling paints and products to achieve realistic finishes. As before, the themes are diverse, covering many different types of vehicles and universes.
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Vol. 4 – Quick Figure Painting
Like Volume 2, this book focuses on the core techniques for painting wargame units, from basic drybrushing to layering and glazing. After an introduction to figure painting for beginners and an overview of essential techniques, it features a dozen step-by-step guides across various settings, ending with several basing options to complete your miniatures.
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Vols. 5 & 6 – Advanced Figure Painting
The pinnacle of wargame miniature painting. These volumes continue to raise the technical and theoretical bar, approaching the level of display-quality work, perfect for painting your army’s general or your favorite hero. The first part delves deeply into theory, including topics like color theory and Non-Metallic Metal (NMM), followed by an extensive collection of masterclasses covering a wide range of subjects. Due to the sheer number and quality of articles, this content has been divided into two volumes, with three of the masterclasses featured in Volume 6.
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In short, this has been a colossal project, one that took a long time to bring together, with many moving parts and more than a few headaches along the way. But in the end, we believe it was worth every effort. I would like to express my deepest thanks to AMMO by Mig Jiménez and IONIC for the opportunity to bring this work to life, as well as to the rest of the editors: Diego Quijano, Jamie Trantier, Alejandro Botana, and Giuseppe Chiafele, and, of course, to all the contributors.
Editing these books has improved my painting skills by helping me understand the “why” behind what we do, not just the “how”. I hope you also find useful and enjoy these books as much as we have enjoyed creating them.
You can subscribe here to access the entire encyclopedia, with the final sixth volume available for free. Each volume can also be purchased individually. As of November 2025, Volumes 1 (Scenery) and 2 (fast painting tanks) have been released, and new volumes are planned to launch every two months.
You can get any (or all) of these books (as well as any other product) on the AMMO by Mig Jiménez website, with a 10% discount using the code:Heresy10Ionic