Once the inkwash is dry, your minis will look really dark, like the above. You can leave them like this and call them good enough! But I like my guys to have higher contrast and brighter brights, since they're going to be blending into their grass a lot.
So I take paint a few notches brighter than my base coat, in this case a light gray and light red, and paint some big spots on their large areas. Avoid putting this bright paint where you want shadows to be, like in the joints or armpits or whatever. In this lazy way, we get 3 levels of tone! The darkest shadows, the middle-tier gray that was left somewhat-bright from the inkwash, and our top-most layer of new bright paint!
Time to prepare your bases, both the big "main" bases and also the little discs built-in to your little dudes. Paint the top parts brown, like dirt. Paint a nice contrasting rim color on the big "main" base so the mini stands out on the battlefield to us players, I chose red because of their faction but it can be any color.
Once all the painting is done, the time has come to free your little dudes from their sprue prison. Carefully, using flat edge wire cutters, remove each tiny man from the metal rod that connects them all from the factory.
I always find that, to get them to properly fit in my homemade 3D printed bases, I need to file the bottoms of their feet discs flat. The flat-edge wire cutters are good but they always leave behind a little nub that gets in the way of proper fitting.
Use water whenever you file indoors to prevent dust! This stuff is usually pewter which contains lead and is bad for your health. Many minis nowadays are lead-free but you NEVER KNOW so just keep the file wet and you don't have to worry about it. Wipe away the metal shavings and dab your minis dry with paper towel afterwards.
