Give the party specific goals that will affect the outcome but let the larger battle play out in the background. The enemy has breached the south wall, they have to defend it until reinforcements arrive, then they have to rescue the Priests from the burning temple so they can tend to the wounded, then they have to defeat a particularly powerful NPC, etc. Play up the chaos of the battle in the background with the occasional random battle with the enemy grunts but don't focus on minor conflicts.
I don't generally paint figures, I usually stick to terrain and dressing but, some pics of what I've done can be found here I only started painting around a year and a half ago myself. Before that, I hadn't held a brush since high school. I just take my time and don't worry about messing up. I can always fix it. Mistakes are an annoyance not a deal-breaker. |