Difficulty?

[Big Russ]

Alright, I was in the same position as the OP a little over a week ago but I decided to just take the plunge.

For me, I wanted to just make them look as nice as possible for as little money as possible. I don't know whether you are interested in making some great works of art or not, but I just wanted nice-looking miniatures.

I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up several $0.99 acryllic craft paints. You know the basics (celery green, brown, blue, etc). Then I also got some of the fake grass they have in the train section for the bases. (Woodland Scenic burnt grass I believe). Then I went to Wal-Mart and picked up the cheapest can of generic grey spray primer and then I splurged on the Krylon matte finish.

I primed the miniatures (very lightly though, so as not to lose the detail of the figures). After that dried I just got to painting the main colors and didn't worry too much about the more advanced techniques like dry-brushing.

When all of that was dry, I used the dip technique, but I brushed on the wood stain so I would have more control over the surface coverage. After that dried I brushed on some Elmer's Glue onto the bases, applied the grass, and then sealed it with the matte finish.

All in all, the miniatures certainly don't look like they were professionally done, but I am more than happy with the results. For someone who had never painted anything like this, I would say the results are actually pretty good. To the OP I would say go for it, if you end up not liking the finished product, there's always paint thinner.