How to Choose Paint Colours for a New Army

Quick answer

Choose a miniature colour scheme before you buy paint: pick one main colour, one supporting colour, and one accent, then buy those as a matched triad or small set rather than as random single pots. If you are starting from zero and want one purchase that covers most of an army, a large Fanatic set gives you the widest base. If you already own paints and only need to fill gaps, buy individual triads so the shades layer predictably.

Most new armies stall for the same reason: the paint box grows faster than the models get finished. Buying colours one pot at a time feels cheap until you realise you own four near-identical reds and nothing that highlights them. A paint selection guide is really a plan for repetition, because an army is the same scheme painted dozens of times.

This guide gives you decision rules rather than a list of pretty colours. You will see how triads remove guesswork, when a big paint set beats singles, and where airbrush-ready paints fit. Product examples come from the Warpaints Fanatic and Warpaints Air ranges, with the trade-offs stated plainly so you can choose with your eyes open.

Start with three colours, not thirty

Before opening any store page, write down three colours: one main colour for armour or cloth, one supporting colour for leather, straps, and secondary panels, and one accent for lenses, gems, and markings. That is the whole miniature colour scheme. Everything else is a shade or a highlight of those three, which is why matched triads matter more than a broad rainbow of unrelated pots.

The practical test is repetition. If you cannot imagine painting the main colour on forty models without boredom or inconsistency, it is the wrong main colour. Muted, slightly desaturated tones survive repetition better than vivid ones, and they leave room for a bright accent to do the storytelling on the tabletop.

• Pick the main colour first, then the accent, then the support colour.
• Choose a main colour you can mix reliably if a pot runs out mid-project.

Use colour triads to remove guesswork

A triad is a base, a mid-tone, and a highlight designed to sit together. That matters for an army because you will repeat the same three-step sequence on every model, and predictable steps are what make a unit look like a unit. Buying within one triad also removes the most common beginner error: a highlight that is too close to the base and disappears at arm's length.

The Warpaints Fanatic: Arctic Gem is a good example of how specific a triad entry can be. It is a brilliant blue that works well as a light base tone or highlight colour, and it is the second-lightest tone from the Vivid Blues Flexible Colour Triad, with the practical colour name Brilliant Blue. Knowing where a pot sits in its triad tells you what job it does before you buy it.

• Buy the full triad when you can; a base without its highlight is a half-finished plan.
• Note the practical colour name so you can reorder the same tone later.

Decide between a large set and single pots

A large set wins when you have no paints at all and want to stop shopping. The Warpaints Fanatic: Wargamers Paint Set is a comprehensive collection of the fan-favourite Fanatic paints: 102 paints made up of 86 acrylic colours, 6 Metallics, 4 Washes, and 6 Effects, plus the Durkar the Sovereign Serpent miniature and a Wargamer: Character Brush. The trade-off is upfront cost and shelf space, and you will still use a small fraction of it on any single army.

Single pots win when you already own a working palette and only need to close a gap. Buying one or two triads costs far less than a full set and keeps your scheme tight. The honest limitation is that singles require you to know what you are missing, so inventory your paints before ordering rather than guessing.

• No paints at all: a large set is usually the cheaper route per pot.
• Already painting: buy the specific triad or single you are missing.

Plan metallics and effects as part of the scheme

Metallics are not an afterthought on most armies; they are often the second-most visible colour after the main armour tone. Decide early whether your metals are warm or cold, because mixing the two across a unit looks accidental. Warpaints Fanatic Metallic: Weapon Bronze is a vibrant bronze metallic using a proprietary blend of aluminium and mica for coverage and sheen, which suits warm schemes and reads clearly at tabletop distance.

Effects and washes do different jobs. Washes unify a unit by pushing shading into recesses, while effects add specific finishes. Neither fixes a scheme that lacks contrast, so buy them after your three core colours are settled rather than instead of them.

• Choose warm or cold metals and keep that choice across the whole force.
• Budget for one wash that suits your main colour, not a wash for every pot.

Where airbrush-ready paints fit

If you plan to basecoat or prime in colour with an airbrush, airbrush-ready paints save real time because they need no thinning. The Warpaints Air Starter Set is a way to start an Airbrush collection: 12 Warpaints Air airbrush-ready paints right from the bottle, with pre-loaded mixing balls, developed in a Colour Triad System. The trade-off is that a starter set covers fewer colours than a full brush range, so treat it as a basecoat layer, not your entire palette.

You can also add air colours one at a time. Warpaints Air Metallics: Gun Metal is airbrush-ready right from the bottle with no thinning required, and it carries the same pre-loaded mixing balls and Colour Triad System. Mixing air and brush ranges in one scheme is fine as long as the tones match, so check the triad name rather than assuming two similar colours will agree.

• Airbrush basecoats speed up horde armies; brush work still handles details.
• Match by triad name when combining air and brush paints.

Match your bases to the scheme

Basing is the last colour decision and it changes how the whole army reads. A cold, rocky base pushes warm armour forward; a warm desert base does the opposite. Decide the ground your army stands on at the same time as the armour colour, because repainting bases across a finished force is tedious.

The Basing Bundle: Mountains covers rocks, gravel, and cold slopes, and it is aimed at dwarves, tundra fighters, or highland strongholds. That is a clear example of theme driving purchase: if your scheme is cold, the base should agree with it rather than fight it.

• Choose a base that contrasts with your main colour, not one that matches it.
• Buy basing materials once you have committed to a theme.

Decision rules for your first army palette

• If you own no paints at all: Buy one broad set such as the Warpaints Fanatic: Wargamers Paint Set, then add only the specific triads your scheme needs. Checkpoint: you should be able to paint a complete test model without buying anything else.
• If you already own a working palette: Buy single pots and triads to close gaps, and match the practical colour name so the new pot layers with what you already use. Checkpoint: the new pot must have a clear base, mid, or highlight job in your scheme.
• If you plan to airbrush basecoats: Use airbrush-ready paints for speed and keep brush paints for detail, matching tones by triad name rather than by eye. Checkpoint: air colours should cover the largest areas, not the fine detail.
• If you are painting a horde or repeat unit: Favour muted main colours and simple three-step sequences, because repetition rewards consistency over spectacle. Checkpoint: you can describe your scheme in three colours without hesitating.
• If you keep changing your mind: Paint one complete test model, including its base, before buying anything for the rest of the army. Next step: only scale up the palette once the test model looks right at arm's length.

Product facts that affect the decision

• Warpaints Fanatic: Wargamers Paint Set: A comprehensive collection of the fan-favourite Fanatic paints: 102 paints made up of 86 acrylic colours, 6 Metallics, 4 Washes, and 6 Effects, and it includes the Durkar the Sovereign Serpent miniature and a Wargamer: Character Brush. One purchase covers nearly every colour decision for a new army and adds a brush and a model, so it suits painters starting from an empty box rather than filling a single gap.
• Warpaints Fanatic: Arctic Gem: A brilliant blue that works well as a light base tone or highlight colour, the second-lightest tone from the Vivid Blues Flexible Colour Triad, with the practical colour name Brilliant Blue. Its position in the triad tells you whether it is a base or a highlight, so you can buy the right step instead of guessing from a swatch.
• Warpaints Fanatic Metallic: Weapon Bronze: A vibrant bronze metallic using a proprietary blend of aluminium and mica for coverage and sheen. Coverage and sheen matter on large areas of armour and trim, where thin or patchy metallics force extra coats across every model in the unit.
• Warpaints Air Starter Set: 12 Warpaints Air airbrush-ready paints right from the bottle, with pre-loaded mixing balls, developed in a Colour Triad System. A fast route to airbrush basecoating with no thinning, but the colour count is limited, so it supports a scheme rather than replacing a full brush palette.

Who this approach suits

Best for

• New painters starting an army from an empty paint box
• Players who want a repeatable scheme across many similar units
• Anyone deciding between a large paint set and individual pots

Not for

• Painters who only need one replacement pot for an existing scheme
• Collectors buying display pieces where every model is painted differently
• Anyone looking for exact colour matching to a specific real-world uniform without testing first

Choose your three colours first, buy them as matched triads where possible, and only then decide between a large set and singles. Paint one test model, base included, and let that model tell you whether the palette is worth repeating across the rest of the army.