Deathbridge Warhammer

Deathbridge Warhammer

Friday, May 28, 2010

How do you pick your Army Colors?

Here's a question I pose to all the Deathbridgers out there: When you start a new army, what makes you pick the colors you eventually paint? Is it a personal preference (I like green), is it that some colors are easier to paint? Are you following the fluff of a certain aspect of that army (like a Chapter or Craftworld)? Or is it something all together different?



Personal preference is obviously important. Myself, I won't paint an army who's color I don't like. Black Templars have some great models, and their upgrade sprues for regular marines are still among the best out there. But an entire army of black? No thank-you. I like color. It's most of what drives me to paint in the first place.

That said, black is clearly easier to paint than say, yellow. If you wanted to get an entire army done fast, Black is the way to go. Or Boltgun Metal. A single, easy to apply color. I'm sure most of you have worked with Blood Red or Bad Moon Yellow before, and ten coats later that messy wash is still showing through. You never have that problem with black.

Or is it a choice of fluff? You just like Dark Angels more than Ultramarines so you're painting your marines green. Again, personally, I went with Biel-Tan Eldar because I like green, and the fluff of the Craftworld, that of having the most aspect warriors, meant I got to paint a lot of different, bright colors. I would not have done then as Iyanden, since their fluff says they are mostly Wraithguards and Wraithlords, even though I think Yellow is by far the most striking color an army can be on a table.

Likewise with my Orks. I chose Goffs, a black scheme with checkers. But I didn't choose them because black is easier to paint. I chose it because it was how I saw the Orks. Wearing black. Being the bad-ass bad-guys. And bein' proppa stompy! I had actually started my Orks as Evil Sunz, mostly because I though the idea of an army that dies in droves wearing red shirts was funny. At the time, the trukk model was the worst model in 40k (and I'm sure most of you have seen the old model and would agree). The more I played Orks though, the less the idea worked for me. So I've been stripping and repainting my Orks to fit in with my 'darker' view of Orks. Don't get me wrong, I own a lot of trukks and could easily field a proppa Evil Sunz list, but I'm enjoying feet on the ground and a more mixed approach to how I play.

So what about you guys? Where does your army color selection come from? Are you fluff-mongers, like me, do you choose based on ease, or a favorite color, or a combination of several things?

Discuss.

4 comments:

Wallshammer said...

Color and fluff both play a pretty integral role, moreso then playstyle by a mile, when picking an army.

Red, apparently, is my color of choice right now. Khorne heavy Chaos marines, Khador for warmachine and even red head bands on my catachan!

Now, with my empire, I TOTALLY went for color scheme. I didn't give a crap about provincial fluff. I found a striking scheme (I hope) and went with it. We'll see what quartered purple/yellow looks like I guess.

Green Feevah! said...

I guess we'll have to start calling you Red Feevah! then.

Doompickle said...

Hey man, great articles on here!
I guess for myself currently I am going with the fluff of an army. My first army was the Deathwing and my 2nd was the Raven Guard.

I like following fluff when I can. For example in the case of my Raven Guard they are painted black but I have found black to be harder to pull off and look good without it looking like "oh he just spray painted it black" lol. I guess in a way thats ok as well, at least they have some paint on them and not plastic ;)

My latest army, a Ork Deffwing force, I am finding it a bit difficult to pick a colour, do I paint them like my deathwing because they are imitating them? or choose one of the more traditional colours of the Ork warbands? Not to mention skin colours, there are a few people in the club that thier orks are varied with how their skin is coloured and all look great, and one in particular where the skin isn't even green - it's grey (which reminds me I need to paint my wound counters grey Duane!)

Wallshammer said...

I think you should have yellow armor, Doom! Bad Moons are wealthy and it takes wealth to have a ton of mega armor!