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The easiest Warhammer army to paint: Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Age of Sigmar
Today I was leafing through the new Liber Hereticus for The Horus Heresy, and I found myself drawn to all the photos of painted models. As I’ve posted here before, I’m getting close to being done with painting my Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness box (just 10 more tactical marines to go!) and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job with them. But looking at these pictures in Liber Hereticus of their World Eaters made me feel like my World Eaters were… lacking.
It’s not like I’m a stranger to painting. I painted my first miniature sometime around 1989 and I haven’t looked back since. But I’m not what you’d call a display-quality painter. I’m a good painter, and I’ve done a few pieces that I’m particularly proud of, but I won’t be winning any Golden Demon awards any time soon. And I’m fine with that.
But all of this got me thinking: what is the easiest Warhammer army to paint? I imagine that when newcomers venture into a game store and see some veteran gamer’s models on the table they can be pretty discouraged. I also think that the same thing can be said about watching all of the many–great–Warhammer YouTube painting tutorials. Often we see a painter who is so incredibly good and we throw our hands up in the air and say there’s no way we could possibly do it.
But what we need to realize is that all of these YouTube painters, and the Games Workshop ‘Eavy Metal team that painted the Liber Hereticus, and even the veteran gamer at the game store have a lot of experience. They’ve been at this for a while. The ‘Eavy Metal painters and some of the YouTubers paint Warhammer models as their fulltime job. So they’re pretty good.
The Challenge: What is the Easiest Warhammer Army to Paint?
So I decided to figure out what the easiest Warhammer armies to paint are. If I’m recommending that people get into Warhammer 40k, which army do I point them to? Obviously, there’s more that goes into the decision that painting–there’s also lore and playstyle–but choosing a Warhammer army, for a newcomer, ought to include an army that’s relatively easy to paint. I should know. My first Games Workshop minis were 1st Edition Harlequins, painted when I was twelve. I was out of my depth.
So my formula is this: we need to have the following criteria met:
- models are painted with a limited number of colors
- models can be enhanced by the heavy use of washes and drybrushing (two of the most basic and quickest methods of learning to paint)
- the models are relatively unadorned. This means they don’t have a lot of bits and bobs and ammo pouches and grenades and medals and all of the peripheral stuff that requires steady hands and extra attention
- the models tend to be on the bigger side. Bigger is easier to paint than smaller.
What is the easiest Warhammer 40k army to paint
#1. Necrons
Hands down, this is the easiest decision of the bunch. Necrons are very easy to paint. This is not to say that in the hands of a master they can’t be made incredible, but in the hands of a novice they can still look quite good.
First off, it meets the colors criteria. Most Necrons are painted in a single metallic basecoat, with some people painting the basecoat in two different shades of metallics. But if you just want basics, then you could literally spray paint them silver with a can of Leadbelcher.
Next, a generous application of Nuln Oil will bring out all of the highlights and recesses, and really make the plain metallic model look, well, great. If you want a grungier model, then instead of Nuln Oil use Agrax Earthshade. (I painted some Necrons that I wanted to be crawling out of the earth from their Tomb World, and I shaded them with Athonian Camoshade.)
And then once the shade is dry, get a slightly lighter metallic (or just return to your basecoat) and drybrush the model. But honestly, even this step isn’t necessary for a beginner. A basecoat and a shade is the basics you need.
Of course, you’ll want to paint the bright colors of the Gauss weapons, and that can be done with a green or orange. It is a little smaller of a target, but with a steady hand you can paint in those little details no problem.
As for being unadorned, very few Necrons carry anything in the way of gear. It’s just their weapons and that’s it. No fiddly bits to worry about.
And are they big? Some of them are, but most of them are fairly average.
But that’s it. Pop a base on them and the Necrons are the easiest Warhammer 40k army to paint.
#2. Space Marines
Now, let’s be clear here: we’re talking about SOME Space Marines. Because there are some chapters of the Space Marines that are very hard to paint (think: Lamenters). But let’s look at our criteria.
First, you can paint a chapter any color you want, and you don’t really need to do a lot of embellishments. You can paint a chapter in a single basecoat, then add some black and silver details to the armor and powerpack, some black and silver details to the bolter, and you’re done.
A wash is the next thing that you want, and–good news!–washes work just as well on Space Marines as they do on Necrons. While every Space Marine legion can do with different shades, I was recently turned onto a special mix proposed by Sonic Sledgehammer that he calls Marine Juice: it’s a 1:1:1 mix of Nuln Oil, Reikland Fleshshade, and Lahmian Medium. I mixed up a bunch of it and it’s instantly become my favorite shade. But, if you’re just starting out, find a shade that matches the color of your chosen chapter.
As for a drybrush, I can solidly say that I drybrushed my way through 4000 points of Blood Angels and never regretted it. There will be some people who say that you can’t drybrush a Space Marine–you need to edge highlight. But drybrushing works fine. You may need to use your basecoat to clean up a few odd spots, but it should work a treat.
Now, one downside. Depending on the Space Marine unit that you’re paint they could have a lot of embellishments. Ammo pouches, holsters, grenades, and purity seals. The good thing is that, for the most part, you can build you models without adding these details–they’re generally optional. But you may need to tackle a few.
But perhaps the biggest thing in the Space Marines favor is that Primaris Space Marines are just so BIG. They stand head-and-shoulders above the regular human Sisters of Battle or Imperial Guard. And they have big flat panels that don’t require a huge amount of finesse to paint. No tiny bits of trim or decoration (unless we’re talking special characters). But the Adeptus Mechanicum these guys ain’t.
#3. Tyranids
Tyranids may look intimidating, but that’s just because they’re big scary monsters. The truth is that they’re very easy to paint if you’re new to the hobby.
Most Tyranids are a combination of two or three colors. There’s a primary color, usually for the armor plating, and a skin color. And then maybe a different color for the claws. That’s all you need if you’re starting out.
And one of the best things about any organic model is that they have a lot of texture and textured models LOVE washes. Basecoat a Tyranid, give it a wash, and it’ll be looking great. And then, of course, drybrush it with a highlight color to make all the edges of the armored panels stand out, and you’ve got a great looking army.
Best part: absolutely no embellishments. They’re bugs. A few of them carry organic guns, but none of them carry bags or bombs or anything like that. It’s just carapace, skin, and claws.
And they’re big. Now some of them might intimidate you with how big they are–there are a lot of big monsters in the Tyranids–but on the whole it’s easier to paint a big model than a small one.
To Learn More About How to Get Started Painting Warhammer 40k Click Here
What is the easiest Warhammer Age of Sigmar army to paint?
#1. Nighthaunt
Again, this can be an army that is as hard or as easy as you make it, but there are some REALLY easy ways to paint Nighthaunt. Games Workshop even came out with special paints that you can just slop on your Nighthaunt to do them all in one go: Nighthaunt Gloom and Hexwraith Flame. You seriously just need to apply one or the other of these paints and you’ve got all the basecoating of your Nighthaunt ready.
And, because these two paints were essentially the precursors to Contrast Paints, you don’t even need to do a wash, and you don’t need to do a drybrush. The one downside is that you’ll need to be careful as you apply the paints to make sure they don’t pool where you don’t want them to and leave tide marks, but the rest is easy.
The embellishments are that most of the models have some kind of metallic element, like a helmet or a sword, or a scythe. But a little silver and bronze (maybe dirty them up with Agrax Earthshade if you want) and that’s it. Ghosts don’t carry bags and grenades.
Some of the models are small, but it’s not a detriment. In fact, the main downside to the Nighthaunt, for beginning painters, is that the character models are a little harder to paint–they’ve got some special flourishes. But when it comes to the bulk of your battleline, Nighthaunt are a breeze.
#2. Sylvaneth
I’m surprised I’m saying this because I was always intimidated by the Sylvaneth. The look hard to paint, certainly. They have all of those spindly branches and limbs. But the truth is that a good Contrast Paint, like Snakebite Leather, Wildwood, or Cygor Brown, will do all the heavy lifting for you. You’ll still need to paint the semi-ethereal Aelvish portion of some of the models, like the Revenants, but you can do an entire Start Collecting box (Dryads and Treelord) with nothing but Contrast.
That said, there are some models that are harder to paint than others. But it might surprise you which ones those are. The Treelord Ancient, a big centerpiece unit, is a cinch to paint. But those Aelves are a little trickier and, of course, the main HQ, Alarielle the Everqueen, will take some big skill.
Still, for most of your troops, and even most of your elites, it’s a good starter army.
#3. Stormcast Eternals
What I said about the Space Marines above can apply almost exactly to the Stormcast. The Stormcast Eternals come in all different colors, and you can choose whoever you want to paint. I did mine in blue, but gold is the most common. And, if you want gold, then simply basecoat them with Retributor Armor spray.
Then, after you’ve sprayed them gold, hit them with a shade of Reikland Fleshshade. The warm tone of that shade really makes makes the gold sing. You may or may not want to drybrush them with a lighter highlight color–maybe some Stormhost Silver just to catch the edges.
Generally, the Stormcast Eternals aren’t carrying around too much in the way of extras. They’ll almost always have shields, though, and the shields almost always have some kind of crest. You can do detailed work here, or you can do a basecoat and a shade and let them shine that way.
But, like the Space Marines, Stormcast Eternals are good because they’re so big. It’s hard to go wrong working on a model that has such big, nice, flat surfaces.
