[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-/guides/best-paints-for-kill-team":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":337,"date":338,"description":339,"extension":340,"heroImage":341,"intro":342,"lastUpdated":338,"marketEditions":343,"meta":344,"navigation":343,"noShopFooter":345,"path":346,"related":347,"seo":350,"shopSearch":323,"stem":351,"tags":352,"__hash__":353},"guides/guides/best-paints-for-kill-team.md","Best Paints for Warhammer Kill Team - What You Need",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":328},"minimark",[9,19,22,27,56,60,65,73,78,114,118,123,140,143,148,186,189,194,214,217,220,224,241,248,256,260,263,285,289,305,318],[10,11,12,13,18],"p",{},"Most \"what paints do I need\" advice is written for an army: buy in bulk, buy for speed, buy the pots you will empty. ",[14,15,17],"a",{"href":16},"/kill-team","Warhammer Kill Team"," inverts every part of that. A team is roughly six to fourteen operatives. You will never empty a pot. You will paint each model once, carefully, and then look at it across a table for a year.",[10,20,21],{},"So the shopping list is not a smaller army list. It is a different one.",[23,24,26],"h2",{"id":25},"what-actually-changes-at-ten-models","What actually changes at ten models",[28,29,30,38,44,50],"ul",{},[31,32,33,37],"li",{},[34,35,36],"strong",{},"Volume stops mattering."," The per-millilitre arithmetic that decides an army purchase is close to irrelevant here - you will not finish a 12ml pot on a kill team. Buy for how the paint behaves, not how much of it there is.",[31,39,40,43],{},[34,41,42],{},"Coverage stops mattering as much."," A paint that needs three thin coats costs you an evening across ten models, not a month across a hundred.",[31,45,46,49],{},[34,47,48],{},"The finishing pots start mattering."," Edge highlights, lenses, battle damage, a decent metallic - the steps you skip on a horde are the whole point of a team. This is where the money goes.",[31,51,52,55],{},[34,53,54],{},"You can afford one indulgence."," One artist-grade paint, one good brush, one technical pot. On an army that is a rounding error you will never see; on ten models it is visible on every one.",[23,57,59],{"id":58},"the-list","The list",[10,61,62],{},[34,63,64],{},"Prime and base (three pots)",[10,66,67,68,72],{},"Your primer, and the two or three colours the team actually wears. Pick them from your faction's own recipe - the ",[14,69,71],{"href":70},"/factions","faction painting guides"," name specific pots for every army in the game, and a Kill Team box is drawn straight from one of them.",[10,74,75],{},[34,76,77],{},"Shade (two pots)",[10,79,80,84,85,89,90,84,94,98,99,103,104,108,109,113],{},[14,81,83],{"href":82},"/paint/citadel-nuln-oil","Nuln Oil"," and ",[14,86,88],{"href":87},"/paint/citadel-agrax-earthshade","Agrax Earthshade",", or ",[14,91,93],{"href":92},"/paint/army-painter-dark-tone","Army Painter Dark Tone",[14,95,97],{"href":96},"/paint/army-painter-strong-tone","Strong Tone",". Non-negotiable at any model count. A third shade earns its place here in a way it does not on an army: ",[14,100,102],{"href":101},"/paint/citadel-reikland-fleshshade","Reikland Fleshshade"," if your operatives have faces, ",[14,105,107],{"href":106},"/paint/citadel-drakenhof-nightshade","Drakenhof Nightshade"," if they wear anything blue or white, ",[14,110,112],{"href":111},"/paint/citadel-seraphim-sepia","Seraphim Sepia"," if they wear bone or leather.",[115,116],"paint-products",{"ids":117},"citadel-nuln-oil,citadel-agrax-earthshade,citadel-reikland-fleshshade,citadel-drakenhof-nightshade",[10,119,120],{},[34,121,122],{},"Highlight (two pots)",[10,124,125,126,84,130,134,135,139],{},"The lighter partner of your armour colour, and one near-white. ",[14,127,129],{"href":128},"/paint/citadel-ushabti-bone","Ushabti Bone",[14,131,133],{"href":132},"/paint/citadel-white-scar","White Scar"," between them highlight most things. This is the step that separates a painted team from a based one - see ",[14,136,138],{"href":137},"/guides/edge-highlighting","edge highlighting",".",[115,141],{"ids":142},"citadel-ushabti-bone,citadel-white-scar",[10,144,145],{},[34,146,147],{},"Metal (three pots, and this is where a team earns it)",[28,149,150,157,169],{},[31,151,152,156],{},[14,153,155],{"href":154},"/paint/citadel-leadbelcher","Leadbelcher"," for everything mechanical.",[31,158,159,163,164,168],{},[14,160,162],{"href":161},"/paint/citadel-ironbreaker","Ironbreaker"," or ",[14,165,167],{"href":166},"/paint/citadel-stormhost-silver","Stormhost Silver"," for the edges and blade tips - on an army you skip this, on ten operatives it is the most noticeable ten minutes you will spend.",[31,170,171,172,176,177,163,181,185],{},"One gold or brass: ",[14,173,175],{"href":174},"/paint/citadel-retributor-armour","Retributor Armour",", ",[14,178,180],{"href":179},"/paint/citadel-balthasar-gold","Balthasar Gold",[14,182,184],{"href":183},"/paint/citadel-warplock-bronze","Warplock Bronze",", depending on how ornate your faction is.",[115,187],{"ids":188},"citadel-leadbelcher,citadel-ironbreaker,citadel-stormhost-silver,citadel-retributor-armour",[10,190,191],{},[34,192,193],{},"Detail (two pots)",[10,195,196,197,176,201,163,205,209,210,139],{},"One hot accent for lenses, powered weapons and screens - ",[14,198,200],{"href":199},"/paint/citadel-evil-sunz-scarlet","Evil Sunz Scarlet",[14,202,204],{"href":203},"/paint/citadel-calgar-blue","Calgar Blue",[14,206,208],{"href":207},"/paint/citadel-moot-green","Moot Green"," - and one grime for the boots and the base rim, such as ",[14,211,213],{"href":212},"/paint/citadel-typhus-corrosion","Typhus Corrosion",[115,215],{"ids":216},"citadel-evil-sunz-scarlet,citadel-calgar-blue,citadel-moot-green,citadel-typhus-corrosion",[10,218,219],{},"That is around twelve pots for a fully finished team, and about half of them serve every team you paint afterwards.",[23,221,223],{"id":222},"sets-worth-it-with-one-caveat","Sets: worth it, with one caveat",[10,225,226,227,230,231,235,236,240],{},"At this model count a set is often the better buy despite the theme problem, because you are buying ",[34,228,229],{},"range"," rather than volume - a spread of shades and metals you would otherwise buy one at a time. The ",[14,232,234],{"href":233},"/sets/warpaints-fanatic-starter-set","Warpaints Fanatic Starter Set"," covers primer, base colours, two metals and a shade in one box; the ",[14,237,239],{"href":238},"/sets/vallejo-game-color-introduction-set","Vallejo Game Color Introduction Set"," is a wider spread of sixteen. Both leave you buying only your team's own colours.",[10,242,243,244,139],{},"The caveat: check the contents before you buy, because a set built around one colour family is exactly the wrong shape for a team. ",[14,245,247],{"href":246},"/guides/best-miniature-paint-sets","Every paint set is listed with its exact contents and ranked by value",[10,249,250,251,255],{},"Skip the speedpaint route here unless you are painting a second team to play with quickly. Contrast paints are a horde technology; at ten models they save you an evening and cost you the thing you were painting a small team for. If you want it anyway, ",[14,252,254],{"href":253},"/guides/best-contrast-paints","best contrast paints"," covers the ranges.",[23,257,259],{"id":258},"buy-one-thing-that-is-not-paint","Buy one thing that is not paint",[10,261,262],{},"Given the choice between a twelfth pot and any of these, take these:",[28,264,265,275],{},[31,266,267,270,271,139],{},[34,268,269],{},"A wet palette."," It keeps paint workable while you fuss over one model for an hour, which is the exact working pattern this game creates. See the ",[14,272,274],{"href":273},"/guides/wet-palette-guide","wet palette guide",[31,276,277,280,281,139],{},[34,278,279],{},"One good detail brush."," Ten operatives is few enough that brush quality shows on every single one - see ",[14,282,284],{"href":283},"/guides/best-brushes-for-miniatures","best brushes for miniatures",[23,286,288],{"id":287},"then-use-the-model-count","Then use the model count",[10,290,291,292,176,296,163,300,304],{},"Teams like ",[14,293,295],{"href":294},"/units/necrons-kill-team-hierotek-circle","Hierotek Circle",[14,297,299],{"href":298},"/units/tau-empire-kill-team-farstalker-kinband","Farstalker Kinband",[14,301,303],{"href":302},"/units/chaos-space-marines-kill-team-fellgor-ravagers","Fellgor Ravagers"," are built from distinct sculpts rather than a squad of near-identical bodies, and they reward being treated as individuals: a different base, a trophy, one operative with a red rag or a bare head. A consistent scheme holds the team together; small deliberate differences are what make it a warband rather than a unit.",[10,306,307,308,312,313,317],{},"New to the game entirely? ",[14,309,311],{"href":310},"/guides/kill-team","How to start Warhammer Kill Team"," covers the boxes and the way in, and ",[14,314,316],{"href":315},"/guides/how-to-start-painting-miniatures","how to start painting miniatures"," covers the first model.",[319,320,325],"affiliate-shop",{"gear":321,"label":322,"search":323,"tid":324},"warpaints-fanatic-most-wanted,vallejo-game-color-starter","Shop paint sets for a kill team","warhammer kill team paint set","best-paints-for-kill-team",[10,326,327],{},"A broad starter set plus your team's own colours is the whole list.",{"title":329,"searchDepth":330,"depth":330,"links":331},"",2,[332,333,334,335,336],{"id":25,"depth":330,"text":26},{"id":58,"depth":330,"text":59},{"id":222,"depth":330,"text":223},{"id":258,"depth":330,"text":259},{"id":287,"depth":330,"text":288},"Buying Guides","2026-09-05","A Warhammer Kill Team is ten operatives, not an army. Which paints that changes, why you need fewer pots and better ones, and the list that finishes a team.","md","/images/guides/best-paints-for-kill-team.webp","Ten operatives changes what is worth buying",true,{},false,"/guides/best-paints-for-kill-team",[348,349],"kill-team","best-paint-for-miniatures",{"title":5,"description":339},"guides/best-paints-for-kill-team",null,"BLQHfd_9i6Di4Ln975ZQRoYMkkaJ6KCixU0IerSqIwU"]