Khorne fields the most single-minded palette in Age of Sigmar: red, brass and blood, repeated from the humblest Bloodreaver up to Skarbrand. That narrowness is a gift to a painter. Settle one red recipe and it carries the entire collection, so the force reads as an army long before the details are finished.
The signature look
Deep, warm red armour and cloth. Brass and bronze rather than clean gold. Bruised, unhealthy skin on the mortals, and a hotter, brighter red on the daemons so they sit apart from the Bloodbound. Then blood - on blades, on plate, underfoot. Khorne is deliberately unsubtle, so the craft is in keeping the red rich rather than flat, and the metal tarnished rather than shiny.
Painting the red
Red is the colour most likely to go chalky, so build it from a dark base and highlight upward in small steps.
- Undercoat black and basecoat the plate with Khorne Red.
- Shade the recesses with Nuln Oil, or Agrax Earthshade if you want a dirtier, warmer finish.
- Re-layer the flat panels with Mephiston Red, leaving the shade sitting in the crevices.
- Edge highlight with Evil Sunz Scarlet, then touch only the sharpest corners with Wild Rider Red.
The quick version is a Flesh Tearers Red contrast over a light undercoat, which shades and bases in a single pass and still takes an Evil Sunz Scarlet edge afterwards. Army Painter's Dragon Red with Strong Tone over it does the same job.
Daemons want separating from mortals: base Bloodletter skin Mephiston Red, layer Evil Sunz Scarlet across the muscle and push Wild Rider Red onto the shoulders and skull-ridges, with Ushabti Bone horns.
Brass, iron and gore
Basecoat trim, masks and rings with Warplock Bronze, shade with Agrax Earthshade, then edge with Skullcrusher Brass or Runelord Brass. Weapons take Leadbelcher and Nuln Oil, with a stipple of Ryza Rust at the rivets. Warm, dirty metal is the point - polished gold reads as Stormcast.
For gore, Blood For The Blood God is superb and easy to overdo. Put it along the last third of a blade, in the recesses under claws and teeth, and in a few flicks on the greaves. Blood everywhere reads as wet plastic; blood in three places reads as violence.
Batch painting the horde
Bloodreavers, Blood Warriors and Skullreapers turn up in blocks, and this is a scheme that batches beautifully. Work ten at a time: undercoat, base red, wash the lot, then do one full pass of each highlight across all ten before moving on. Skin goes Bugman's Glow, Reikland Fleshshade, then a light layer of Kislev Flesh on the noses and knuckles. Leather is Rhinox Hide with a Skrag Brown drybrush. Nothing here needs a fine brush, which is why Khorne is one of the quicker hordes to get to a good tabletop standard.
Tips and common mistakes
- Build red from dark. Basing bright and washing it down leaves a flat, dusty finish.
- Brass, not gold. Tarnish is character; Agrax Earthshade over bronze does most of the work.
- Keep skin unhealthy. A touch of Carroburg Crimson in the recesses makes mortals look feverish rather than well.
- Ration the blood. Three placements per model beats a coat of it.
When the red is where you want it, open this scheme in the generator to swap in another brand or test a secondary colour.