[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-/guides/best-paints-for-kill-team":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":324,"date":325,"description":326,"extension":327,"heroImage":328,"intro":329,"lastUpdated":325,"meta":330,"navigation":331,"noShopFooter":332,"path":333,"related":334,"seo":337,"shopSearch":310,"stem":338,"tags":339,"__hash__":340},"guides/guides/best-paints-for-kill-team.md","Best Paints for Warhammer Kill Team - What You Need",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":315},"minimark",[9,19,22,27,56,60,65,73,78,114,119,136,141,179,184,204,207,211,228,235,243,247,250,272,276,292,305],[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.",[10,115,116],{},[34,117,118],{},"Highlight (two pots)",[10,120,121,122,84,126,130,131,135],{},"The lighter partner of your armour colour, and one near-white. ",[14,123,125],{"href":124},"/paint/citadel-ushabti-bone","Ushabti Bone",[14,127,129],{"href":128},"/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 ",[14,132,134],{"href":133},"/guides/edge-highlighting","edge highlighting",".",[10,137,138],{},[34,139,140],{},"Metal (three pots, and this is where a team earns it)",[28,142,143,150,162],{},[31,144,145,149],{},[14,146,148],{"href":147},"/paint/citadel-leadbelcher","Leadbelcher"," for everything mechanical.",[31,151,152,156,157,161],{},[14,153,155],{"href":154},"/paint/citadel-ironbreaker","Ironbreaker"," or ",[14,158,160],{"href":159},"/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.",[31,163,164,165,169,170,156,174,178],{},"One gold or brass: ",[14,166,168],{"href":167},"/paint/citadel-retributor-armour","Retributor Armour",", ",[14,171,173],{"href":172},"/paint/citadel-balthasar-gold","Balthasar Gold",[14,175,177],{"href":176},"/paint/citadel-warplock-bronze","Warplock Bronze",", depending on how ornate your faction is.",[10,180,181],{},[34,182,183],{},"Detail (two pots)",[10,185,186,187,169,191,156,195,199,200,135],{},"One hot accent for lenses, powered weapons and screens - ",[14,188,190],{"href":189},"/paint/citadel-evil-sunz-scarlet","Evil Sunz Scarlet",[14,192,194],{"href":193},"/paint/citadel-calgar-blue","Calgar Blue",[14,196,198],{"href":197},"/paint/citadel-moot-green","Moot Green"," - and one grime for the boots and the base rim, such as ",[14,201,203],{"href":202},"/paint/citadel-typhus-corrosion","Typhus Corrosion",[10,205,206],{},"That is around twelve pots for a fully finished team, and about half of them serve every team you paint afterwards.",[23,208,210],{"id":209},"sets-worth-it-with-one-caveat","Sets: worth it, with one caveat",[10,212,213,214,217,218,222,223,227],{},"At this model count a set is often the better buy despite the theme problem, because you are buying ",[34,215,216],{},"range"," rather than volume - a spread of shades and metals you would otherwise buy one at a time. The ",[14,219,221],{"href":220},"/sets/warpaints-fanatic-starter-set","Warpaints Fanatic Starter Set"," covers primer, base colours, two metals and a shade in one box; the ",[14,224,226],{"href":225},"/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.",[10,229,230,231,135],{},"The caveat: check the contents before you buy, because a set built around one colour family is exactly the wrong shape for a team. ",[14,232,234],{"href":233},"/guides/best-miniature-paint-sets","Every paint set is listed with its exact contents and ranked by value",[10,236,237,238,242],{},"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, ",[14,239,241],{"href":240},"/guides/best-contrast-paints","best contrast paints"," covers the ranges.",[23,244,246],{"id":245},"buy-one-thing-that-is-not-paint","Buy one thing that is not paint",[10,248,249],{},"Given the choice between a twelfth pot and any of these, take these:",[28,251,252,262],{},[31,253,254,257,258,135],{},[34,255,256],{},"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 ",[14,259,261],{"href":260},"/guides/wet-palette-guide","wet palette guide",[31,263,264,267,268,135],{},[34,265,266],{},"One good detail brush."," Ten operatives is few enough that brush quality shows on every single one - see ",[14,269,271],{"href":270},"/guides/best-brushes-for-miniatures","best brushes for miniatures",[23,273,275],{"id":274},"then-use-the-model-count","Then use the model count",[10,277,278,279,169,283,156,287,291],{},"Teams like ",[14,280,282],{"href":281},"/units/necrons-kill-team-hierotek-circle","Hierotek Circle",[14,284,286],{"href":285},"/units/tau-empire-kill-team-farstalker-kinband","Farstalker Kinband",[14,288,290],{"href":289},"/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.",[10,293,294,295,299,300,304],{},"New to the game entirely? ",[14,296,298],{"href":297},"/guides/kill-team","How to start Warhammer Kill Team"," covers the boxes and the way in, and ",[14,301,303],{"href":302},"/guides/how-to-start-painting-miniatures","how to start painting miniatures"," covers the first model.",[306,307,312],"affiliate-shop",{"gear":308,"label":309,"search":310,"tid":311},"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",[10,313,314],{},"A broad starter set plus your team's own colours is the whole list.",{"title":316,"searchDepth":317,"depth":317,"links":318},"",2,[319,320,321,322,323],{"id":25,"depth":317,"text":26},{"id":58,"depth":317,"text":59},{"id":209,"depth":317,"text":210},{"id":245,"depth":317,"text":246},{"id":274,"depth":317,"text":275},"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",[335,336],"kill-team","best-paint-for-miniatures",{"title":5,"description":326},"guides/best-paints-for-kill-team",null,"3CKAkDA1r0S0qFfy9f42n2PVoVSl1Stx92Sq6skOZDk"]