The honest answer is nine pots, and only four of them depend on which army you picked. Most of the paint on a finished 40k model is doing one of five jobs: sticking to the plastic, covering it, darkening the recesses, catching the edges, and looking like metal. One pot per job, plus the colours your army actually wears.
Here is the list, what each item is for, and where the cheaper route is genuinely as good.
1. A primer (buy this first)
Paint does not stick reliably to bare plastic, and a primer also gives every colour after it something consistent to sit on. Buy a spray if you can use one outdoors; a brush-on primer otherwise.
- Black - Chaos Black spray, or Army Painter Matt Black in the Warpaints Primer line. Easiest for a beginner: shadows are already done, and mistakes hide.
- Grey - Mechanicus Standard Grey. The best all-rounder if you are undecided.
- Bone or white - Wraithbone or Grey Seer. Required if you plan to use contrast paints; see best contrast paints.
Do not buy three. Buy one, and buy it to suit the army below.
2. Four base colours
This is the part that changes with your army. Four is enough for a recognisable, finished-looking squad: the armour, the cloth or weapon casing, the leather or bone, and a dark colour for guns and boots.
| Army | Armour | Secondary | Cloth / bone | Dark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultramarines and most Space Marines | Macragge Blue | Retributor Armour | Zandri Dust | Abaddon Black |
| Blood Angels and other red chapters | Mephiston Red | Retributor Armour | Zandri Dust | Abaddon Black |
| Dark Angels, Salamanders, green chapters | Caliban Green | Rhinox Hide | Zandri Dust | Abaddon Black |
| Astra Militarum | Castellan Green | Steel Legion Drab | Zandri Dust | Abaddon Black |
| Orks | Waaagh! Flesh | Mephiston Red | Rhinox Hide | Abaddon Black |
| Death Guard | Death Guard Green | Rhinox Hide | Zandri Dust | Abaddon Black |
Playing something not on that list? Pick your faction on the faction painting guides - each one names its own colours.
3. Two washes
The wash is the step that makes a beginner's model look painted rather than coloured in. It flows into every recess and does the shading for you. If you buy only one, buy the first.
- Nuln Oil - a black wash. Over metal it is transformative; over any dark colour it works.
- Agrax Earthshade - a brown wash for leather, cloth, wood, bone and anything meant to look worn.
Substitutes that hold up: Army Painter Dark Tone and Strong Tone, or Vallejo Black Wash and Umber Wash. More on what washes do in the washes and shades guide.
4. Two layer colours
A layer is a lighter version of a base colour, painted only on the raised areas and edges. Two of them - one for your armour, one for bone or cloth - is the whole of edge highlighting at this stage.
Take the lighter partner of your armour colour (Calgar Blue over Macragge Blue, Warboss Green over Waaagh! Flesh, Evil Sunz Scarlet over Mephiston Red), and add Ushabti Bone, which highlights anything sand, cloth or bone-coloured.
5. One metallic
Leadbelcher covers guns, blades, exhausts, chains and every bare-metal detail on the model. With Nuln Oil over it, that is a complete weapon.
Gold is a want, not a need - buy Retributor Armour when your army has trim that calls for it. Cheaper metals that behave the same way: Army Painter Gun Metal and Vallejo Gunmetal.
Should you buy a set instead?
Often, yes - but read the contents before you do.
A set is the better buy when it gives you a genuine spread rather than a theme. The Vallejo Game Color Introduction Set is sixteen dropper bottles covering base colours, a metallic and a spread of neutrals; the Warpaints Fanatic Starter Set is ten paints plus a brush-on primer, a brush and a practice miniature, which is close to this whole list in one box.
Singles are the better buy when you already know your army. Four correct base colours beat sixteen approximate ones, and a themed set of six greens is superb value and useless if you needed a red.
Either way, check the contents first: every paint set is listed with its exact contents and ranked by price per millilitre, so you can see what you are getting before you commit. If you want the speed route instead - one coat that bases and shades in a single pass - the Speedpaint Starter Set is the small way in.
What you do not need yet
An airbrush, a full range of layer colours, technical paints, pigments, and a second metallic. All of them are good later. None of them will improve your first squad as much as a wet palette and thinner paint will - see the starter kit guide for the brushes and gear side of the list, and warhammer 40k for beginners if you have not settled on an army yet.
Shop 40k starter paint sets
A starter set covers most of this list in one purchase.
Warhammer 40,000: Paints + Tools Set
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Vallejo Game Color Starter Kit (16 Paints)
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