What your Army's Colours say about You? 

Hey all, you guys asked for it and we made it, an in-depth version of this topic, if you wanted more than here it is! You asked for so check it out! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oYHhGFKP-dQ.html

It's also worth pointing out, that RavenGuard and Raven Wing have white as accent colors, while Black Templars mostly Red and Gold. Both are intimidation, but the white communicates precision and cleanliness. The red and Gold is like violence and glory.

Cries in Custodes Gold, Silver Skulls silver, and Bronze Minotaurs.😢

Purple and green fan here. Villains are often depicted in this color scheme because early comic books were only printed with a handful of colors. So the heroes all got printed in more patriotic colors, red white and blue, with yellow accents. Superman, Captain America, the Flash. Villains just got stuck with what was left, purple and green.

Feels weird to call the World Eaters being cold and reliable until you remember that they were primarily like that when they were the War Hounds before Angron was discovered

"You think tea, you think Lipton"... *sips tea Britishly and raises an eyebrow* 🧐

As a mini painter, Warhammer-er, and dentist -- hues, chromas, and values really interest me! This was an insightful video and looking forward to more like it

This was very interesting and entertaining. I feel that you should make a full series about this. Each color should get its own video

I think an analysis of ho metallics fit into the color psychology would be interesting. What does adding the metallic element do to modify the psychology of the bolor it is derived from?

I typically stick with the lore over the colour/painting side of the hobby, but this was really insightful! Thank you to both of you!

Black is also a very formal and traditional colour. Combined with the Black Templar's cross, it's very much about heraldry, tradition, and their function as the Space Marine chapter most associated with high office, working closely with the Inquisition.

Very interesting! I painted my Drukhari in purple and green without even realizing hoe many "classic villains" are portrayed on those colours, but i love it even more now hahaha

"You see green more than the other colours" (Cries in desert's dweller) Nice video!

Hi, quite a few people have asked about a metallic episode, we have released one here, please take a look! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-53dJAoGMXJ4.html

This vid really makes u realise how clever the gw painting team is on deciding how to paint the minis.

I’d be super keen to see a full series on this!

"Midnight Blue" "In Midnight Clad, we have for you"

I love that you did not limit your explanations and analysis to hobby factions but also included company logos. The content is therefore more easily understood for a variety of applications. Thank you!

I very much like your dialogue-heavy presentation style. It helps to think along and to keep me focused - because every comment has to be build on the last one and so every thought step matters. Thanks!

Please make more of these! I would specifically love a video about how to select a color scheme for an army based on an invented backstory. When you said that the Dark Angel's colors were chosen BECAUSE of their backstory it really got the wheels spinning! Which is helpful, as I'm working on Freeboota Orks and I'm hitting a wall. Any suggestions are welcome!

I didn’t think I would enjoy this video. I just clicked on it because I was bored and it popped up in my feed. Boy was I wrong. This was actually very informative and entertaining

"When you think of tea, you think of Lipton." As a Brit, that is an intensely depressing thought.

I'm also a psychologist but in the area of cognitive behavioral, and I would really like to know more about this area of colors, since I only saw the subject of gestalt for a semester, so I would be grateful if you made more videos about it. An interesting point is that in Brazil, green and yellow, which should mean homeland or at least the national team, has become something linked to intolerance, manipulation and stupidity due to the last president and the manipulation of fake news implemented by him.

That was an amazing episode. Would you consider covering all the factions and mentioning what their color schemes invoke? Or maybe an episode on how color theory ties into color psychology.

Using this video to figure out what to paint my Battletech mercenary company. Good typography and editing as well 👍🏾

Another point about black as a color of strength, it's been noted that black as a color shows no weakness. An enemy soldier in a black uniform could be bleeding out in front of you, and you wouldn't know it because you couldn't see it. You could tie that into its connotations of mystery as well, since it hides and camouflages any weaknesses on the wearer's part. Black to me also carries connotations of seriousness and professionalism, because it's not a peacocking kind of color. It's the opposite of bright and flashy. With that and the cultural context of black being the most common color of business suits and military dress uniforms, I've always interpreted it as the color worn by people who are here to get the job done without fanfare or egotism. All of that is a big part of why I painted my army predominantly black. Though I also added gold trim because I like the contrast and it felt like it gave them an element of class and refinement.

Fun fact Brown is just dark orange…

Heresy era World Easters definitively had one of the best color schemes.

I'm really surprised GW put that much thought into the Legions with colour matching lore/back story. Even from the start and the accidentals like White Scars.

Very interesting stuff and summary with good examples. I enjoyed this very much. Thx

Been painting stuff for like 25 years now, but never really delved into the psychology part of color theory. This video was very informative. Keep up the good job guys.

My custom chapters armor uses primarily gold with accents of green and white, the energy effects and lenses are red, and they use a knight-like aesthetic. If I was to apply color theory, the gold armor presents dominance, which is mixed with purity and hope, and their stronger weapons are tinged with rage and passion. The red eye lenses also probably shows an inner passion that colors how they see the world. That fits a lot of what I was going for, neat! I was also trying to use white to represent wisdom and skill, which is why their bolters have white casings instead of red.

This interesting stuff that I would never have put any thought into had I not come across this video.

Honestly didn’t expect this, it was interesting. I expected goofy “if you paint your armies blue then you like smurfs!” Or “painting your army red makes em fasta!”. A discussion about color theory and the corresponding psychology/cultural aspect of the armies colors.

Found this video to be quite interesting. Got me curious about my own armies because all of my current 40k armies have some variation of brown or tan as one of their two main colours. Marines have zandri dust base washed with agrax and higlighted back up to zandri and karak stone, then complemented with off white shoulder pads/chest eagles. Tyranids have earth brown highlighted up to brighter averland sunset for their carapace then leathery brown flesh (was old scorched brown highlighted up with increasing amounts of snakebite). My tau are the darker brown/steel legion drab paired with a black that mixed in a bit of bone. Went with a brighter blue/turquiose for the spot. And my necrons are the more desaturated tan with graveyard earth, paired with a black mixed in with some more brown, and then their green glow effect as a spot colour. Looked up the meanings of brown and tan and got reliability, practicality, simplicity, and grounding/stability. Seems to be a very fitting colour for my personality, and is probably why i like it so much.. .

Just found your channel today and have been pleasantly surprised by your content. Great job! Keep it up.

Before watching: red green in Orks and Circle Orboros After: Circle Orboros: forest green cloaks, golden armor, and flaming red hair for the vengeful, elite, druids. 40k Ork Boom Boys (back in 3rd, before it was cool): predominantly blood red with wildly varied green skin. I used highlight colors based on my three divisions: blue for meks and heavy weapons, yellow and orange for speedsters and mobile weapons teams, black and purple for stealth. The horde of boys wore browns, and pale blues and greys, with red and black highlights and accents. Then the leaders of those units had saturated blues, darker browns, and large areas of red. It's funny how much of this I actually studied in school, but how unconsciously I applied it

I have only seen 2 video's of you guys, both about color (or colours if you like that better) but I do like the way you work together to explain things. I just like the way things you 2 explain things and you have lovely voices to listen too as well. Kind regards from the Netherlands

Some of the original Blood Angels art work were a deep reddish orange with blue accents

“The only predominant use of orange in Warhammer was the Tau” Forge World Ryza had never seen such bullshit before

I love how the Salamanders have the color of hope and nature and yet their preferred tactic is setting everything (except the children) on fire

Loved thissss thank you!!! ❤

White Scars are literally one of the most expresive chapters. All ther warriors are encouraged to do some kind of art and poetry. Besides, they are one of the most "humans" of all.

Thanks for a great video. What about a topic or series about exploring each chapter based on their color scheme having an in-depth guide or analysis on their identity as a chapter? Not only to space marines but the other factions as well, including the xenos. Again, keep making videos. You guys are awesome!

This was incredibly insightful. Awesome video!

Harley Davidson is heavily associated with orange, if you go into one of their dealerships half of the merchandise is orange.

This is an amazing video. Thank you.

Absolutely fascinating video guys!! Loved this!!! 👏🏻👏🏻

I like how you talk over and interrupt each other ALL THE TIME but still let each other say everything they need to say, it's a good dynamic.

No joke this was really insightful for preparing and choosing my color scheme.

Fantastic video, and made me really think about the colours used today.

This is definitely something unique and different, I thoroughly enjoyed this and are looking forward to more vids like this!

I would like to hear your thoughts on the Mantis Warriors colour scheme.

And now you have me wondering if the colour scheme I came up with for my custom Space-Marine chapter actually "fits" with how I want to portray them... ^^; They are called the "Voidwyems" and they are meant to be stealthy and secretive. The 'core' of their armour is a very dark 'midnight blue', but the outer portions (hands, feet, shoulder pads) are a much lighter blue (only slightly darker than that of the Ultramarines). Their primary chapter-wide accent colour (so not the company specific colours) is a dark 'crimson' red. All of their colours are meant to be more 'muted' (less saturated) because of their stealthy nature - bright colours make you easier to see after all.

I designed a homebrew chapter with Khaki and pauldrons are orange with a black trim. I tried to tie it into a desert homeworld’s colors

Love the video! I'm working on a commission for friend and this video has really helped me to understand some of the color choices that my friend has chosen for his model. Whether the colors are his favorite, I don't know, but this video definitely opened my eyes to something deeper. Now I just need to make the colors work together. Lol

Thanks for a great video. I'd love a part 2 of this, with a maybe more indepth look. Taking metallics into account and more about greys. Oh and how adjacent colours on the colour wheel affect each other from psychological point of view. Like what does a bluish green represents in comparison to a yellowish green etc.

Not a Warhammer player, but my army of outlaws are purple with a touch of green... I think it's fitting.

You didn't mention Orks when talking Green!? YOU ZOGGIN GITZ!!!!!

Green is the easiest color on the eyes and requires the least effort for the eye to process. Red and blue, which are at the edges of the visible spectrum, are the hardest. When you are looking at purple, you are looking at a combination of the two most strenuous colors for the eye to process. Putting the purple and green side by side is both even more strenuous on the eyes, and presents extremes that makes one feel less safe. If you look at your villains, you will find that, typically, if they are a combination of these two colors, the more purple is present, the more overtly evil they are. Example: The Joker wears all purple which is highlighted by green hair. Right off the bat, you know the Joker is synonymous with evil and chaos. On the other end, you have Lex Luthor in his power suit. Lex presents himself as a level-headed businessman, and wants you to like him, while behind closed doors, he is a merciless monster. His colors, then, are mostly green with little highlights of purple. It says, "I'm trustworthy," while between the cracks, you can see that something is not right and by being around him, you are not safe.

Well, the popularity of my Nickel blue Grey Knights, deep purple and emerald green Necrons, and dark blue and metallic green/gold Tyranids makes more sense now. My older works weren't painted particularly well, but people still loved them.

The Luna Wolves also known as the 16th Legion wasn't the template that the other space marines where based off! It was in fact the the Dark Angels or the 1st legion, the original colors of the Dark Angels was black with red and white as secondly colors.

So glad RU-vid recommended this video to me. It was so so interesting and I'm looking forward to watching the follow up video tomorrow. What you said about colors fits with my custom Space Wolf Chapter colors. Primarily red, black as a secondary, metallics are trim/tertiary. The idea of red being power and ferocity(violence is what I believe you used) mixed wtih the intimidating power of black suits the lore I've cooked up for them. Also the fact they're a deeper red(same color as the Word Bearers Chaos Marines) makes me feel like they have a "controlled" or perhaps "contained" violence. It's not wild like the World Eaters or Blood Angels, it's a controlled tool.

A very timely video. Working one a home brew chapter. Very insightful!

The Covenant of Fire being Orange and Black makes sense when using the rationale found in this video

I liked, commented, and subscribed. I will not be keeping my brush wet however. Very good video.

My army is a Blood Angels successor, but I paint them mostly in black, with red accents on their knees, shoulders, and feet.

I really love to paint red and bone/cream colors. =) Great video. really appreciated it.

This was an amazing video!!!

The Imperial Fists are builders...their armor is a relic of ancient Terra known as "High Vis".

Ryza mechanics is a prominent sub faction that is orange. I could see excessive energy as they have improved plasma weapons.

I am actually painting my space marines primarily pink. So if you could go more in depth about that I would love to learn. Also great video!

When I paint my salamanders army, I’ve got specific themes for each model/unit. For example my dreadnoughts are different types of green from a bright green leviathan fighting off night lords, to my darker green redemptor who just smashed a daemon. It’s from the perspective of the daemons for the redemptor

Awesome vid. Would love to see more

Black and Yellow, Iron Within, Iron Without

I painted my army with green camo fatigues but with black armor and equipment. I painted my tanks primarily in black. I did this because it was EASIER and FASTER to paint. lol.

When I, an Englishman, think tea, I think Yorkshire Tea. Their brand colour is red, green and a black logo with white lettering. Lipton tea is crap. The Night Lords: In Midnight Clad. My favourite colour for Night Lords is Dark Blue from Pro-Acryl. Dark Grey Blue from the same brand for highlights. Paynes Blue would also be a good colour to add in to their scheme. The Dark Angels originally had black armour. It was only after the Horus Heresy that green became their colour, to represent the forests of Caliban; the Death World home of the Dark Angels. Really interesting lore there. Some of Luthers Dark Angels still wear black armour, but they are/were considered traitors, although the return of The Lion is potentially changing that. Personally, I think the reason orange isn't used for a Space Marine Legion is because it is such a pain to paint a good orange. Games Workshop want their schemes to be easily achieved by the average painter, orange doesn't really work there. The Black Legion also wear black, they are corrupt and evil. I tend to think of black schemes as more of a blank canvas or for sneakiness/stealth. Edit* forgot to say, great video. I enjoyed it a lot.

Word Bearers went from Grey to Red, this is pretty interesting stuff!

Would love if you guys looked at color theory of parade schemes of Battletech factions and their different units. Lots of different colors that would be interesting to see what you feel they are attempting to protray. Really cool video though. Glad I stumbled upon it.

My all-army playing ass: [ *_loud confused screeching_* ]

Having played with toy soldiers most of my young life, when i eventually started collecting 40k in my twenties I chose T'au and painted them in the T'au sept colours despite my love for imperial factions from the video games and lore. The hobby has revitalised that childlike energy I used to have, and now the choice of the T'au seems less odd in hindsight. Interesting video.

Regarding the Beakie helmet, it has sensory technology in the beak. Infrared, night vision, sonar, motion tracker, heartbeat sensor, etc.

My dudes are tan with blue-green secondary and gold trimmings. It makes a lot of sense now why I picked those colours, considering I conceptualised them as aerial insertion close combat jump troops with a culture of honour duels from their barbarian homeworld. Spreading a little disciplined chaos, regally.

Purple, White, Blue, and Pink Adeptus Mechanicus bby!

Purple is a colour that is defined by its country of use. In Britain and the countries they colonised, purple is attributed with royalty, and high standing, due to the restricted use of the colour in clothing only for the royal family and their close allies. In America though, Purple is used to denote evil characters, as this leads back to the American revolution and the hatred of the royal family. In eastern countries, purple was used in both high and low standing cultures, depending on its tone. Lighter purple was romantic, and kind, whilst darker purple was more secretive, and showed the possibility of deception. This is why Disney / DC / Marvel villains use purple, as it comes from a restriction of that colour only for royalty. It evokes the idea of 'better than you' due to the difficulty of its manufacture. In nature on the other hand, purple is a warning colour. close to blood red, it denotes poison, and death. So deeper purples are avoided.

This is fascinating!

That was interesting ! I'm painting a (mostly) black Astra Militarum army and some of it resonated with the feeling i have about the lore for them so i'm happy. The imperial guard (to me) is supposed to be some kind of huge, inevitable death machine, leveling entire armies with tanks and artillery strikes so i guess black suits them well !

this was amazing to listen to

I'm interested in 50 shades of Copper, Brass and Bronze. For both Warhammer Age of Sigmar and 40,000 alike. I miss the blessed times of the Bronze Age. Because I only love epic stories, myths and legends about gods, monsters and heroes that are worth telling thousands of years later.

Green may have a lot of meanings, but all of them can be boiled down to WAAAAGH!

When i was designing a colour scheme for my Successor Chapter, the problem i had was my need for making some a "little different". Being a Space wolves player, for the armour i first tried variantions of blue, but with SW already being a light blue-gray i always ended up with a lighter blue i wasnt happy with. Next i tried to make the blue darker, but in my head i just ended up looking too much like an Ultramarine. I couldnt really use my favourite colour red either, as i didnt want to look too much like a Blood Angel. Eventually, i settled with a dark green (Castellan Green), in between the dark green of the Dark Angels and the lighter green of the Salamanders. Then my shoulderpads would have a black trim, with a semi-bright red within to contrast the darker green. My hope is it will draw your attention to the shoulderpads, and the chapter icon, first. Additionally, my chapter also paint pure white runes on their armour, as medals/bagdes of honour, making another great contrast. I have also then written my chapter's homeworld of Kir as mostly covered in a giant redwood-esque forests, so it kinda also works as camoflagde. Im not sure how the deduction would result in for my chapter. Would i also be 'Forboding' or something similar?

My Space Marines are primarily orange, with black shoulders and blue fabrics in their tassels and capes. Subconsciously I will always associate them with the college basketball team I grew up watching.

i think with the purple and green (abd black) bad guys, its a good colour combo and often i think the good guys are red, blue and white, so i think it can be as much about just making them completely distinct from the hero and has probably started to generate its own associations in that role that are self perpetuating.

It's funny how Bone/cream color is super desaturated Orange. And bone I believe this color communicates stillness, being immovable - both like bones are inanimate and because it's literally orange stripped of all the energy. Thus Deathwing color scheme communicates fortitude and something that's not easily moved.

Fantastic video *chef's kiss* I never noticed how many villains use a purple and green colour scheme. Blew my mind! 15:48 A slight correction there. The Dark Angels were the template for the other Space Marine legions. That's why they were the 1st Legion, why Lion El'Jonson is technically the eldest Primarch and why all Space Marines are called the "Angels of Death".

Loved this episode, I've understood most of this for a long time but always appreciate refreshers and relating color to 40k. I wonder about color combinations as well. Are we supposed to take each color on their own or does having multiple colors ever take on a new meaning? Like what was said at the beginning, the US flag, the russian flag and Pepsi are all red, white and blue but have different meanings. I'm personally struggling with coming up with the right color scheme for a force of what I imagine a cross between Vashtorr and World Eaters would be. Maybe I can give you guys some unit names and you guys can help me. My "Chaos Eaters" complete with Dark Mech Techno Cultists, Vashtorr's Forgeborn Marines, and if it ain't a Daemon engine then some bit of symmetrical coverage of flesh metal to appeal to his calculating and exact nature and Vashtorr would embrace cultist and marine alike, not just some chaos version of Ad Mech. He probably would only care what color his troops were for the sake of victory but he wouldnt do camouflage. So I'm like how do I cross Black Legion with World Eaters and make it work for Vashtorr but then his armor is bronze or brass...

The purple and green combo is poisonous i.e dangerous. That's why it's a villains color palette.

Awesome video! Very sweet and a fun video.

Commenting before watching this but my main “Army” is a bunch of Imperial Knights painted in a darker Purple with Gold accents. Can’t wait to see what color theory says about that.

yes, please I would love if you kept going with this topic