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Ok So I have the basic camo pattern that I will be using for my infantry guard. It's an urban camo scheme with lots of greys. I have the armor painted a dark purple right now, just because I like dark purple. Now I'm having trouble figuring out how to keep the obvious platoons and squads separate. I want to paint the guard in blocks of 30 and I have enough models to paint 4 blobs of 30. So how to keep them distinct while keeping to the main theme? I was thinking maybe doing one blob dark purple while I do another dark green or dark red or something like that. I'd like to do more than just put a few numbers on their shoulder pads. If I have 60 guard sitting next to each other I want to be able to look down and clearly be able to distinguish which ones belong together. Also, do you think I should camo-stripe the armor or leave it a solid color?

Keep in mind this is a test model, not a finished product.

you could make different relatively large colored marks on their helmets, I suppose

I was thinking that, but wouldn't that clash with the camo scheme?

When you put them in your case separate them with a space or maybe put a commissar in between each platoon, thats what I do and it works. The great bit about the commissar is you then know to put him with one of the squads of the platoon.

Btw I'm loving the camo effect, very nice!

I put lines on the shoulder pads to show my different platoons. White or black lines wouldn't clash so much with your scheme.

you could also put the four different suit symbol transfers on their helmets

The stripe on the shoulder seems like it could be pretty decent. Or maybe just one completely different colored shoulder pad so that it's easier to notice. More or less this is to help keep my opponent from being able to say he couldn't tell the difference when shooting or charging my units. I'm not a fan of transfers in general or I might have done that. Do you think I should camo stripe the armor or leave it solid as is?

You could paint thier right shoulder pad a differnt colour to differentiate the squads.Lovely camo though.

Nice lookin' troop! I like the idea of painting a single shoulder pad in different colors (maybe even the shades of the camo pattern?) to differentiate. I'd keep the armor solid over the camo cloth.

I have seen a really good TRF done previously, and as they have them currently they don't look silly. Subtle enough to fit, but noticeable enough to make recognition easily

If you're worried about painting another color or colors on your mini, one of the easiest ways to differentiate a squad is to put a small colored dot on the backside edge of the base. It will only be visible from your side of the table, and it will not detract from the look of the army in the least when displayed. There is also the slightly more work-intensive method of simply placing decals on each shoulder pad. It takes more effort, but i think decals make IG squads look a bit more personalized and finished.

If you want to give them numbers, you could use a system where the first digit is the platoon, the second digit is the squad, so 35 would be 3rd platoon, 5th squad.

If necessary, you can add a third digit to differentiate further. Real world armies (I think most NATO armies) use this system for tanks, for example (with 3 digits - company, platoon, vehicle).

The numbered system sounds like it could work, but thats a lot of freehand. Like I said before I don't particularly like decals or transfers, and try not to use them. I'll probably either do the shoulder pad thing or the numbers thing. Thanks for the feedback.

What do you guys think of the purple? I'd like it to be a dark color that blends rather ok but isn't a gray brown or black.

The purple is fine as a base colour, but i think it needs some highlighting and/or washing to bring out the detail.

Other platoon differentiation ideas: different skull or wing colours on their helmets or guns (presuming _all_ have aquillas on their helmets or guns), different base colour for guns (keeping triggers, barrels etc gunmetal)

I always paint the entire shoulder pad a different color. I have also painted the underside of the base in a different color from the other platoons, so that you don't need to paint things that may effect the camo, but if you get confused about which platoon is which, you can just lift a model up to check the color

Those are all GREAT ideas to keep them coherent. I, however, go the simple route and trace the outer rim of my bases in different colors. So you paint EVERYTHING the same, and can even base them exactly the same way, but just color the outside rim of the bases different for each squad. So one squad is gold team, one squad is red team, etc.

On my tau guys there are several pieces on him that I paint diferently so as to get distinction. Such as their is a band around the antenna, a peice on the backpack and a part of the gun. So far I have Red team and orange team when I need more I'll paint them differently as well.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll definitely implement one or more of those ideas. Now I got 140 guardsmen built and primed and screaming at me to be painted. See y'all next year >.<

I'm really not a fan of painting their armor in different colors. Then it just looks like a "taste the rainbow" army. A marking under the base is a good idea for organization purposes. I also like the idea of just giving them squad/platoon markings. Even if it's just one platoon of guys with 1 on their shoulderpad, another of 2, etc.

They have to be distinguishable by both me and my opponent without picking the model up. If I have 100 guardsmen all in a 2'' cohesion with one another then both me and him need to be able to clearly see where platoons begin and end.

You could try doing a small, different colored stripe on the back of their base. Or you could be like me and just run multiple regiments of Guard for a really hodgepodged army look. I run Catachans, Cadians, and Steel Legion and it's cool even if it's not terribly unified.

i painted my Vets helmets different from PIS/PCS squads.
you could just do a shoulder pad like has been mentioned too.
and as for standing out, yeah they might. just look at the UN peace keepers,
no hiding those blue helmets/berets!

edit: kant speel

Yeah I'm either going with a helmet or shoulder pad change of color. After that I might add platoon/squad numbers merely for aesthetic purposes.

Appreciate the input Brother SRM but my last army was chaos space marines that I ran as a Black Crusade so every unit I had was a different color scheme. This is the first army I've had where everything will be uniform and that's how I would like to keep it. If I eventually add in vehicles they will be done in similar colors and patterns as well.

Once I paint a squad or two up I'll take some pics and show how they came out.

As long as it's one of the colors in the camo scheme, it shouldn't look out of place.