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evening dakka,

I play two different armies; salamanders and night lords. all my models are painted up to a pretty fair standard and I refuse to field unpainted models (just an aesthetics choice; I don't have a problem playing against them).

I want to add new models to my collection, that could be fielded by either army, and I can't decide how I should paint them. for example, I'm looking to add a sicaran tank and a couple of vindicators. do I paint them up in my salamanders scheme and then "forge the narrative" to explain why my night lords are using green tanks? I think it'd be even harder justify why my salamanders are using traitor legion vehicles.

short of buying dedicated models for each army, how do you guys deal with this? some sort of neutral paint scheme that doesn't match either army? magnetized emblems and such?

Sometimes you see diesel locomotives with the Electro-motive Division (EMD) logo on them. I think these, after getting to their destination railway, get repainted in the railway colors.

If such things as you describe were manufactured by the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, perhaps you could paint them with a scheme appropriate to them. In either case, with your Salamanders army, they have yet to be repainted by the servitors; and the Night Lords could have captured them in shipment. I could be way off on this but it's just an idea.

I think it might work if you were to paint your vehicles all black, and then add magnetized armor-plate accents (in green or blue) and/or magnetized chapter emblems. Black is a secondary color for the Salamanders and black always looks good for Chaos vehicles.

Shiny bolt gun metal!

I see the problem.

Maybe a cameo pattern?

Or maybe add some corrupted Salis to your NL force (reptilian mutations would look cool)?

hmm, that's a thought. maybe a fresh-off-the-manufactorum-floor gray or something and a few magnetized emblems & bits? feels like a bit of a cop out for a center-piece model like the sicaran, but might work ok for stuff like rhinos and such

 the_Armyman wrote:
I think it might work if you were to paint your vehicles all black, and then add magnetized armor-plate accents (in green or blue) and/or magnetized chapter emblems. Black is a secondary color for the Salamanders and black always looks good for Chaos vehicles.

This. Black looks great in most armies, minus obvious ones like White Scars.

perhaps you could say that they are a crusade force? one where there is a combined command structure? You used to see such things in larger IG forces, but you rarely see them anymore.

 carldooley wrote:
perhaps you could say that they are a crusade force? one where there is a combined command structure? You used to see such things in larger IG forces, but you rarely see them anymore.

Doesn't really work for Night Lords and Salamanders though.

Stalingrad it! The soldiers either just built the vehicle and don't have time to paint it (in Stalingrad, soldiers fought a battle over a factory complex, driving tanks off the assembly line to fight the Germans)

Or, alternately , they just discovered it! Paint it like a dusty relic they just finished cleaning the power armored skeletons our of.

A bunch of Salamanders went heretic and joined up with your Night Lords?
Or the Night Lords captured some Salamander vehicles and are too lazy to paint?
Only solutions I can think of short of painting them half blue and half green

Paint it whichever color you want and then tell you friends that you are not insane enough to buy 2 of everything you like from Forge World and they'll have to overlook the Night Lords using a Salamanders Sicaran tank, or vice versa. Most sane people will understand the position and not care at all. Anyone who complains is free to buy you a second sicaran tank at their own expense for you to paint up to use with your army.

I've been using the same Land Raiders for my Grey Knights, Legion of the Damned, and Inquisitors since 4th Ed, because why not? No issues from me for others doing the same.

SJ

Paint it Alpha Legion. Fits in with every army now.

 Drasius wrote:
Paint it Alpha Legion. Fits in with every army now.

This. And IMO since I love my Salamanders, I'd say if you do get a sicaran, which you should, paint it in Salamanders scheme. Since Chaos will loot and steal any equipment they might find useful, make some spiky bits or use plasticard and make add-on armor in the Night Lords scheme.

Because once you put all the spiky bits and Chaos stuff on it permanently, its much harder and less likely to make it look like a clean space marine vehicle.

 Skriker wrote:
Paint it whichever color you want and then tell you friends that you are not insane enough to buy 2 of everything you like from Forge World and they'll have to overlook the Night Lords using a Salamanders Sicaran tank, or vice versa.

Pretty much what he said.

Personally, I'd just paint it as a third faction. If it's in Admech Colors it can be on loan ot the Salamanders or stolen by Chaos.

Paint it as Salamanders and, when using for Night Lords, say it's 'spoils of Isstvan V' left in original colors to spur the enemy to rash action.

some good suggestions here. I'm not so much worried about anyone calling me out on the two different paint schemes so much as trying to come up with something that's aesthetically pleasing to use with both armies.

in that regard, black or neutral gray with some magnetized bits is definitely a strong option.

I recommend painting it in Deathwatch colors, because black.

SJ