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Lore accurate, at least for IG is a common situation when you have multiple regiment on a single battlefield, so it is pretty normal to have multiple schemes there. But what with other factions? I mean very unlikely we see multiple hive fleets? But orks? sm?

It's possible for any faction - heck at one point the rules of the game were even encouraging you to do this with multiple sub-faction forces being possible so you'd load your ranged units into the ranged-focused subfaction etc....


Even Tyranids can attack a world with two or more hive-fleets at the same time; or have reasonable justification for why different units in a single fleet have different colourations.




Eldar even do this within a single faction with their Aspect Warriors often being encouraged to have different schemes unique to hteir aspect rather than the army.

I've only got 1 painted; but my plan for imperial knights is to have unique heraldry for each one and to unite them as a single army via the use of flags

Itxi wrote:
I've only got 1 painted; but my plan for imperial knights is to have unique heraldry for each one and to unite them as a single army via the use of flags

A Freeblade Lance? Sounds cool. You'll have to show us pictures of what they look like.

I just repainted my formerly Imperial Knights into a mix of Chaos using the Black Legion scheme as a consistent base.

Chaos used to be this by default - warbands of mixed legions.

You don't see many mixed chapter forces on the table but in lore there are lots of combined engagements. And the Primogenitors - the combined Ultramarines successors on the rare occasion that they need to put the boot in on the Night Lords.

Generally speaking 7th edition added a lot of tools for mixed forces ahead of the 8th edition soup era.

Deathwatch are essentially the outlet for mixed marines though things like Space Marine adventures portray similar "Strike Teams" from a mix of chapters.

Ynarri exist as a religion to bind the Eldar (and probably intended to get rid of Drukhari initially). Either way, a mix of craftworlds drawn together would be very viable.

Ghaz's great WAAAAGH will take any Git that wants to fight regardless of Clan.

Even Genestealers could theoretically summon multiple hive fleets, though you can make a million excuses for coloring Nids however you want.

Mostly its how you do it rather than whether it can be explained.

For my Chaos Knights, I'm doing a collection of Dreadblades who have been subjugated by a single leader, so they all paint their right pauldron in her livery to mark their deference.

I'm going to start doing something similar with my CSM: various squads will be from different legions, but each will have their right pauldron painted to her livery.

My chaos marines often have a random armour panel still in the colours of whatever legion they were before they were recruited/abducted by my warband. One of the additions I've got waiting in its box currently is a squad of Plague Marines, who'll be their usual grimy selves except for a bright clean white and gold shoulder to show they've thrown their lot in with us; Slaanesh and Nurgle have some policy disagreements but Nurgle's not Khorne, I think we can not shoot them in the back on principle, for the moment. The Noise Marines, of course, have multiple colour schemes on every miniature.

My loyalist marines are a crusade with every squad and vehicle drawn from a different chapter. They look like the Power Rangers but it keeps me from getting bored.

Something I'm working on in the background is a Sororitas order where their base armour is black (offshoot of Our Martyred Lady), but the higher ranked they are the more white turns up, with the Canoness having pure white armour.

My hive fleet has a single spore mine in a different colour scheme, since it was already painted in a lot of old minis I acquired, and I didn't want to erase someone else's colours (I repainted it to up the quality, but kept the same colour scheme). It claimed political asylum on the basis that its original hive fleet wanted it to blow up.

Eldar do this all the time.

I think its fine. It fits my mind more thematically with many armies, like Orks being a mix of different clans so they'd have different colors. Eldar having different colors for aspect warriors. Tyranids possibly being different colors because they're different species or mutations. Marines operating in smaller strike forces and squads from 2-3 different chapters helping each other out. Chaos being a mix of different legions or demons. Knights just having different heraldry and whatnot for their house/owner/whatever.

IG is probably the one where it makes more sense you'd see one single regiment, but you could have a mix of two.

Do guard still do the mono-unit regiment thing? So you would have an all infantry/tank/artillery regiment, but only one of those, not a mix. An actual army would be composed of multiple regimental assets. Your troops from necromunda, your tanks from vallhala, and cadian artillery, for example.

Nothing about mono regiment in codex so no. we already have mixed infantry.

I'd be surprised if that got dropped considering its the major thing for the Guard being different from the Crusade-Era Imperial Army.

There are different types of Infantry Regiment and those can all exist within one "culture" as it were. Cadian Shock Troops are an example of infantry but they have light, heavy, mechanised, and everything in-between but they're all still Cadian Infantry.

Within a given army you might have the Cadian 12th (Light Infantry), Cadian 90th (Field Artillery), Cadian 44th (Super Heavy Tank) and Cadian 126th (Line Infantry) with not another cultural background in sight but the rules of the Guard are still followed because each Regiment is it's own beast.

That my point. Currently i have infantry regiment, armored and super heavy and wanna them all in different colour scheme. But its guards and they fit that.

But for my nids i don't understand how make them differen. I like idea that some specialization of units can bring different coloration but idk if its fits 40k lore. There is one hive fleet attack remnants of second in Cain novel. So i think about it.

The Hive Mind would absolutely change their color if it thought it provided an advantage.

 LunarSol wrote:
The Hive Mind would absolutely change their color if it thought it provided an advantage.

This Hivemind has several different color schemes going because I've cycled back to playing Nids several times over the years. Each time trying something new color wise.

In game lore for this multi-scheme mix?
The Hive Mind does not owe its prey any explanation why it produced such patterns.

ccs wrote:

In game lore for this multi-scheme mix?
The Hive Mind does not owe its prey any explanation why it produced such patterns.

Never thought this way, lol, why should there be reason if they're murderous monsters devouring everything. Feels like this resolved my hesitations.

For me, the main thing is "Does it make gameplay harder/more confusing?"

Back when you could have different detachments (well, subfactions) in one army, there could be a reason to not have mixed schemes, or to be very clear with what the different schemes mean.
Nowadays, since you've only got one detachment? I don't see issues arising.

I guess, technically, you could run Grey Knights (Codex) with Grey Knights (Agents Of The Imperium) and they should be differentiated somehow... But why would you do that?

Absolutely! First off, the "Your Dudes" rule means you can kind of do whatever you want. But even within lore, there are plenty of examples of joint task forces between two instances of the same faction.

Also, it depends a little bit what you mean by mixed schemes. Do you mean ultramarines painted two different ways, an army with both Ultramarines and Imperial Fists, or a homebrew chapter with varied paint schemes by battlefield role or squad. A homebrew chapter can have whatever heraldry it wants. Ultramarines could say that different squads use different shades of blue based on their personal history. And an army with two different chapters might represent a joint mission, or a squad being seconded for training, or a desperate last stand.

What I would say is that you will want something to bind the whole army together. Specifically, you'll want the same basing throughout. I would also look to maybe paint all of the leather or other accessories the same way to tie them all together.

Actually this is how I like to differentiate more regimented armies vs a more rag tag group. For example, a Guard regiment will likely all have the same colors (well, beyond me updating the scheme now and then as I've gotten better at painting over the years). On the flip side, say Orks, or some Ogres I'm currently painting for Old World, I'll keep a fairly consistent basing theme, and then change up some of the colors between batches. I'll also usually paint say 2-3 unit types - like say a Flash Git, a Nob, and 3 Boyz at once in one scheme. Then the next group I'll move the color I used for shirts onto pants and pick a new color for shirts, and then rotate things out that way. You end up with a bit of a mish mash, but they still manage to gel together as a single force.

For example IG infantry blue armour and grey fatigue and tanks red and brown camo to show they are different regiments. Or nids gaunts green body and black/grey carapace, and bigger bugs green body and red carapace, lictor s/stealers kind of camo scheme

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

Itxi wrote:
I've only got 1 painted; but my plan for imperial knights is to have unique heraldry for each one and to unite them as a single army via the use of flags

A Freeblade Lance? Sounds cool. You'll have to show us pictures of what they look like.

Currently working on some breachers to fight alongside, nobles who are fighting to earn the right to pilot a knight

My main army, once complete, will have 3 distinct colour schemes. Cannot say just how "lore accurate" it will be, since its a homebrew headcanoned amalgation of BA lore from Rogue Trader, through newer editions, even borrowing parts from HH.. But it still wont feature those different coloursed helmets, no siree

In previous editions of 40k, GW frequently showed this with the Aeldari/Eldar. You would have Fire Dragons in orange, Swooping Hawks as White/Green, Warlocks were purple, etc. It was like every unit they showed would be painted based on it's clan instead of a central army color theme.

 Dork Eldar wrote:
In previous editions of 40k, GW frequently showed this with the Aeldari/Eldar. You would have Fire Dragons in orange, Swooping Hawks as White/Green, Warlocks were purple, etc. It was like every unit they showed would be painted based on it's clan instead of a central army color theme.

Aspect warriors traditionally are painted in their own heraldry, not the heraldry of their craftworld.

And their not alone. Many armies have units or mini-factions that explicitly have distinct colors from the rest of the army.

IG: Scions, Ogryn, and Ratlings would not share a color scheme with regimental troops. Commissars famously wear black.
Custodes: Sisters of Silence have their own look
Knights: freeblades!
CSM: the cult troops (berzerkers, rubrics, noise marines, and plague marines)
Demons: each god is distinct
1k Sons: Tzaangors can be completely different from the rubrics
Orks: Freebootaz are not clan troops and are wildly different.
Tau: Kroot probably shouldn't match the fire caste troops.