The Salamanders are not only the “poster boy” faction of the current edition of The Horus Heresy, they’ve also recently received a new Combat Patrol and a model for Vulkan He’stan. But like many Legions and Chapters, their heraldic colours have changed over the centuries. In this post, I’m once again rummaging through my paint archive to put together two green palettes for the Salamanders in the 31st and 41st Millennium.

Here on Tale of Painters and on my YouTube channel, I’m constantly testing out the latest paint ranges. However, only the finest colours from each range earn a spot in my rotation. I like to keep my options open and explore a variety of brands, cherry-picking the best paints and colours from each range.

My best paint picks for 40k Salamanders green

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The perfect Salamanders Green from the 41st millennium has a slightly warm undertone for me and isn’t too garish. Games Workshop often recommends Warpstone Glow as the base colour in their own painting guides, but that has a slight blue tint and looks a bit too cool for my liking.

With the new Vulkan He'stan around the corner (my review here: buff.ly/KTA5ewi), I assembled my favourite #stahlyspaintpicks for a palette of classic 40k era #Salamanders green. What are your favourite greens? And would you like to see a 30k version as well?

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— Stahly (Tale of Painters) (@stahly.bsky.social) 20. August 2025 um 19:30

The 40k Salamanders palette:

If you want to add these colours to your collection, a click on the links will take you to one of our partner shops.

I used to like using Vallejo Game Colour Sick Green as a base colour for green, but the revamped Game Colour range has lost some of its vibrancy. You can get a similar result with AK 3rd Gen Dark Green.

My best paint picks for 30k Salamanders Green

The “official” ‘Eavy Metal scheme for Salamanders in the Age of Darkness is based on a Waaagh! Flesh basecoat, which has a neutral, muted green tone, and then gets a yellowish olive-green touch with Elysian Green, Ogryn Camo, and Krieg Khaki. With my palette, I chromatically stay more within one family; the colours are also a little more muted, which I think fits the aesthetic of The Horus Heresy well:

Salamanders seem to be all the hotness right now. I put together some #stahlyspaintpicks for a more muted Salamanders green, perfect for the Age of Darkness. Salamanders collectors, please share your paint recipes with me!

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— Stahly (Tale of Painters) (@stahly.bsky.social) 11. September 2025 um 01:30

The more muted 30k selection:

Here too, I’ve linked the colours, feel free to use the links for your next hobby purchase to support our work.

Comparing colours with my digital swatches

The colour squares shown above are taken from my hand-painted colour swatches, which I have created for many paint ranges such as Citadel, Vallejo Game Color, Warpaints Fanatic, and Two Thin Coats. All of them are professional reproductions, hand-painted on plasticard and photographed under consistent, neutral lighting conditions, making them much more accurate and true to life than the manufacturers’ colour charts.

Stahly's 7 hand-painted swatches Patreon banner

Additionally, my swatches are compatible with each other, allowing you to compare different paint ranges to find the best matches for tutorials from sources like White Dwarf or the Warhammer YouTube channel, or to convert your old colour schemes to paints from other manufacturers. You can find my swatches on my Patreon, either for a small donation in my shop or by becoming an Autarch tier member.

My paint range top list

And if you want to know what my current favourite paint ranges are, I’ve summarized my current recommendations for you in this post:

Stahly’s best miniature paints for Warhammer 2025

I hope my paint picks might be an inspiration for your next Warhammer or scale modelling project. Feel free to react and let me know in the comments about your staples for painting blue, or which colour groups you’d like me to put together next. Until next time, and happy hobbying!