With Warhammer 40,000’s 11th Edition launching on July 25th, Games Workshop has released the most beginner-friendly paint lineup they’ve ever put together. And if you’re a D&D miniature painter who’s been watching the buzz with one eyebrow raised, wondering whether any of these sets are actually worth picking up for your Drow and dragons – the answer is yes, with a bit of context.
This is the breakdown D&D painters actually need: what’s in each set, which paints transfer to fantasy minis, and which product gives you the best value if you’re not planning to paint a single Space Marine.
The 11th Edition Warhammer 40k Paint Set Lineup
There are three products with paints in the 11th Edition launch, and they’re aimed at different budgets and starting points.
The Paints + Tools Set (~$40)
This is the one D&D painters should be looking at. It includes 13 Citadel Colour paints in 12ml pots, a starter brush, clippers, and a mouldline remover – no miniatures included. The paint selection spans the core Citadel categories: Base paints for initial coverage, a Layer paint for highlights, a Contrast paint for fast shading, a Shade for washes, and a Technical paint for textured basing. The tools alone are worth having as a beginner kit, and 13 paints is a genuinely usable starting palette.
The previous edition Paints + Tools Set is available on Amazon now – the 11th Edition version releases July 25 and should appear shortly after. Check it out here.
Getting Started Sets ($170 each)
These are faction-specific starter boxes: one for Space Marines, one for Orks. Each includes a small set of faction minis alongside 11 curated Citadel paints matched to that army’s color scheme. The Space Marines box is built around the Ultramarines blue scheme; the Orks box covers the greens and browns of a Goff warband. If you’re purely a D&D painter with no interest in 40k gaming, these are expensive for what you get paint-wise – the Paints + Tools Set is the better buy. But if you’ve been curious about 40k and want to test whether you enjoy the hobby, the Getting Started sets are a solid introduction.
Note that current Amazon listings are for the previous edition – the new 11th Edition Getting Started Sets release July 25 and should appear shortly after. Browse current listings here.
Introductory Set ($77)
The entry-level box includes 6 paints alongside minis, a brush, dice, a playmat, card terrain, and a 48-page handbook. The paint count is low and the selection is narrow, oriented entirely toward the two included factions. Not the right pick for a D&D painter shopping for paints specifically.
Are Citadel Paints Actually Good?
Yes – Citadel Colour is one of the two or three best-known miniature paint ranges in the world for a reason. The formulation is consistent, the coverage is solid, and they’re specifically designed for 12mm-30mm scale miniatures, which means the pigment-to-filler ratio is tuned to pick up fine detail rather than obscure it. You’re not compromising on quality by using 40k paints on D&D minis. A Citadel Base paint doesn’t know or care whether the model underneath it is a Space Marine or a Beholder.
The range also covers several paint types in a single set – Base, Layer, Contrast, Shade, and Technical – which is unusual at this price point. Most beginner paint sets at $40 give you one type. Getting a wash and a basing texture paint alongside your core colors saves an extra trip to the hobby store.
Which Paints in the Set Work for D&D?
The broad answer is: most of them. Here’s how the categories map to D&D painting:
Base paints: The workhorses of any paint job. Black, white, and a mid-tone blue are near-universal across D&D palettes – undead, armour, robes, water effects, and stone all use these constantly. A skin tone Base paint is one of the most useful colors you can own for humanoid D&D minis, and the 40k sets include one.
Metallics: The Leadbelcher silver included in the set covers all metallic armour, weapons, and hardware – one of the single most-used colors in D&D miniature painting. A gold paint rounds this out for jewelry, trim, and divine armor.
Shade (wash): Agrax Earthshade is arguably the most famous paint Games Workshop has ever made. It’s a brown wash that, when applied over a basecoat, flows into recesses and creates instant depth and shading. It works on virtually any warm color – skin, leather, wood, stone, bone. Getting a pot of Agrax in a $40 paint set is genuinely good value.
Technical (basing) paint: A textured basing paint is included, which saves you needing to buy basing materials separately. Apply it to the base after painting, let it dry, drybrush over it, and you have finished bases without any extra effort.
What’s missing: The 40k paint selections are naturally biased toward blue, green, and metal – the colors of Space Marines and Orks. If your D&D party is heavy on earth tones, browns, purples, and greens for monsters, you’ll want to supplement the set with a few individual pots. But as a starting palette, it covers more ground than most people expect.
The Verdict for D&D Painters
The Paints + Tools Set is the buy. At around $40 it gives you 13 Citadel paints covering five different paint types, plus the three tools every beginner needs – clippers, a brush, and a mouldline remover. It’s the most accessible official Citadel paint bundle GW has ever released, and the quality is exactly what you’d get buying the same paints individually at $5 to $7 a pot.
If you already have clippers and brushes, you could spend the same money building a more targeted palette for D&D from individual Citadel pots. But as a single-purchase starting kit for a new painter, this is hard to beat for the price.
Before you prime and paint, make sure you’re set up correctly from the start. Our guide to the best spray primers for D&D miniatures covers what to put down before these paints go on – and it makes a significant difference to how the finished result looks.
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