I think FMG has stated (on more than one occasion) that the colours of the new pieces will match FMG’s Combat Dice; these are slightly different than the AA50/AA40 colours, but they work quite well, IMO. Anyway, here is a list of the colours, if it helps (some of the colours are basically the same for both FMG and AAA, but the hues or shades are slightly different):
AA50/AA40 (so far):
- USSR - Dark Reddish-Brown
- Germany - Black
- UK - Tan
- Italy - Light Orange/Brown
- Japan - Orange
- US - Green
- China - Yellow/Green
- ANZAC - Pewter Grey
- France - TBA (likely some shade of blue)
FMG:
- USSR - Pure Red (no brown tint at all)
- Germany - Steel Gray (different colour than recent AAA games, but I personally prefer gray)
- UK - Tan (slightly lighter than AAA colour)
- Italy - Dark Brown (very different than AAA colour, and for good reason)
- Japan - Orange (similar to AAA boardgames, but slightly less brown)
- US - Green (appears brighter than AAA boardgames)
- China - Yellow/Green (very similar to AA50/AA40)
- ANZAC - TBA
- France - TBA
As I noted, some of the FMG colours are slightly (or in two well-justified [IMO] instances) different than those used by WoTC, but I personally regard them as perfectly acceptable (or even better than WOTC’s colours in most cases.
One should also note that WoTC has not been consistent with any of its colours; USSR pieces are now less reddish than they were in the past, Germany used to have gray and metallic blue pieces at various points, the US shades of green have varied from olive to emerald over several games, the UK have used multiple shades of tan (and even seafoam green in some copies of Revised, although mine are tan), and Japan had light red pieces in early AAP games. Since WoTC has never shown consistency in its colour choices (possibly due to supply issues), I personally wouldn’t consider continued use of AA50 or AA40 colours to be a sure thing (although this is hardly an objective and final conclusion on my part). I would conclude by stating that even if FMG does not match WoTC’s colours shade-for-shade, it would not at all be a bad thing, although I would prefer FMG to remain consistent within its own product line (and I have no doubts that it will do so).
Anyway, on another colour-related note…
@ FMG - have you considered any possible colours for ANZAC or France yet? I noticed (and voted on) your poll regarding roundels and colours for ANZAC dice, but I didn’t see any mention of possible colours from you (I understand if you’re not ready to discuss such things yet, but I can’t help but speculate…). Are there any colours to which your choices are limited? If so what are they? I personally would like to see ANZAC pieces in Turquoise (Blue/Green), but I will admit that this isn’t a colour for which I’ve seen much support so far from the community. Scarlett or Crimson Red might be another choice for ANZAC too, unless you end up using this colour for an extra Canadian print run of UK molds (I don’t intend to ever house-rule Canada as a separate nation, but there might be enough interest to make a different colour print run economical, I guess).
From Larry’s posts, and from the colour of French-controlled territories in AAP40, I think it is obvious that French pieces will be blue. The shade of blue, however, remains to be seen. I don’t think it matters if FMG matches WoTC’s colour exactly, but I would understand if FMG wishes to wait another while to see what colour is chosen. @ FMG - do you have any thoughts on France you might want to share at this point?
