Historical Board Gaming Piece Colors

I have bought a LOT from HBG.  Here are the colors I use.  Some of the colors will not be exactly the same, but close enough for government work.

Germany - Black
Italy - Brown
Japan - Pumpkin Orange

USA - Olive Drab
France - Blue or G40 Blue (not light blue)
UK - UK Tan
ANZAC - Grey/ G40 Grey/ANZAC Grey
China - Yellow-Green

Russia - Russian Brown

That is what I use and Have been happy so far!  Hope that helps.

If you go the HBG’s website, all these colors Andy6049 is talking about, are under the battle pieces link, that you click on first, then click on battle piece colors, then you can click on each unit piece, you desire to purchase.

I hope this helps.

Cheers!

John

Oh, I almost completely forgot.  The 3D printed pieces are a little different.  Some of them will blend in decent enough but others will be noticeable (small price to pay for such cool, unique units).  A couple that I know first hand look a bit different is the Italian jet fighter (is a DARK brown), the Russian seaplane, and the Russian T-35 (both of which look closer to the OOB Italy color than the Russian color).  Not all of the 3D printed stuff is like that though, some of them match pretty good (Me-163, B-29, V2s…).  You should be able to tell on most of them from the pictures.

@Aetheron:

Hello everyone.

I’m looking into purchasing custom pieces from historicalboardgaming.com and I’m not sure which colors are the closest matches to the OOTB Axis & Allies pieces.  I’m looking to add to my Europe and Pacific 1940 Second Editions, but I can’t seem to find a color guide anywhere on HBG’s site, and I’ve not yet received any response to my email to them about this.  Does anyone here have a link to a color guide, or perhaps simply know which colors correspond to the 9 powers in 1940 Second Edition?

Thank you!

Andy’s list is correct as far as closest match, but if slight variations bother you, heads up, some of them are not perfect matches for OOB units… American Olive Drab seems to be hit and miss, with some matching the shade perfectly, and others off a bit… Most of the Japanese orange units are a shade off as well… they are close, but not a perfect match.

Not sure if that concerns you or not, but just a head’s up.

Try calling Mr. Friend.  The number should be on the website.  Just explain what happened. They are usually good about fixing problems like this.

@Andy6049:

Try calling Mr. Friend.  The number should be on the website.  Just explain what happened. They are usually good about fixing problems like this.

I concur, same thing… I have ordered a lot with them in the past, and have had some issues of wrong or missing items, but he has always corrected any problems… just submit a trouble ticket (you can do that on the site) or call him.

Wolf, would you say the yellow green is an exact, close or close enough match for the chinese? I want to get them their own art.

I would say that it is close enough.  HBG doesn’t have anything closer…

@Bob77:

Wolf, would you say the yellow green is an exact, close or close enough match for the chinese? I want to get them their own art.

An alternate approach, just in case this option is something that would work for you, is to provide China with artillery that’s a unique shape, even if the colour doesn’t quite match, by giving it artillery pieces from A&A WWI 1914.  The British Empire ones are, I think, the closest match for the green of the A&A Chinese pieces.  The antiquated look of the WWI artillery piece is actually rather suitable for China in WWII, since the Chinese didn’t exactly have cutting-edge technology.  And to supply China with a distinctive fighter, use a green American P-40 Warhawk from A&A 1941; it was the plane which the Flying Tigers actually used.  Officially the Flying Tigers were a unit of the Chinese Air Force, but its pilots were American.

I just might go with the 75-7veld in yellowgreen from HBG since i dont plan on gettig 1914or 41. If the colors arnt close enough for my taste, it still has to be better then the american color A nd it does look different and antiquated. Same with the flying tigers or I’ll look in my other AA games for them. Thanks

The P-40 Warhawk is perfect for using as the Flying Tigers unit. I used the artillery pieces from a game called Attack! They looked antiquated enough. Love all the ideas that everyone writes for customizing their own games! Keep them coming!

Hey Bob77, I purchased the same yellowgreen 75-7 Veld artillery for my Chinese forces and I was happy with them. Colour is not 100% on, but there is always the option of painting them to match. The models themselves looked great on the board, rugged mountain guns.

@Bob77:

Wolf, would you say the yellow green is an exact, close or close enough match for the chinese? I want to get them their own art.

You would ask a question of about the only nationality color I haven’t actually bought… I’ve bought at least one custom unit from every major power (the 5) and two minors (Italy and ANZAC) from HBG, the one exception being China… so I can’t offer my opinion of the color match from HBG on that one.

Tanks anyway wolf.
Unfortunately HGB is out of yellow green velds. Im gonna email to see if they plan on making more. If not, lime green will have to work.

On this note, is “blonde” or “tan” a better color match for OOB UK G40 pieces?

@hengst said in Historical Board Gaming Piece Colors:

On this note, is “blonde” or “tan” a better color match for OOB UK G40 pieces?

I think tan is a better match. Blonde is too light a color to be a good match.

-Midnight_Reaper