Warhammer Tone Pro: how to use the new 5-tone paint range

What is Warhammer Tone Pro?

Games Workshop announced Warhammer Tone Pro on 18 September 2026 during its Big Autumn Preview. The range is made up of 30 colours, each in 5 tones, for a total of 150 paints. Counting the two mediums, Shading Medium and Blending Medium, the official 2026 promotion terms list 152 references.

The manufacturer highlights coverage from the first application, including on yellows and whites, vivid pigmentation, and one formulation that works for basecoats, layers, highlights, glazing and drybrushing. Games Workshop also says the range can be tried in Warhammer stores and at independent retailers from Saturday 26 September 2026. The official sources cited here give no price, volume or general release date, so this guide does not either.

How to read the tone numbers

Every paint name contains its family and its tone number: tone 1 is the darkest, tone 5 the lightest. A family is one base colour across five values, from deepest to brightest.

In practice, the simplest approach is to use tone 3 as your main colour, tones 1 and 2 for shadows, and tones 4 and 5 for highlights. It is not a strict rule: every tone is a full paint on its own, and mixing two tones from the same family works as well.

Example: a three-tone progression

A neutral family makes the logic easy to see: Blackstone Void. Tone 3, Blackstone Void 3, is the base colour. Tone 1, Blackstone Void 1, goes into the recesses and shadow areas. Tone 5, Blackstone Void 5, catches the edges and the most exposed spots.

1. Base: apply Blackstone Void 3 in a thin, even coat across the area.
2. Shadow: work Blackstone Void 1 into the recesses, or use it as a heavily thinned glaze on the lower parts.
3. Highlight: build Blackstone Void 5 on the edges in progressively finer passes.

This is a suggested working method, not a recipe tested by ChromaStack. Adapt the thinning and the number of passes to your model: the three-tone logic is what matters, not a fixed ratio.

Shading Medium and Blending Medium: what they do

Games Workshop presents Shading Medium as the way to turn any Tone Pro paint into a shade or a glaze: the colour stays the same, the behaviour changes.

Blending Medium, again according to the manufacturer, extends the paint's drying time and gives you longer to blend two tones together. The official sources cited here do not publish mixing ratios, so this guide gives none. Try it on a spare piece before committing to a model.

Finding Tone Pro and exploring equivalents in ChromaStack

Every Tone Pro paint is listed in the ChromaStack catalogue. Each paint page shows a swatch, the HEX code ChromaStack uses, and the closest Delta-E equivalents among the other brands.

For a quick look at the range's diversity, three examples from three families: Ta'unar Ochre 3, a warm ochre; Stormwolf Blue 3, a cool grey-blue; and Megaboss Yellow 3, a bright yellow. You can also compare any colour from the ChromaStack comparator.

One important note about colour: the swatches shown come from the digital flats of the official paint charts. They are not physical measurements of the paint. Colour matches are indicative, and the real result depends on the surface, the primer, the thinning and the light. Delta-E scores are not equivalents validated on a painted miniature: treat them as a decision aid, not a guarantee.

Official sources

The facts in this guide come from these official publications:

• The Big Autumn Preview – Paint. Better., Warhammer Community, 18 September 2026.
• Warhammer Tone Pro 2026 Promotion: Terms & Conditions, Warhammer Community.