Army Men Wiki
Army Men Wiki
Advertisement
Grey Nation

Grey Nation Flag:

GreyNationFlag
Demonym Greys

"The Greys are a bunch of hit-and run guerrillas; when I was little, my dad used to scare me at night by telling me stories about the Greys. You don't have to like the Greys, but you gotta respect them..." - Sarge

The Grey Nation is one of the nations of the Plastic World.

Overview[]

The Grey plastic army takes or took its influence or inspiration (according to the original creators) from the civil war plastic play-sets with the Grey representing the Civil War era Confederacy. Their beleaguered state during the onset of the events of Army Men PC and from some citation from the 3DO staff hint at the Grey Nation as an amalgam of WWII era Great Britain but in a weaker capacity just as the Greens represented as an underdog America in the PC games. Also, the guerrilla tactics employed by the Grey are reminiscent of the Vietnam War era Viet-Cong.

Overall the Grey Nation seems to be mostly based on United Kingdom's England during WWII.

The Grey are at war with the Tan Republic in most games in which they appear. However, their relation with the other nations is unknown.

Story[]

Sarge's heroes grey solders

Sarge with 3 Grey soldiers in Sarge's Heroes.

According to some recent sources from the internet archive and the concept discussions of the 3DO staff, the Grey Nation was once a powerful nation of proud warriors whose pride became their downfall when they were invaded by the Tan; they were too sure of their might to ask the Green for help when the Tan were conquering their country. Now, most of their country is occupied with the Grays staging guerilla war to win back their homeland. If we make educated inferences from the first Army Men games (Army Men for the PC and Army Men 3D) the opening video states about the natural geography of the world; "from the northern mountains, to the western desert, and as far as the southern swamps." then most of the Grey Nation is in the southern lands. The reason for this statement is that in Army Men 3D during the Bayou campaign you have what is heavily implied to be Grey settlements, weapon factories, and the occupied Grey capital at the end of the game. The colonel in the bayou level had a mansion house in the swamplands and the weapons facility you retake from the Tan has unfinished Grey tanks. With the opening letters to the last missions stating something about the capital and the presence Grey and Tan forces engaging in combat throughout the city and cemetery, then it is very logically possible that the city was the Grey Capital under Tan occupation and that the majority of the southern bayou region is the Grey Nation itself. Also, in the real world, plastic army men with a Grey scheme were typically associated with the American Confederacy in contrast with their opposing color the blue and even the creators of the Army Men PC games used this influence at least partially in making the Grey Nation.

The first encounter with Grey forces is in the original PC game: Sarge is attempting to outflank the Tan and finds himself on the Grey-Tan border. Whilst both are at war with Green, or at least with him. They are also at war with each other and Sarge finds himself in a three-way shooting match. In Army Men 3D, a Grey retired Colonel is involved in the last missions.

The Colonel gives the Green army one key of the 3 used to open the first portal. In fact, the last key and information about its power and secret.

In exchange for helping his nation to liberate a factory taken over by the Tan and help him to escape from the territory around his mansion (Army Men & Army Men 3D). The Tans took the Colonel very seriously, to the point that they deployed 3 tanks and troops in the place, not to let him go out of his mansion or have contact with anyone. Upon rescuing him he gave Sarge the blue key. But after this Sarge is assigned the task of escorting him to a safehouse on the other side of a bridge, since the Tan had blocked the way for the passage of vehicles. After successfully completing this mission, the Colonel gave the Green army the information about the keys: He knew their secrets, describing that putting the 3 keys together in a triangle shape would create a device that would open a portal with unknown powers, which was nearby, in a Cemetery. But when Sarge approached the Cemetery through a city that led directly there, the Grays began to attack him and the Tan, at the same time. The same thing continued to happen during the following events that led to the opening of the first portal.

The Grey Army is located in the western, southwest, and southern part of the Plastic World because it borders the Tan nation (which according to Army Men: World War lies in the Western Part of the World).

In Army Men: Sarge's Heroes, they appear as prisoners of the Tan Army that can be freed by Sarge (The Player) to help him rescue Shrap. Colonel Grimm makes a direct mention of them in the level's intro cutscene. If they survive, they will wait for evacuation by the helipad. It's revealed that the Tan are turning Grey captives into Spiders.

In Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2, they make minor appearances. Grey Guards appear during the Assault at Dr. Madd's Castle, as enemies working for the doctor, exclusive to the PS2 version. Later, more greys show up during the mission Revenge, where two grey soldiers will run out of a building in an airfield and fight the nearby tan forces.

Notable Greys[]

Grey Units and Enemies[]


Nations in the Army Men Universe
Major Nations:

GreenNationFlag GreenTanRepublicFlag TanBlueNationFlag BlueGreyNationFlag Grey


Minor Nations:

RedOrangeBlackGalactic ArmySpace Aliens

Advertisement