Grey Nation

The Gray Nation was the first Army Men nation

It was once the most powerful nation in the Plastic World, which chose to go to war to wipe out the other primal nations: The Yellow, Red and Blue nations.

The Gray Monarchy Regime

The original Gray government was a monarchical-type regime, with a leadership hungry for expansionism, a reflection of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Nazi Germany of the Real World. This expansionism was imparted arbitrarily for some time, until the 3 color armies agreed to refuse to continue giving away territory and being conquered without any opposition, closing diplomatic channels. This caused the Gray leader to go on war against all of them, making havoc that raged during the early years of this Great War. But with time and the appearance of the Tan, Green and Orange armies, the balance of the conflict changed.

As the balance of power in the war began to change, the Grey Nation made a secret pact with the Tan to betray the Yellow and thus clear one of the fronts, to avoid cuts in the supply chain of their southern front. But without realizing it, this radical movement was the worst mistake they made in the entire war.

The beginning of the end of the Grays

Without realizing it, they allowed the Tan to take important positions in their territory and in their chain of command, even being outnumbered by almost 2 to 1. By the time they realized this, the Tan were already dictating their own terms, keeping not only Yellow territory, but Gray territory. Being aware of the situation, the Grays could not do anything given their wear, tear and multiple open fronts, which made them focus all their power on a single front, the Red, the most powerful army of the moment, to try to suffocate this last powerful remnant army.

With the Yellows finished, the Blues completely decimated and the Greens just barely entering the conflict, they thought to focus on the Reds to then have time to recover and deal with the Tan. But just when it seemed that the Reds would succumb, the Tans hit the “coup de grace” to the Grays, betraying them.

Joining the alliance indirectly (like the other nations), taking more territory, leaving the Grays served to the Reds, Greens and others.

After the suicide of their leader, the Gray Nation signed their surrender, losing the war.

The Tan promised non-aggression pacts with the rest of the nations that divided up the Gray territory, which they had no choice but to accept… no nation could face more conflicts. But not with the Grey…

Years after these events the Gray Nation reappeared on the scene, by magic, when the existence of the first portal and all the facts linked to the first events of Army Men were announced.

A Guerilla nation. They do not seem to have any particular allegiance

In the original Army Men events, Grey soldiers fight Sarge, but a retired Grey colonel helps him find the first portal. In Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes and its sequel, the Greys are friendly towards Sergeant Hawk, and are at war with the Tans.

“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

Army Men Grey Army Playlist

The Grey plastic army takes or took its influence or inspiration (according to the files found on the Real World) from the USA 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 and from some Real World files citations hint at the Grey Nation as an amalgam of WWII era Russia but in a weaker capacity just as the Greens represented as an underdog North America in the first recorded events. Also, the guerrilla tactics employed by the Grey are reminiscent of the Vietnam War era Viet-Cong.

The Grey are at war with the Tan Republic in most of the historic events in which they appear. However, their relation with the other nations was unknown.

According to some recent sources from the Real World and the more old historic recordings found from the Grey, 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 events 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 events, during the Bayou campaign Sarge had 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 of 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 (included the cemetery). Also, in the Real World, plastic Army Men with a Grey scheme were typically associated with the North American Confederacy in contrast with their opposing color the blue.

The first encounter with Grey forces is in the original events: 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 events, a Grey retired Colonel is involved in the last missions.

Attack on Toys Maus grey tank — Attack on Toys Maus Grey heavy tank

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.

This was the only time in history that the Grey Nation attacked the Green Nation, although specifically just Sarge. It is not known with certainty whether these were intentions known by the Grey Colonel, or it was the Gray government that authorized this (presumably to prevent the secret from being known?). There were other occasions where Green army came into conflict with some individuals from the Grey Nation, but they were always renegades: followers of AWOL Green Colonel or Dr. Madd.

So maybe and just maybe, the possibilities are:

Regardless of the Colonel, the Gray Nation did not want the secrets about the portals to be known. Therefore the Colonel worked independently of his government.
The Colonel betrayed the Gray Nation, whatever his intention was in doing so.
Something changed during those events.

In any case, regardless of the reason, the Grays attacked all those who came close to the truth. Therefore the Gray government definitely knew about everything related to the secret of the portal and its power, or at least the dangerous possibilities of its power.

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 the Army Men: World War events lies in the Western Part of the World).

In Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes events, they appear as prisoners of the Tan Army that were freed by Sarge Hawk 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, and the same with the Reds.

In Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes 2 events, they make minor appearances. Grey Guards appear during the Assault at Dr. Madd’s Castle, as enemies working for the doctor. 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.

Dr. Madd was a Grey scientist allied with General Plastro and the Tan Army. He had a small cadre of loyal Grey Guards in their time before disappearing.

The Grey participation in Army Men History:

Army Men & Army Men 3D (1998)

Grey Soldiers appear in the Bayou levels, where their homeland is occupied by the Tan Army.

Army Men II (1999)

They appear in missions 5 (“Mania”), 6 (“The Big Bang”), and 7 (“The Insane Grey Doctor”).

Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes (1999)

Grey Soldiers make one appearance on the Gulag mission where Sgt. Hawk rescued Shrap from the Spider Maker Machine.

Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes 2 (2000)

They appear during the Assault at Dr. Madd’s Castle and the mission “Revenge”.

Green Rogue incident (2001)

The soldiers of the Tan Army were Omega’s primary enemy. Occasionally, small squads from the Blue and Gray armies will also attacked. The Blue Army has often allied with the Tan and was famed for its devious spies. The unpredictable Gray Army had been known to sell military technology (and soldiers) to the highest bidder.