Ionic liquid bath plating systems, methods, and plating anodes are provided for depositing metallic layers over turbomachine components and other workpieces. In an embodiment, the method includes placing workpieces in a plurality of cell vessels such that the workpieces are at least partially submerged in plating solution baths, which are retained within the cell vessels when the plating system is filled with a selected non-aqueous plating solution. After plating anodes are positioned adjacent the workpieces in the plating solution baths, the plurality of cell vessels are enclosed with lids such that the plurality of cell vessels contain vessel headspaces above the plating solution baths. A first purge gas is then injected into the plurality of cell vessels to purge the vessel headspaces. The workpieces and the plating anodes are then energized to deposit metallic layers on selected surfaces of the workpieces utilizing an ionic liquid bath plating process.