BattleTech Faction Colour Schemes: Painting Your House or Clan

Canonical colour schemes give your force identity and connect your miniatures to the factions they fight for. Here are the established schemes for the major Great Houses and Clans, with practical notes on how to achieve them.

The Great Houses

House Davion — Federated Suns 🎨 Try this scheme

Canonical colours: Brown or tan primary, with red and gold accents. Individual units vary significantly — the Davion Guards use red and gold, the Crucis Lancers use green, the Kestrel Grenadiers use dark blue.

Approach: Desert tan (Vallejo Tan or Army Painter Desert Yellow) with red trim. Brown wash. Gold or white unit markings. Produces a weathered, campaign-worn look appropriate for FedSuns forces.

House Steiner — Lyran Commonwealth 🎨 Try this scheme

Canonical colours: Blue-grey or light grey, often with blue trim. The Lyran Guards traditionally use grey with blue highlights.

Approach: Vallejo Cold Grey or Army Painter Uniform Grey base. Blue-black wash. Light grey drybrush highlights. Blue trim on shoulder pads and weapon housings. Clean and military.

House Kurita — Draconis Combine 🎨 Try this scheme

Canonical colours: Dark red or maroon primary. White or gold accents. The Sword of Light regiment uses bright red with white trim.

Approach: Army Painter Warzone Red or Vallejo Gory Red base. Dark brown or black wash. Orange-red drybrush highlights for the Sword of Light look. White geometric unit markings. High contrast and striking.

House Liao — Capellan Confederation 🎨 Try this scheme

Canonical colours: Dark green primary with red or white accents. Green and black is the most common combination.

Approach: Army Painter Greenskin or Vallejo Dark Green base. Black wash. Lighter green drybrush highlights. Red trim accents. The dark wash makes green look rich rather than toy-like.

House Marik — Free Worlds League 🎨 Try this scheme

Canonical colours: Purple primary with gold trim. Individual units vary — the Silver Hawks use silver, the Marik Militia use purple-grey.

Approach: Vallejo Hexed Lichen or similar mid-purple base. Dark purple wash. Gold edge highlights on prominent panels. More complex to execute than the other Houses but very distinctive on the table.

The Clans

Clan Jade Falcon 🎨 Try this scheme

Forest green with jade or light green accents. Black or dark green secondary. Often bold geometric patterns.

Clan Wolf 🎨 Try this scheme

Grey primary with dark red or rust accents. Unit markings tend to be angular and bold.

Clan Ghost Bear 🎨 Try this scheme

White or bone primary with dark grey or brown secondary. The Ghost Bear totem imagery appears on many unit markings.

Clan Smoke Jaguar 🎨 Try this scheme

Black primary with orange or red-orange spots/accents mimicking jaguar markings. High contrast, striking on the table.

Clan Nova Cat 🎨 Try this scheme

Dark blue or black with gold or yellow accents. Often features stylised cat eyes in unit markings.

Practical Painting Notes

These canonical schemes are starting points, not laws. Many players use them as a basis and personalise — darker tones for a veteran unit, weathering for a campaign-worn force, bright accents for an elite regiment. The canon gives you context; your painting gives the 'Mechs character.

For any scheme involving multiple colours, paint the lighter colour first and add darker trim over it rather than the reverse. It's easier to paint a dark line over a light base than to paint a neat light line over dark paint.

Unit insignia and numbers don't need to be hand-painted. Decal sheets are available for most major BattleTech factions and apply with water — a significant time saver that produces cleaner results than brush work on small surfaces.

Inventing Your Own Scheme

Mercenary units in BattleTech have no canonical colours, which is an invitation to create your own. Some guidelines that help original schemes look intentional:

• Pick a primary colour that takes 60–70% of the surface area
• Add a secondary colour for trim and accents (20–30%)
• Use a third colour sparingly for cockpits and details (10% or less)
• Keep the palette to three colours maximum — more looks muddled at gaming distance

A wash ties everything together and makes colours look more natural. The scheme that seems simple on paper often looks better than the complex one when they're both on the table.