Unit Colors: What Do You Hardcore Mini Collector/Players Do With A Company?

[OverKill]

Hey Guys, here is my question...

You've got a mercenary company (or you play a house unit) of 12 mechs. Do you paint all your units parade colors? Do you split them up into lances with each lance having a different camo scheme (Command Lance is your parade colors, Support Lance is your Desert Camo and Fire Lance is your City/Urban Camo blah blah blah)? What do you guys do?

What works for you guys? What keeps it "fresh and cool" so that each time you play your pieces on a 3D battleboard you go "Yep, thats my unit!".

[17th Spartans]

Each member of the Spartans gets to paint their Mech how the want. They are Mercenaries from Solaras VII after all. Though they do have a thing for checkers. Long Live the Regiment! [rockon]

[OverKill]

LOL someone actually clicked the "What was the question again" radio button.

(sighs) I suppose if you put something in there to make people smile some clown always has to come up with a better way to be a bigger clown.

[Sigma]

I generally just paint up a mini to a unit that uses them, i.e. an Archangel in the 52nd SD colors or some such.

But I GM more than anything so I'm generally much more concerned with having mechs of the right flavor than the right unit. Having to pull out a Donegal Guard painted Wasp when I need a Big Mac one kind of breaks the mood. But I usually get passing marks if I have one done up for Dai Dai Chi or something similar.

For pickup games, I generally go camo or with the few coherent lances I have together.

[markhall]

I did tend to do whole units in the same. Scheme.
After doing a regiment + for the rangers. I have gone on this.
I stick with 12 or so minis in a similar paint job.

[wasp]

For my flushed out merc unit, I did them all up in a parade theme.  However, now I have almost a battalion of mechs painted the same and I think it is a bit much.  I now only do a lance in canon scheme.

Wasp

[RangerRob]

I've limited my paint schemes to "faction" based.

Meaning All Smoke Jags get one paint style, all House Kurita get another, all Davion another, ComStar...well they are all the same anyway.  ;)

That way I have a little flexibility when building a lance / Company as to what mechs to take.

Course doing it this way leads to a larger collection...

"Now an Atlas would fit in nicely with this C3 kurita company...Shoot I don't have one in Combine colors...guess I'll have to get another one."   ;D

[Saatch]

I try to follow canon specs and generally paint a company or trinary at a time. Some of my clan stuff is probably borderline but I do my best. I don't do a very good job matching mechs to particular factions but I'm trying to do better at that. (I've had a Fafnir that I've been dying to paint but little interest in Lyran schemes, for example, so I'll probably make that a merc or WoB if the mood takes me).

I like to experiment with different basing types on each company (so, you've seen cherry blossoms, snow, urban and autumn so far) even if that doesn't match the battlefield. 99% of my lazy mechs spend their time being looked at rather than actually working, so I'm less concerned about that. :)

I mostly do parade schemes, but I'll probably do my Liao company in a cammo of some kind for flexibility (after WIE Golden Keshik, which will be next).

Great question!

[Medron Pryde]

I do at least a company, if not a full battalion, in a single paint scheme.  The boxed sets ROCK for this approach as they give me cheap minis to paint.  :)

I have a full battalion+ in Davion and Taurian colors.  I have a lance of Liao, Steiner, and a short battalion of Combine.  I also have a battalion+ of Regulan Hussars (think the third edition Warhammer) but as the paint that let me build those is gone, now I have to come up with a different Marik paint scheme.  I'm thinking white with purple highlights might just work for that.

But yes, I like having large numbers of miniatures in a paint scheme so I can pick and choose the enemies I throw at each other.  And it is really nice to have full painted armies fighting each other as people can SEE their enemies on the field of battle.  And it is fun to see the white Wobble wedge driving into the flank of the tan Davion force.  ;)  Of course, when is it NOT fun to see the Davions getting pounded.  ;)

[Top Sergeant]

I keep all 12 in the same scheme whether its camo or parade.

I generally paint them in camo.

[OverKill]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm shopping around for someone to do commission work so thought I'd see what others are doing.

[Fatebringer]

Continuity is important. If a unit is representing several clusters, I'll throw in something to differentiate those. Example, when doing up our Epsilong galaxy, per the write up, each of our clusters has a different colored stripe to indicate the unit, but the general scheme of Black and Teal remains the same. I'll do up a Star of each to denote those differences, but within the Cluster, no difference. ;)

[phlop]

I started doing a company of 5th Sword of Light and have since moved on to doing just a lance. This way I have more different color schemes but still in the same faction. My Nova Cats are at a Trinary and the Blood Spirits are painted in galaxy colors one star of each.

[Stormlion1]

I like to do example Lances, I have a Lance of Wolf Hunters, a Lance of 2nd Legion of Vega, a Lance of 1st Royal Guard, a Lance of Holdfast Guards, etc, etc, but sometimes they get built up. A Trinary of Blood Guard Keshik, A Battalion of my own home grown Mercs, and a Battalion of 1st Federated Suns Lancers. All are done in Parade Schemes for easy identification. I do it because I enjoy it, and they look good on display.  :)

[gooseman]

Same scheme, prefer parade colors. Bright colors "pop" and make for better eye candy (since I'm in the business of attracting players)!

[JPArbiter]

with a few exceptions my personal Merc Unit is painted up in th same navy grey with red and white paneling (of Course the Commanders Battlemaster is unique, and there are always a few trouble makers)

I REALLY have been digging painting the battlecorps recently as they take the personalization with thier mechs left leg, allowing each mech to be fairly unique while still being uniform.

[OverKill]

Noob question but "battlecorps"?

[JPArbiter]

Noob question but "battlecorps"?

The Battlecorps is the offical fan made canon Mercenary unit, whose story is written by fans over on battlecorps.com (of which I am a member ;) )  They paint thier mechs Tan and Blue (with the exception of their Colonel, Jocyln Nichole)  the left leg of each mech (left flank of each tank, left wing of each fighter) is reserved to allow thier pilots to paint as they se fit, normally the paint job of thier previous professional affiliation.

Case in point is Mstr Sgt Anderson Bixby whose Zeus keeps the Blue with Black and Gold Checkers of the Fifth Fed Com Corps (as well as the yellow stripe down the back.)



others can be found here http://www.camospecs.com/Unit.asp?ID=836

[Grognard]

My Fanon unit is regiment in size.
so, my Tank battalion has 4 companies.
Each company has a semistandard camo paint scheme.
Co. A = Woodland Camo
Co. B = Desert Camo
Co. C = Solid OD Green
Co. D = Urban Camo

But all units have a Regimental Marker on the Front Right Fender and Center Rear.

My Mech battalion is the same, but have the Regimental Marker on the Right Torso and Center Torso Rear, as well as on the side of the lower Left Leg.

I haven't figured out how best to do my ASF or VTOL forces.

[Paladin1]

When I actually paint my minis, they're always all the same color scheme.  I guess that, in one way, you could say all of mine are "painted" the same naked pewter color.  Now if I only had time to fix that. [tickedoff]

[Force of Nature]

Companies of 12 all painted alike (camouflage) is what I prefer. However, I have also painted individual lances within the company an alternate color to the companies main color.

Force

[invallid effort]

Nothing quite like marching a lvl 3 of the 49th shadow all the same scheme onto the table ....... if only i had 36 mechs  :-\

[FedCom4Ever]

When I first started I painted all my mercenary mechs in black with silver and gold accents. As I got into painting parade colors I try to stick to a lance at a time. For me it's easy to get the lance cleaned up and primed with a particular goal in mind. I painted up the Dragoons and just went to town on them at the same time.



This was part of Rondema's Company from Beta Battalion. Once I had the paint out I just did each like they were on the assembly line.

[invallid effort]

they look real nice  [rockon]

[ShadowRaven]

With the boxed set, I am currently painting up a Donegal Guards Heavy/Assault Company, and my custom mercs. However, their only scheme is green with light brown accents, which helps make them useable just about anywhere.

[Stormlion1]

While not the best pic, here's the 1st Federated Suns Battalion I've been working on. Only 34 mechs at the moment but I just got a Firestarter and a Rakshasa to finish it out. Just not painted yet.

[Schottenjaeger]

None of the answers really apply - The regiment uses "appropriate camoflauge", which varies from company to company, and Ace  pilots are allowed custom schemes. Then the captured Blakist mechs are done in their own custom scheme for the aggressor company :P

[E. Icaza]

I've been going back and using Simple Green to strip a bunch of my older miniatures and painting them up in parade ground colors for various units.  So far, I've got Lyran Regulars, 2nd SoL, CJF Iota Galaxy and Ambermarle's Highlanders.  My goal is to have at least a company painted up for each House, with a battalion of 2nd SoL and a Cluster of Iota Galaxy ('Mechs and Elementals only).

[OverKill]

I'm actually purchasing a tub of 4L of Simple Green tomorrow from Canadian Tire (if they are open) for the amount that I've had to use it LOL

I'm stripping down my company of IS mechs, posing and assembling them and getting them ready for a commission.  I'll play with my other non-company assigned mechs for my own painting purposes (personalities etc)

[Top Sergeant]

One lance from my old merc battalion. As you can see my painting skills 15 years ago wasn't the best. Decals are from a sheet for WW I german biplanes.

Painted in a light green with dark green striped camoflage.