Now, honestly, I think that each faction has a particular 'mech design that embodies that faction's fluff history. Also, most of the time they'll have more than one unique/LE version of that mech. Here's the faction embodiments:

Clan Jade Falcon: Any one of thier new mechs, but most notably the Gyrfalcon, being as swift and deadly the bird is.
House Liao: Yu Huang, as it does a lot of damage and inspires awe in an opponent.
Bannson's Raiders: Hard to say, but my money's on any mech with a melee weapon, seeing as how the Raiders came out, bludgeoned the Republic, then ran off with whatever they could carry.
Dragon's Fury: Locust, since they swarm thier opponents and eat through them like a, well, locust swarm.
SwordSworn: Legionnaire, because they act almost like mercenaries, going traitor whenever it is most profitable for them.
The Republic of the Sphere: Blade, due to thier slicing and dicing of the Jihad and thier enemies now.
Highlanders: Valiant, as they stand up for thier beliefs hat the Republic should live and that they will almost always be loyal to the Republic.
Spirit Cats: Thunderbolt, plain and simple. It embodies the common Kittie energy attacks and the flames they look into for visions.
Steel Wolves: Mad Cat II, due to thier design paradigm that once you hit them, they get "mad" and slash out at you like a furious "cat". The fact that the real Clan Wolf uses a lot of these also helps.
Clan Sea Fox: The Tiburon. What else can I relate them to?
StormHammers: Ye old Zeus. If you don't understand why, well, brush up on your Greek Mythology and you memory of House Stiener's mech forces.

What do you all think?

For Swordsworn, they have not been given any "signature" Davion Mechs, like the Battlemaster or Victor. So they really do not have a Mech that embodies their fluff history. Also, "going traitor when it is most profitable"? Duke Sandoval, the head of the Swordsworn, is one of the richest people in the Republic. He saw a chance to bring glory to House Davion when the HPG's fell, the same as most faction leaders, with respect to their classic heritage.

ok first off, the cats are clan, the thunderbolt is decidedly not a clan mech. if anything the mad cat 2 or the sun cobra. would be a good signature mech. but idealy it wold be the nova cat. when ever they come out with one that is.

The "profitable" part has nothing to do with money, just the aquisition of planets. If Sandoval thinks he can bring a planet to him by helping it, he will. If it's the other way around, he'll do that too. Also, the signature Davion mechs would be nice, but they only have multiple Legionnaires, and the fluff history here pertains only to the Swordsworn, not House Davion as a whole. Otherwise, we'd have Highlanders Highlanders, Dragon's Fury No-Dachis and such, Spirit Cat Nova Cats, and Clan Jade Falcon Thors.

Also, the Thunderbolt, while not a Clan mech, is a Star League era design, so it's not entirely impossible for them to have a few. Plus, please remember that the only embodiment is in the name, not the design.

Battlemaster is NOT DAVION

Davion fielded A Battlemaster.

So did Word of Blake, ComStar, Draconis Combine, Free Worlds League.

3 non-ComStar factories were still producing Battlemasters in 3050 and 2 of the 3 factories were NOT DAVION.

Liao have more of a stake in the Catapult and the UrbanMech than Davion has in the Battlemaster and THEY do not have exclusivity on those machines.

Davion "signature" machines include

Valkyrie (shared with Lyrans)
Templar (yeah baby)
Enforcer
Enforcer III
Jagermech III
Garm
Caesar
Berzerker (with Lyrans)
Axman (with Lyrans)

certainly NOT Battlemasters

From the Davion sourcebook, page 127:

"Assault lances in the AFFS usually included the favoured Battlemaster as one of their members. Other Assault 'Mech designs include the Stalker, Victor, Banshee, and the occasional Atlas."

Liao: Quick and light but with decent fire power usually with lots of little electronce gizmos. Raven

Kurtia: Strong, powerful not always the fastest but with lots of Firepower. Hatmoto Chi

Marik: Eh

Lyran: Strong and decisive. Crusader

Davion: Valkyrie, Victor, Templar etc...

Highlanders: Highlander

Comstar/WOB: Initiate

Clan Jade Flacon: Black Lanner

Clan Diamond Shark/SF: Piranha

Cats: Nova Cat

Republic: Atlas

Stormhammers: Zues, Cylcops

Other Mercs: Wolfhound, Clint, Hellhound, Flea

But, the Battlemaster was found in the other Great Houses' just as frequently. I would say the Templar because is wasn't found outside of House Davion very often.

The sourcebook was written before the Clan Invasion, before the idea of forming the F-C, so the Templar would not have even been thought of.

But the Templar is definitely synonimous with the newer Davion mentality.

The Battlemaster is a favoured design BUT it also appears regularly in other states. Therefore it is not a signature design.

Furthermore, after the Clan invasion they became very uncommon. Only a few a year were produced and attrition rates in the Clan invasion amongst assault 'Mechs (you know, the ones too slow to run away?) was very high.

The wolfhound is actually only commonly found with 2 merc companies, House Steiner and House Davion.
The Battlemaster Hanse Davion's favorite Assualt mech should be a signature mech for House Davion. He also loved the Blackjack, Jagermech, Enforcer, Rifleman, and Victor.

Signature Mechs for House Steiner:
Commando
Wolfhound
Hatchetman
Solitaire
Uzial
Zeus
Banshee
Atlas
Fafnir
Hauptman
________
Mack avenue engine complex

So we're doing everything now? :p might as well pick for all weight classes


Liao: Raven chosen over Vindicator, Catapult, and Yu Huang - sneaky sneaky! Still one of the premier IS (or Battletech, in general) recon mechs, it is fielded almost exclusively by the Capellan Confederation and IMO embodies the stereotypical Cappie.

Kurita: Panther chosen over Wolverine, Dragon, and Hatamoto-Chi - arguably THE mech of the Draconis Combine (hell, that was one of the only light mechs they could still produce, come 4th Succession War) it is rather slow compared to light mechs, but carried a frightening standoff weapon, the PPC. Though other mechs post Clan invasion are better armed while being faster, the panther is still more durable with all standard equipment (take that, XL engines!) having a steady speed with a formidable primary weapon emphasizes the duelist nature of the Kuritans of old (unfortunately, they're a bit more intelligent nowadays :p )

Marik: Trebuchet chosen over Spider, Archer, and Grand Titan - The forces under the former Free Worlds League really like their missiles. Always a house to favor more versitile medium mechs, the Trebuchet has always embodied that. With twin LRM15s at range and a 5/8 movement, the only thing that keeps this mech from being a truely effective fire support mech is the small amount of ammo for each launcher. The trio of medium lasers (FWLers also love their lasers :grin:) is a formidable secondary weapon system against mechs of similar weight class.

Davion: Enforcer chosen over Garm, Jagermech, and Templar - The Fed Suns forces really like their autocannons. The Enforcer is a great example of a staple Davion mech. Well armored, well armed, this mech is all about punishment.

Steiner: Zeus chosen over Wolfhound, Hatchetman, and Caeser - Lyran assault mech fetish! There is no doubt that the Zeus has always had LYRAN written all over it.


Jade Falcon: Night Gyr chosen over Kit Fox, Black Lanner, and Turkina - The Falcons tend to deploy an excessive amount of heavy mechs in their galaxies. The Night Gyr is IMO the pinnacle of the Falcons' doctrine. All configurations are mounted with devastating firepower and excellent armor converage with jump jets, at the expense of some speed. They really like to slug it out.

Wolf: Ice Ferret chosen over Phantom, Timber Wolf, and Gargoyle (I know the Phantom isn't a light mech.. meh, the Wolves don't really deploy any specific light mechs in great concentrations) - I cannot emphasize enough the Wolves' preference for manueverability. Though most people rightfully associate the Timber Wolf as the primary mech of Clan Wolf, the Ice Ferret is not only more common but better represented by Clan Wolf. More flexable than the Falcons, they are perhaps the best tactically-minded Clan and will use that speed to flank an enemy force and make hit-and-run attacks. The Fenris has balanced weaponry in all variants to complement speed.

Ghost Bear: Viper chosen over Fire Moth, Mad Dog, and Executioner - To those of you who think 'Kodiak', I say nay! (stupid solahmas... you can have your Kodiaks!) The Ghost Bears use lighter manuverable mechs very effectively in tandem with their heavy mechs. The Viper is a quick medium mech common to the Ghost Bear TO&E that is often paired with their heavier mechs.

Hell's Horses: Thunder Stallion chosen over Hellion, Stormcrow, Cauldron-Born - Hell's Horses are the most combined-arms minded of all Clans. Not only are they an oddity amongst the clans for making such effective use of armor and infantry assets, but they also have an affinity with quad-mechs. The Thunder Stallion is essentially a heavily armored big-### gun on 4 legs with LRMs sticking out topside, its a pretty funny looking mech. Though the butt of countless jokes, I can't disagree with its effectiveness. Also worth noting is that Hell's Horses love their heavy lasers, like all good crusaders :p

Nova Cat: Nova Cat over Mist Lynx, Shadow Cat, Dire Wolf - Even in overall mech deployment for the Nova Cats, they still maintain a majority of energy-based mech designs. The Nova Cat is one of their own newer designs (being a Falcon even before a Free-Worlder, I must note that the Nova Cat is simply a copy of the Night Gyr *cough*) They also are similar with Wolf in Exile in that they have some Inner Sphere mechs deployed since fleeing the rest of the clans.

Diamond Shark: Piranha over Nova, Thresher, Supernova - This light mech is undeniably threatening if used correctly. However, the Diamond Sharks do not utilize them as such... the Diamond Sharks have since Tukkayid have been considered to be not the most brilliant of warriors... :ermm:

So Hanse Davion liked the Battlemaster, big deal. Does not help if your factories cannot keep pace with losses.

As for the Victor, when the Capellans seized the St Ives Compact just prior to the FedCom civil war, the last place Davionists could get Victors was closed down. The Kuritans had already seized the other factory. No more Victors for Victor!!