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Hey All,

For a bit now I've been trying to think of a way to improve the Empire Engineer. As he stands now, he barely qualifies as a YMMV. And, there is no reason to take him. Imperial Captains are decent fighters who give you pegasi and LD 8. Warrior Priests fight better, have better LD, and help protect you against magic. And even level 1 wizards give you decent magic protection. For what he does, and what gear he has access too, he just can't compete.

So, here are my two ideas for improving the engineer.

Idea 1) Give the Engineer BS 5. How is it that an Outrider Champion has a better BS than the Engineer? Anyway, giving the weedy old guy BS 5 would make him a solid in ranged combat... make the Helvolley gun a risky bet to attach him too... and still keep him as cowardly and melee inept.

Idea 2) Give him LD 8. He still sucks at melee, is only marginally good at shooting, but now he can kinda hang out with the cannon or mortar crews and actually give them a spot of leadership.

Any thoughts?

Make him an add-on for war machines, like the Dwarves have. Then, if you want to make a Master Engineer with improved stats to take up that Hero slot, go for it.

Agreed with Manfred, Empire should have Engineers as upgrades and then a more skilled one as a Hero Choice.

It would also be nice to see a Lord or Hero Named character with some special abilities (or riding his own Stank).

I've got something cooking...

IMPERIAL GUNNERY SCHOOL

Engineers

Imperial Engineers often join the field of battle to oversee the operation of the Empire’s artillery, especially the massive Great Cannons.

Great Cannons, Mortars, and Volley Guns (but not Rocket Batteries!) may be upgraded with an Engineer for 20 points. The Engineer is treated as a unit champion.

.....................M WS BS S T W I A Ld
Engineer.........4 3 4 3 3 1 3 1 7

Equipment: Pistol
An Engineer may replace his pistol with a brace of pistols (+10 points), a repeater pistol (+10 points), a repeater handgun (+15 points), or a Hochland long rifle (+20 points).

Special Rules
Ballistics Specialist: Engineers are far more skilled in the science of ballistics than the gunnery crews, and can lend their experience to the crews. If an Engineer is attached to a Great Cannon or Mortar you may make two guesses when firing these weapons. Measure each guess, and then choose one point to use for firing. A Volley Gun with an attached Engineer may opt to use his BS when rolling to hit its target.

Extra Crew: In a pinch, an Engineer will help pick up the slack if a machine is losing crew. If a war machine would normally fire at a reduce rate due to loss of crew, the presence of an Engineer prevents this. If the Engineer is the last crewman alive, he may still fire the gun every other turn, as normal.

An Engineer may fire his own weapon in the Shooting Phase, but only if he did not use his Ballistics Specialist ability or served as crew that turn. If a war machine with an Engineer is destroyed as a result of a Misfire, the Engineer will be removed as a casualty, as well .

Master Engineers
The most brilliant (or deranged, some say) minds in the Empire, the Master Engineers occasionally take to field to supervise even the Engineers. Their skill and reputations precede them, and the gunnery crews respect them almost as much as the generals.

Master Engineers may be selected as a Hero choice as normal.

Points: 65

.............................M WS BS S T W I A Ld
Master Engineer......4 3 5 3 3 2 3 1 8

Options:
-May wear light armor (+2 points)
-May ride either a Warhorse (+10 points) which may have barding (+4 points) or a mechanical steed (+25 points).
-May have a repeater pistol (+10 points), a Hochland long rifle (+20 points), a grenade-launching blunderbuss (+10 points), a repeater handgun (+15 points), and/or pigeon bombs (+25 points).

Special Rules
Master of Ballistics: A Master Engineer has spent most of his life around these great machines, and as such knows their deepest intricacies. Years of practical experience have taught them much, and their lightest can mean all the difference.

Great Cannons and Mortars (but not Volley Guns or Rocket Batteries – weapons still new for anyone to be an expert yet) that have a Master Engineer attached to them may reroll either one artillery die or one scatter die when firing the weapon. Note that you may not reroll the ‘bounce’ roll for a Great Cannon – Masters are good, but not that good!

A Volley Gun with a Master Engineer attached may use his Ballistic Skill when rolling to hit.

Extra Crewman: A Master Engineer may serve as an additional crewman for a war machine to which he is attached (see ‘Engineers’ above).

Professional Reknown: Engineers and artillery crews greatly admire and respect the Masters. Masters are also great at barking orders, even across the battlefield. War machines within 12” of a Master Engineer may use his Leadership as if he were the General.

ERIK VON CARLSEN

Erik von Carlsen is the head of the Drakland Engineers’ Guild. He may be taken as a Hero choice in an Empire army. He must be fielded exactly as presented below, and no additional equipment may be purchased for him, aside from the option of fielding him atop his Steam Tank, Incarnate.

Points: 110 (+300 points for the Incarnate, in which case he also takes up a Rare slot)

..............................M WS BS S T W I A Ld
Erik von Carlsen.......4 3 5 3 3 2 3 1 8

Equipment: Light armor, Hochland long rifle, pistol

Special Rules
Ballistics Genius, Extra Crewman, Gun Happy!, Professional Reknown

Ballistics Genius: No one in the province of Drakland has the natural skill with artillery as Erik possesses. Such is his mastery that he can even bark out commands on the move and over distance. Great Cannons and Mortars within 6” of Erik may also his Master of Ballistics ability, not just the machine he is attached to.

Gun Happy!: Erik’s devotion to artillery is well known. His idol, Boris Krauss, once gave him a piece of advice that resonated deeply with Erik. An army that includes Erik may take 2 Great Cannons for 1 Special choice.

Incarnate: The Steam Tank Incarnate, the pride of Drakland’s Engineers, is one of the most deadly weapons in the possession of the army. When driven to battle, its giant plume of black smoke strikes fear into the enemy; when faced with the metal monstrosity bearing down at high speed, sensible troops break and flee before it.

The Incarnate can be driven to battle by Erik von Carlsen. It counts as a standard Steam Tank, with the exceptions noted below:

-Erik replaces the Tank’s normal commander. Thanks to the lumbering nature of the machine, he always counts as stationary and may fire his long rifle as normal.

-Erik’s expertise with machines extends past guns. When rolling for steam at the beginning of the turn, Erik’s mastery of the tank allows you to reroll a failed steam roll. If, however, the reroll is failed, the extra tinkering with the boiler will cause an additional wound to the tank.

-Erik may still use his Ballistics Genius ability. It will still affect Great Cannons and Mortars that are within 6”. In addition, he may also use this ability on the tank’s Main Cannon. As normal, if he uses this ability, he cannot shoot his own weapon.

EDIT:
-While the Incarnate is standing, Erik is impervious to harm (having the great sense to not expose himself to danger when riding a steel behemoth). If the Tank is destroyed in close combat, Erik will be removed as a causualty, as well (the victorious enemies swarm ove rthe tank and slaughter the crew!). If the Tank is destoryed as a result of shooting, magic, or failure to generate steam, Erik may climb from the wreck and be placed on the table in the same manner as a character riding a chariot that has been destroyed.

Hey Manf,

I like the idea of the Engineer being an upgrade to the cannons. That's kinda neat... but won't Dwarven Player's scream "foul" or something? What if the engineer let you adjust the initial landing by 2" instead of getting two guesses?

And, the way I'm reading this, the Engineer takes the place of a crewman. I'm saying this as normal Champions are upgrades to individual soldiers... that is a Swordsman Champion costs, in reality, 12 points. 7 for the Swordsman and then 5 more to make him a Duelist. Is this what you meant for the Engineer, or is he a completely new crewman? That is, a cannon with an Engineer has 4 crew now instead of 3.

Also, does the Engineer have a hand weapon too, or just the pistol?

Can your Master Engineer's use magic equipment? I remember some rule in the Empire book currently saying that Master Engineer's cannot use magical equipment as they are "enlightened" or something.

What is the Master Engineer's starting equipment?

I intended for the Engineers to be additional crew, so a machine would have 4 models crewing it.

And a slight oversight on the hand weapons. All models are equipped with hand weapons.

Dwarf players have no basis on which to cry fould. As the the Empire has bigger and more complex guns, it stands to reason that they have Engineers who can do as well as - if not better than - Dwarven Engineers. Besides, the Organ still doesn't roll to hit, unlike the new Helblaster.

And no, I wasn't planning on having the Master use magic items. I know they used to, but I like the new take from a fluff perspective. His only starting equipment is a hand weapon, as per current rulebook.