Engineers

## Overview

*Engineers are always fixin’ to fix it, whatever “it” is! They work tirelessly to fine-tune their creations so that they’re always good as new - or even better!*

### Details

#### General

* Name: Engineers
* Author: Berryl
* Complexity: 1.5/5
* Version: 3.1
* Last updated: May 23, 2023

#### Special details

Part of the Downtown Smashopolis custom expansion

Many cards in this faction refer to “Numbers.” This refers to any number, whether in numeral or word form, including a minion’s power, with the exceptions of numbers as a part of keyphrases such as “+1 power counter,” ordinal numbers such as once, 2nd, third, etc., or if increasing the number would not make sense (e.g. “Use only one Water Lily’s ability each turn,” “Play on one of your minions”).

## Cards

(bases will be in expansion post)

Imgur Album

### Breakdown

Engineers have the standard 10 minions and 10 actions. They have 19 total minion power, or an extremely low average minion power of 1.9. Among their actions, they have:

* 2 play-on-minion actions: 2x Fine Tuning
* 3 play-on-base actions: Workshop, Overclock, Greased Lightning
* 5 standard actions, 3 of which directly affect one or minions (in **bold**): **2x Gear Shift, Assembly Line,** Improved Model, Toolbox

### Minions (10)

* **1x Master Builder (5):** Search your hand and/or deck for an action and play it as an extra action with all numbers on it increased by one until the end of the turn.
* **2x Mechanic (4):** Increase all numbers on the next card you play this turn by one until the end of the turn.
* **3x Apprentice (2):** Talent: Give one of your other minions here +2 power until the end of the turn.
* **4x Tiny Construct (0):** Talent: Place one +1 power counter on a Tiny Construct.

### Actions (10)

* **2x Fine Tuning:** Play on a minion. Ongoing: All numbers on this minion are increased by one.
* **2x Gear Shift:** One of your minions gains +2 power until the end of the turn. Draw one card.
* **1x Workshop:** Play on a base. Ongoing: Once per turn, after you play a minion here, you may shuffle a card from your discard pile into your deck.
* **1x Assembly Line:** Move one of your minions to another base. For each minion moved, you may play an extra minion with the same name to its previous base.
* **1x Improved Model:** Play an extra action with all numbers on it increased by one until the end of the turn.
* **1x Overclock:** Play on a base. Ongoing: Increase all numbers on your other cards here by one. At the end of the turn, destroy this action.
* **1x Greased Lightning:** Play on a base. Talent: Destroy this action to play one extra card. If applicable, it must be played here.
* **1x Toolbox:** Search your deck for one minion of power 4 or less and draw it. If it has power 2 or less, you may play it as an extra minion.

## Clarifications

**Tiny Construct, Gear Shift, Assembly Line, Greased Lightning, Toolbox:** If numbers on these cards are increased, applicable plurals are implied. Apply effects independently when affecting multiple different cards; minions affected by Assembly Line do not need to start or end on the same base, and minions searched for by Toolbox are evaluated for the extra play independently.

**Overclock:** This can modify the on-play abilities of cards played after Overclock, such as a minion that says "destroy a minion of power 3 or less" now destroying a minion of power 4 or less.

## Strategy

### General

Although Engineers technically introduce new mechanics with the number increases, they are fairly straightforward to play. Your more common minions (Tiny Construct and Apprentice) are very easy to play early, with TC as slow power build with a low footprint, potentially networked where you need it, and Apprentice as potent power activation. Mechanics and Master Builder, although best used terminally, are quite flexible and can fulfill a lot of roles depending on what resources your partner offers.

Since they lack extra plays outside of Master Builder, Engineers need to use their turn-to-turn plays effectively. Fortunately, they have a good cast of modifiers to help out with this. The only actions that have potential to clog your hand are the two copies of Gear Shift, Overclock, and Improved Model; the rest can be played pretty safely with Workshop to recur cards if need be.

Engineers' main weakness is a lack of card draw, meaning they mostly have to play the hand they're dealt. Cards like Assembly Line and Gear Shift can help them keep momentum going after a burst by refilling the board or their hand respectively, but that only goes so far. Play smart and don't overpay for anything - Engineers make your individual cards more effective, but that's not an excuse to let your opponents get easy points just because you can close a base earlier than expected.

### Partner Suggestions

Numbers to increase are surprisingly quite rare, although at a floor you have power boosts and minions' printed power. Be on the lookout for things like "one minion gains +N power" or "gain N VP" effects.

#### Published

* **Dinosaurs:** Augmentations is perhaps the holy grail of terminal power for Engineers. its strange "one minion gains +4 power until the end of your turn" wording means a Mechanic, Master Builder, or Improved Model can all turn 4 power into 10, provided you have a second minion to receive the other +5. War Raptors also make excellent Fine Tuning targets, and Overclock can increase Laseratops' destruction range for more removal capability. Fort Titanosaurus helps keep your hand stocked and get to your best cards more quickly.
* **Knights of the Round Table:** The chance to make the Knights' many VP cards more effective is very enticing, although their conditions do also become harder to fulfill. The Grail in particular has a chance to earn you 3 VP instead of 2, but requires four minions of power 5 or more. It's a worthwhile endeavor, though, especially since Knights offer extra card plays of both types which Engineers lack.
* **Time Travellers:** If you manage to see Master Builder and Do-Overs, you can start stacking Time Walk like nobody's business, with each one drawing three cards a pop as icing on the cake. Tiny Constructs and Apprentices are both great to stage with Time Box.
* **Ghosts:** The key cards to look for here are Shady Deal and Master Builder. If you can manage it, the cycle of playing and recurring Shady Deal for boatloads of farmed VP is quite high, potentially earning you as much as 5 VP over the course of a couple of turns..

## Author Notes

Engineers are actually one of my oldest custom factions. Although the idea of boosting numbers has always been their core identity, previous iterations were ridiculously strong, leading to two major facelifts over the course of the last couple of years (as you may be able to tell by the version number). Still, this was too good an idea to not try and refine, and I think the versions 3.x have finally brought them down to earth. I hope you enjoy them!