By Ed Ostermeyer, Master Engineer (Grade 2)
Hello again, young Inventor.
With your new knowledge of the materials and mechanisms that will make up your Marvel of the Age it is now time to discuss the hiring and care of the Mechanics, the “wizards” who will assemble the parts and mechanisms into the whole. In some cases, they may also become part of your underwater wonder’s crew.
Because of the amount and depth of information presented here, the coverage on the hiring and care of Journeymen is presented in a chapter of its own.
Where You Should be Hiring.
The city where your machine shop is located will dictate how many Mechanics you can hire each month. Though a port city like Charleston or New Orleans would seem to be the logical location for hiring your mechanics, you run the risk of losing your fishboat, your machine shop and your employees should the city fall to the enemy. By setting up shop at an inland industrial city like Atlanta, you will avoid this risk, at least for the first two or three years of the conflict.
What to Look for When Hiring Mechanics.
As Inventor, it is up to you to hire the best Mechanics available.
After all, they will be the ones putting your fishboat together and then sending it forth to trouble and terrify the enemy.
Here are some characteristics to look for on your prospective Mechanic’s character card:
Look for the “Sigil”
Every Mechanic character card has the double-cogwheel Engineering Expertise sigil on it. The number of cogwheel sigils on the card denotes the Mechanic’s prowess in construction of your fishboat, and in possession of the necessary skillset to operate some of the on-board mechanisms as a crewman.
Is the prospect competent?
Check to see what your Mechanic’s repair rating is; this is the numerical value in the upper right hand corner of his character card. If something malfunctions on your fishboat, it will have a malfunction value listed for its entry on the Mechanic’s Board. To repair the malfunction, your Mechanic applies his repair value against the broken mechanism’s malfunction value. Equaling or bettering the malfunction value fixes the mechanism. A Mechanic sporting a large repair value can handle much more serious malfunctions by himself, those that would take two or more Mechanics with lesser engineering expertise to make the same repair.
“Seeing the Elephant”
Give consideration to your prospect’s panic rating. A Mechanic’s high repair value is no good to you if he is prone to panic during the mission. If you have to choose, it is better to have a Mechanic with a lower repair value but is steady under fire, than one with a high repair value but unable to do his job due to panic. This last man would find his talents better used in the machine shop rather than crewing the fishboat.
Well now, isn’t that Special…
Pay particular attention to the prospective Mechanic who brings special attributes to your project. A Mechanic whose presence doubles another Mechanic’s engineering expertise is a real asset to your team. One who can do the same thing for your entire machine shop is worth his weight in gold. Still another may assume the role of mentor, teaching and ultimately promoting a Journeyman to Mechanic status.
Having that Certain Something…
A Mechanic whose character card has a black cube is another gem to add to your crew, for he can directly affect the outcome of the mission. We will cover in detail the subject and use of black cubes and red cubes in another chapter of the Inventor’s Vade Mecum. Suffice to say, black cubes are essential; the more of them you have, the greater your chance of successfully attacking your target, and then successfully getting away.
Could he be “command material?”
It is always wise for the captain of your fishboat to have both engineering expertise, a reasonably high repair value and a black cube or two. Such qualities will find you combing the ranks of your Mechanics for a suitable candidate to lead your crew. While you are combing, remember to check his panic rating as well.
Your boat’s captain must always be cool and courageous under pressure. Always.
Keeping Your Wizards Happy and Content.
The number of Mechanics you hire will be governed by the size of your fishboat and its crew. A good rule of thumb is to have at least two Mechanics plus one for every two mechanisms that your boat is equipped with. The “plus one” covers the time when your two Mechanics are already busy repairing malfunctions and a third one pops up, or if one of the other two Mechanics panics at the worst possible time.
Be mindful that, aside from Investors, Mechanics can be the most fickle of employees when bad news from outside arrives, courtesy of the Fortunes of War Gazetteer. Walk-offs will become more prevalent as the Civil War progresses and war-weariness becomes endemic.
Word of a campaign gone awry, a looked-for shipment disrupted by raiders, a wife’s tearful letter describing conditions on the home front, and suddenly your mechanical wonder is short a few crewmen.
To forestall this condition, keep one eye your staff and t’other eye on the Gazetteer.
If the future looks like trouble, hire a couple more Mechanics as a reserve, so as to offset the walk-offs.
A final piece of advice about Mechanics:
Since you, young Inventor, are the one to do the bidding of the Gazetteer by choosing who leaves and who stays on your project staff, it is smart to keep a spare “utility” Mechanic handy.
Should bad luck strike, you don’t have to lose your top Mechanic and his Level 3 engineering expertise: just have the spare Mechanic “take the walk” instead.
That is all for today, young Inventor. Go, and ponder what you have learned of the modern wizards of today.
Next time, we take a trip Down South to Charleston, South Carolina and look in on the work being done today at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center where the archeological preservation, historic interpretation and cataloging of the world’s first successful undersea weapon of war, the “H.L. Hunley” is in progress.
(Note: All graphic images of Infernal Machine game materials used in The Inventor’s Vade Mecum are subjective and may change and appear different in their final form. All images show sourcing unless otherwise noted.)
Previous Articles:
Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare — Setting the Stage
Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) – Part 1: Where Do I Start?
Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) Part 4 — Installing Dread and Destruction
Author: Edward Ostermeyer
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