Empire Master Engineer

"... You can also rely on the Engineers' School to try their experimental weapons on the field. I've heard they are quite effective, if they don't blow up the first time they're fired."

- excerpt from a lecture to Konrad Ludenhorf by his preceptor, Erasmus von Nuln

Master Engineers are a rare sight within the lands of the Old World, for these quiet men are considered one of the world's most progressive and intellectual individuals of their age. An Engineer comes from a variety of backgrounds as the need for nobles to join and become an Engineer is rather few, where it mostly depends on the intellect of the person rather then their status, and at some times a considerable amount of money to pay for their education. The path of an Engineer can branch out towards all other kinds of avenues, such as artisans, architects, and sometimes writers, but those who have a knack for inventing strange machines for the benefit of the Empire tend to become nnventors and participate in the workshops of Altdorf's School of Engineers.

There the eager and youthful Engineers are tutored by the older and wiser Engineers of the school, a significant percentage of which consist of renegade Dwarf Engineers who were thrown out of the highly strict and traditional Engineers Guild, where upon joining the Empire, the Dwarfs teach and help create many inventions for the benefit of a wide array of subjects. Some create simple innovations in common life such as the first mechanical clock while others make deadly weaponry of war for the benefit of the Imperial war-machine. In fact, most of the greatest inventions of the school are geared towards war. However, most of the Master Engineers, from their own fatal experiences, tend to keep away from prototyping their deadly inventions in battle, preferring to send enthusiastic youths to test it on their behalf. However there are always some Master Engineers who are tired of the quite life of the workshop, and love being in charge of a crew and a very big and deadly cannon.

However, it is not just their positions as inventors and suppliers of deadly weapons that make Master Engineers valuable on the field of battle. While they are not soldiers by heart, Master Engineers are no less patriotic in their cause to defend the Empire, and as such they can still be a common sight amongst larger Imperial Armies, where their expertise with powerful experimental handguns and devices could help turn the tide of battle with a single well-placed shot from their rifles.

Source
Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition) -- pg 35