Memphis’ Marvelous Machines
Have you ever wondered if there was more to improving your Commonwealth's firearms, beyond the Arcane buffs of Mama Gimble and Quack? A way to combine and improve the firepower of both the Gnomes and the Humans? Well, Flinders might be just for you!
‘Augments’
As a member of The Faculty, Flinders Memphis is naturally at home in a list with his fellow academics. But there's no reason he can't strike it out alone and surround himself with the best shooters the Commonwealth have to offer. To be specific, the shooters Flinders is looking for are characters with the Reload[...] ability. This is due to his 'Augments', which turn all friendly characters with Reload[…] into machines. By itself, this does nothing, but in combination with the rest of his card, it does a lot!
'Have You Tried Turning it Off and On Again?'
“You’re a gentleman and a scholar, mate!”
Sometimes the best way to fix a computer is to restart it, and Flinders’ approach to his fellow Machines and poor Arcane hands is no different. 'Have You Tried Turning it Off and On Again?' does exactly that: ditch an Arcane hand you don't like, shuffle it into the deck, and reset it by drawing a brand new one! This will cause the user to suffer a wound, but if it turns a missed shot into 3 damage on an opponent’s model, that's surely worth the single wound.
He can also make use of this ability himself on his mostly deadly invention, the 'Gnomish Air Rifle'. With an outstanding range of 14", this should always be an option. Though with that long a reach, your opponent will usually have cover, making shots often quite hard to hit with 3 Arcane - meaning a way to reset your Arcane hand is very useful.
‘Overclock’
So can he make fellow troupe members shoot more accurately? Yes!
How about more often? That's where 'Overclock' comes in to help.
For the cost of (1) energy and 1 Wd on the recipient machine, a character can take a (2) energy action. Happily enough, one such ability that costs (2) energy is ‘Reload’, something that's likely to be in plentiful supply when Flinders is around. Now, when these characters would have been forced to decide between reloading or taking other, potentially more useful, actions, they can now forgo reloading and let Flinders do it for them. Characters such as Flintlock and Quarrel also love not having to reload themselves as it lets them utilise their other abilities, letting them buff others’ Melee, Arcane, and Evade, whilst still being able to bring their full firepower to bear.
“Awww, thanks dad!”
‘Reload’ isn't the only (2) energy cost ability available to Machines. ‘Traverse’ is available to everyone, of course, though it is a little niche. There are more interesting options for the Gnomish Airship and Matilda, who have their own unique (2) energy cost abilities.
As well as reloading, the Gnomish Airship can be made to drop bombs again, and she doesn’t even have to activate to do it. Simply end her activation near a few enemies, then when Flinders activates, boom!
Meanwhile, Matilda can be forced into using 'Boingy', letting her move earlier and further without having to spend her energy - perfect for an early strike turn 1.
Flinders will make a great addition to a variety of themed-Commonwealth troupes and I’ll explain more about his affinity for The Faculty in another article.
