Editing Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy) (section)

===Engineering===
By themselves, the Elves invented complex seafaring. Humans invented bronze age technology, seen in the [[Tomb Kings]]. Ogres invented the basics of carts and wheels as well as animal husbandry. Orcs... well, they exist and usually figure out which end of sharp things to stick in other things and eventually learned that you could beat hot iron into something stabby.

But virtually every piece of true technology in the setting comes from Dwarfs. Elves received their crossbows and Bolt Throwers and mankind the secrets of [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]], gears, and steam from the Dawi.

Of course, the Dwarfs keep the best tech for themselves, like Gyrocopters and other fun toys. The basics were gifts to protect their allies from the forces of Chaos, things that Dwarfs have long since surpassed that would not be effective if turned against them.

Dwarfs mistrust anything new; something in their eyes must be a blueprint for multiple generations before a prototype is considered, so anything special only ever gets made in times of desperation by young and human-like (or completely fucking insane) Dwarf Engineers. Seriously, the Engineers Guild will normally only consider accepting a design after it's been criticized and picked apart after decades if not centuries of work on it (it's not unheard for a design to be accepted years after the original engineer was expelled and died), though arguably given Dwarf psychology, this saves many lives as not only would a disasterous accident resulting from a piece of equipment's design flaw injure or kill Dwarfs, probably every Dwarf involved in the design and approval process of it would soon take the Slayer oath. As it is, only the desperation after the Time Of Woes has seen such new devices given the 'okay' stamp, and even then only by more liberal "if it works, do it" and "if it kills Grobi and Urk, put some Slayers on it" leaders like Thorgrim and Ungrim.

Revolutionary devices include gigantic zeppelins carrying bombs, cannons, machine guns on a 360 degree swivel, and rockets which can ram other things called [[Thunderbarge|Thunderbarges]]. Even better, in [[Dreadfleet]] the Dwarfs have a gigantic aircraft carrier/submarine that launched Thunderbarges. [[Goblin-hewer]]s are tank-like machines that throw volleys of axes, and [[Deathroller|Deathrollers]] are the unholy combination of motorcycle and steamroller.

Needless to say, this technological conservatism is perhaps the biggest weakness of the dwarfen army; though their head start over races in the technological field gave them a huge edge, with each generation gone past, technological advancement (at least amongst elves, humans and skaven) closes that gap due to the slow, near-stagnant pace that dwarfs continue to innovate and expand upon what they have. Just how much of an issue this actually is varies depending on the edition book. It's also one of the things that marks the [[Skaven]] out as their most hated antithesis; because Skaven embrace innovation and don't give so much of a whisker's twitch for the cost in lives of progress, they are erratically but rapidly catching up to or even surpassing dwarf work, at least in theoretical terms.

No, seriously. Skaven work is shoddily made and won't last for shit, not like dwarf work. But dwarfs have reliable steam power (and, it's implied, alcohol-burning diesel engines) they do very little with (even the Empire makes use of [[Steam Tank]]s), very-well-designed rifled flintlocks, cannons, gyrocopters, and at least the basic principles of clockpunk bionic limbs. Skaven have mastered electricity, cartridge-based gun technology, regularly use bionics on a wide scale, make use of an (admittedly unpredictable) ''giant laser cannon'' on the battlefield, and commonly wield things like flamethrowers and gatling guns. That said, in modern times occasionally an engineer will take some example of non-dwarfish workmanship "for scrap" or "to show the beardlings how not to do it", quietly take notes behind a locked door and produce a TOTALLY ORIGINAL MACHINE similar to those that the Manlings/Ratguys OBVIOUSLY STOLE FROM US!

Dwarfs believe anything worth doing is worth doing right, and in such a way that it lasts as long as possible. Dwarfs of Holds don't write often on paper, as that is the way of Humans and Elves. They inscribe on stone, or better, metal. The most important texts such as Grudges, lineage, contracts, and words of their faith are inscribed on gold (though all depictions of a Book of Grudges in art and models have paper pages). Which aside from being valuable does not rust or tarnish (which is why in real life we use gold for the records and plaques on the Voyager and Pioneer space craft).

In contrast, in real life Engineers don't try to get everything right on the first go. The first cars were slow, fuel inefficient, unreliable, tricky to operate and basically dangerous toys for the rich. Never the less, once the basics of "go forward, turn and stop when desired" were met the engineers could move on to solve the various other problems. This includes problems which only become apparent once a mechanism is used. "Perfect" is the enemy of "Good Enough".