Engineers and engineering equipment are an important part of any army. It is the engineers who construct the buildings, runways, and other mundane items that allow a military unit to function effectively.
         Engineering Vehicles are also an important combat asset. They can dig trenches, remove obstructions from a road, and make bridges for vehicles to cross. These vehicles can sometimes tip the balance of victory toward the side that has them.

         Most Engineering Vehicles have several similar characteristics, the first of which is an oversized engine. This gives the vehicle extra horsepower to move heavy objects such as trees or other vehicles. A special overdrive system ensures that the engine will not burn itself out.
         Many Engineering Vehicles are equipped with several digging mechanisms for making slit trenches or foundations for buildings. The most popular variety has a double-scoop shovel, which allows the engineer to control each scoop separately. These shovels are often mounted on a small turret so that the engineers can dig without having to move the vehicle.
         Bulldozer blades are another item common to Engineering Vehicles. Using its bulldozer and its trencher, an engineering vehicle can prepare a dug-in position for a 'Mech or heavy vehicle within 15 minutes.
         Other popular pieces of equipment for Engineering Vehicles are heavy cutters or trenchers. Cutters are used to cut down trees or other vertical obstacles. Though these cutters are not particularly accurate, a skilled operator can make remarkable use of them. Trenchers, which are for digging, can normally cut a two-meter by one-meter trench at a rate of three meters per minute. Trenchers and cutters are normally mounted on the back of an Engineering Vehicle to keep them from blocking other equipment such as shovels or dozer blades.

         Engineering Vehicles have been an important part of wars since the latter half of the 20th century. During some of the smaller wars of that era, Engineering Vehicles were used to clear off vast areas of land for the construction of air strips and hospitals. Other times, they were used to dig foxholes and other infantry emplacements.
         During the Succession Wars era, Engineering Vehicles still carry out the same types of missions. These vehicles are typically assigned in company strength to regimental combat teams for the purpose of digging prepared positions for infantry and vehicles, clearing or creating obstacles on the battlefield, and building bridges and fords over rivers. Engineering Vehicles may also carry out the important role of removing damaged or destroyed units from the battlefield. The sight of these workhorses hauling tanks and 'Mech limbs away to a repair facility is a common one.
         One of the most notable uses of Engineering Vehicles occurred during the battle of Loric in 2978. While attempting to relieve elements of the Eridani Light Horse, the 12th Star Guards had broken through the main lines, but had been halted by some ad hoc Marik forces defending a river line. The 12th Star Guards sent a force of Condors to secure the other side, but the river was too swift and its banks too steep to allow 'Mechs or more conventional vehicles to cross.
         The Star Guards possessed four Engineering Vehicles and a company of engineers. The engineers immediately went to work throwing up a pontoon bridge, while the vehicles began to prepare a fording point. Marik AeroSpace Fighters and long-range artillery kept the engineers under constant fire, destroying three pontoon bridges before they could be completed. The engineer company was decimated almost to a man. The Engineering Vehicles cut down the banks to the river and prepared the river bottom for a 'Mech crossing. Though three of the vehicles were destroyed in the process, the final vehicle was able to complete the crossing point, which allowed the Star Guards to cross to relieve the beleaguered Eridani Light Horse.

         Although there are many Engineering Vehicle designs, they all perform the same basic functions. Their differences tend to consist of the type of equipment they carry. Shovels and cutters are the most popular equipment, but winches, drills, towing, and even bridge-laying
equipment are common additions . Some vehicles mount an AC/20 as a quick means of destroying obstacles .

         EL Magnifico's Engineering Company
         ''EL Magnifico'' is the code-name for the 12th Star Guards' engineering unit, which employs some of the best engineers in the Inner sphere .
The story goes that they actually did build New Rome in a day, but didn't want to show off, so they tore part of it down and rebuilt it again.
Though the unit was decimated during the battle of Loric, the grateful Steiner government replaced all of the unit's equipment, in addition to paying the normal bonuses .