Congreve, amiable, in pain almost, wins her heart (3,7)
I believe the answer is:
war machine
'congreve amiable' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'in pain almost wins her heart' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'in' is present in the answer.
'pain' could be 'ache' (ache is a kind of pain) and 'ache' is found in the leftover letters.
'wins' could be 'w' (abbreviation in sport) and 'w' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'arm' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for war machine that I've seen before include "Military resources" , "Resources for battle" , "fighting force" , "Military might" .)