I've been looking at the Shattered Empires set of strategy cards recently, to try and get a better understanding of them. I've set up a couple of three-position solo games to get a feel for how they work out. Most of the cards are pretty straightforward and easy to understand, and their practical uses are easily accounted for. You need stuff? Take Production. Need command counters? Take Leadership.

However, I don't feel like I've got a good idea for when to take the Bureaucracy card, particularly early in the game. Is it only a good deal when you've got few/no other options? Is it best to let it accumulate a command counter or two to take it? Or is there something I'm not seeing with that card?

In the first round, it's probably not the most desirable card, to be honest. Not that it's BAD, but because there are BETTER early game options. Thus, in a non 4-/8-player game, it probably will get left unpicked in the first round.

However, even as early as the second round, it MIGHT be worth getting - it depends on what the initial turned-over objective is. Being able to choose the next objective can be invaluable early on to get the lead you need to make things more comfortable later on. However, again, it may sit out another round.

Starting in the 3rd round, though, if nothing else the accumulated Bonus counters would make it worth it, and at that point you are probably in a good position to start claiming objectives, and Bureaucracy's ability to claim two in one turn can really be great.