Tradewars - Homeworld: Various Roles

One thing that I have been thinking about are certain in-game roles that are *less* used. Specifically there are three (3) roles that seem to be superfluous in a two (2) player dual.

The three (3) roles are:

1. Chancellor
2. Engineer
3. Soldier

Let's examine each one of these roles to de-mystify them...

1. Chancellor

The Chancellor role allows players to negotiate some kind of diplomatic agreement. In a two (2) player dual, this role does not serve much purpose since both players are busy trying to beat each other. Where this role would have a more significant impact is a four (4) player versus game. There could be peace negotiations to end hostilities against one or more players, there could be trade agreement to prevent hostilities, there can be alliances formed to defend against opponents, etc. In short there are plenty possibilities and the terms of the negotiation are open and left up to the players imaginations.

2. Engineer

The Engineer role allows a player to recycle cards from his hand. The utility of this role may not be apparent. In some cases players may want to remove *low* scoring cards from their decks. Now one would ask: "Is this important to do?" And my response to this is that currently the game has cards scoring from one (1) point to five (5) points. So the difference in points (at maximum) is currently only four (4) points.

I am imagining a future time when the resources of the game could be different and that a nine (9) point card would create a scoring difference of eight (8) points. This is rather significant and could make things more apparent that removing *low* scoring cards from a player's deck yields better scoring cards. Low scoring cards can become *useless* and un-efficient by their nature. Future expansions may better dictate the use of this role.

3. Soldier

The Soldier role forces an opponent to discard two (2) cards from his hand and allows the player to draw one extra card. This role can be effectively used in a four (4) player versus game. It allows multiple players to sort of force a player to *skip his turn*. How this is done is by having two (2) players force a player to discard two (2) cards each, reducing a player's hand to only one card.

This form of *manual* coercion can be effective in delaying an opponent. In a two (2) player game, the role seems to be insignificant... But as explained this role can be effectively used against an opponent in time critical periods.