On a large scale and even footing, which of the three (mobility of own troops, ability to weaken enemy production, or bolstering one's defense) has the best payoff on the long run (ie week long game of Subterfuge)?
You can read this as: getting an Admiral to boost own mobility, using a martyr to destroy an enemy factory (on a generator heavy map), or getting a security chief to boost defense.

Ultimately I say weakening your opponents production. This game is a war of attrition. Ultimately whoever can produce more drillers wins. If you have 2 factories on a border but your opponent has 3 then you will be almost guarenteed to lose the outpost just because your opponent will produce more drillers than you. So that is why I say that reducing an opponents oitput can turn the tide of a battle.

I have a differing viewpoint

I don't think this game is a war of attrition! It would be if everyone had the same specialists, but the specialists cause a large variety of different things to happen. In my experience, a lot of wars can be ended in suddenly decisive battles, tricks, traps, that sort of thing. And I believe mobility enables you to outmaneuver and outsmart your opponent more than the others.

As the game goes on and we all get a lot more specialist choices then yes, a war could be one of attrition and mobility might become less important. But I think early game is the crucial time to get you to the late game in the first place.

Mobility is always incredibly important. Weakening the enemy driller production is more important in individual 1v1's, and even the more micro-area battles that occur within those 1v1's. However in the larger aspect of the game it is always important to be mobile. Also, you can argue that being more mobile allows you to weaken the enemy production because you can swing your troops to the most important points of the battle before enemy reinforcements can arrive.

I do have an argument for why defensive is better than weakening the opponent, although not really for why it is better than mobility. Firstly, weakening your opponent only gives you an advantage over that opponent. You don't get an advantage over anyone else. Defensive, however, does give you an advantage over everyone else. Also, to weaken your enemy requires attacking your enemy, which may not be a good idea, or may not be what you want to do. Playing defensively helps you avoid any unnecessary tension between you and other players. You also get stronger without raising any concern, as it does not affect other players.
Why I think defensive is better than mobility is simply chosen as how it is presented here. When you have a large empire, extra max shield will add 10 spontaneously across all your outposts, whereas mobility still takes time to get across to places. Also you get faster shield regeneration and higher max shield cap when you take someone else's outpost. Also, mobility won't deter other's away from attacking you as much.

I chose mobility.
One of the biggest limiting factors in the game is the amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B. This factor limits the opportunities you can capitalize on, as well as you ability to react to those opportunities.

So you have two options to maximize efficiency when dealing with these opportunities.
Git Gud or Git Fast


BUT HEY Predicting player movements with limited visual information and sketchy communication is tough! Mistakes will and can be made! Murphies Law.
Enemy moves to respond to another attack, time to move some drillers-Smuggler
Woah, that guy is going for my squishy vulnerable butt-Smuggler (martyr and Double Agent if your cool)
Oh, jeez im behind and need to make a mine fast- Smuggler
Ooh...Upgrade my specialist and win a fight or- Smuggler
Get Smuggler everytime

everyone has it is own playstyle. if tw2000 like to def he kind of crab strategy and if it succes early game can be upgrade to ultimate turtle on late game but you cant get the first medal by defend only

*see at roadkhiel post about crab strategy

and anything can work best depend on situation but... here the good of this game.

situation always change ! example : in day 2 you hunt some player next day 3 you got back stab and you need to defence.

table can be turn anytime, some time defense is underrated but actually if it succes the hunted can be the hunter later.

nothing is best. it like rock paper scissor.

here the secret "speed" is the essential

you cant def well without speed that same too with attack without speed.

so mobility is a must !

"Production" is also a strategy to consider. I would put not only Smuggler > Tycoon but also specialists like Thief, Engineer and even Infiltrator under this heading as they all contribute for you to end up with more drillers than your opponents.

There is also the "Undercover ops" or "Guerilla warfare" way. Specialists like Pirate, Double Agent, Intelligence Officer, Assassins, Saboteurs and Martyr are my favourites for this highly toxic strategy.

monorator wrote:"Production" is also a strategy to consider. I would put not only Smuggler > Tycoon but also specialists like Thief, Engineer and even Infiltrator under this heading as they all contribute for you to end up with more drillers than your opponents.

There is also the "Undercover ops" or "Guerilla warfare" way. Specialists like Pirate, Double Agent, Intelligence Officer, Assassins, Saboteurs and Martyr are my favourites for this highly toxic strategy.

As far as I'm concerned the only toxic strategy in the game is Double Kings. What your talking about is a nuclear Deterent strategy- Come at me and you'll regret it. Called the "Crab" Style by RoadKiehls beautiful post about player types.

Heres a link, its a fantastic read.
http://forums.subterfuge-game.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1000&hilit=%5Bstrategy%5D

Yeah janitorial, I was going to comment that the "King" option is missing.