I've quickly sketched out some math and conclusions around specialist selection on the Wiki over at....

http://subterfuge.wikia.com/wiki/Strategy

Please let me know what you think, what should be improved, and what else should be included.

Great addition Fate. Seems so much more accurate than the math flying around my head at specialist selection time

I play a lot of Magic and these are the kinds of things you have to think of to get an edge and set up the board state to be receptive to a winning strategy as it comes along.

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Sun Tzu - The Art of War

I like this--it's really helpful to see the mechanics laid out--but the piece I'm keen to learn more on is about which specific specialists are useful to which strategies, when. I'm a new player and this question smacked me straight in the face when my first hire came up. Do I go for a lieutenant in the opening stages, to promote him to a general and get faster non-specialist subs in this early stage when most subs don't have them anyways, and grabbing unmanned outposts fast is key? Or do I go for an inspector, to promote him and get a boost to shields across all my bases, increasing defensive force significantly out of the gate? Are some approaches better for some strategies but not others? A breakdown on this kind of questions would be immensely helpful, not to mention fascinating reading! (For the record, I went with the lieutenant, we'll see if I live to rue that choice.)

I actually do data analysis as part of my job, I don't know if you guys are collecting data on what specialists people are picking when, but it would be a wild fun ride to play around with that dataset and see what we can learn! Bet we could make some schweet infographics... ehhh? *nudge nudge*

Welp I can already say I am living to rue the decision as I have just realized I confused general with Admiral, and I will not be getting the speed boost I hoped for, on top of which I have basically zero specialists to capitalize on the general's abilities with. Learning the hard way!!