I remember seeing a game once between pcron and Ruth. pcron used a saved set-up and Ruth apparently determined which one and blew him right off the board attacking pieces she had never revealed. There seems to be more risk than reward in that approach.
On my end, I almost always start my games by setting the bombs/base on the back row, putting two Saboteurs on the back row, three Recons in the front row and then hitting 'randomly place remaining pieces'.