I have no idea on the technical issues encountered here, but I will put in a plug for random start positions. I play by setting my base and bombs and, usually one or two spies in the front row and one or two sappers in the back row and then 'randomly place remaining pieces'. It takes less than 10 seconds to get going.
I doubt it's visible any more a IYT, but there was a game played there between pcron and Ruth that highlighted the dangers of saved positions. pcron apparently used a saved start position and Ruth apparently knew which one. :)
(nascondi) Giocare una partita in tempo reale con un avversario in linea è possibile! Tu ed il tuo avversario dovete impostare come predefinita l'azione “rimani su questa pagina” posta dopo il bottone MUOVI e ricaricare la pagina con il tasto F5! (TeamBundy) (mostra tutti i suggerimenti)