[eliex]

 To be honest, I really don't know how varied the HLP community is of opinion of a good fighter or bomber for a gauntlet.
Tons of fighters, transports, cruisers and the ol' destroyer.

 Any type of gauntlet, but let's assume we're doing a Shivan one 'cause we really don't like them much . . . don't we?
Anyway, I'll keep my opinions to myself unlike last time.

 Let's see how it goes!! 

[achtung]

No Herc Mk. II?

[Snail]

You missed out like half the best choices.

[BlackDove]

Erinyes and Tauret are the best mainstream, light wise, it's the Thoth, and bomber wise, it's the Sekhmet or Bakha. Ursa against AI.

[MT]

No Potato, Horus and those others mentioned.

[jr2]

FS2 environment??  Aren't half of those FS1 fighters?

[Shade]

Best bomber? Sekhmet, bar none. It's nearly as tough as an Ursa, has excellent secondary capacity, and its combination of good gun placement and decent  maneouverability makes it a passable dogfighter as well, which is important for a gauntlet. In fact, in my opinion it is the best bomber, period, regardless of whether one is playing a gauntlet or not. Weapon picks: Prometheus S; 1 bank of Harpoons, 2 banks bombs.

Best fighter? You left it out of the poll - It's the Erinyes. Reasonably fast, reasonably maneouverable, reasonably durable, and packs one hell of a punch with primaries, while retaining as much of a secondary capacity as you can reasonably expect to go through on a single respawn. For other types of missions I'd usually want something with more secondary capacity, but for gauntlets, anything more than what the Erinyes has tends to be wasted. Weapon  picks: Either Prometheus S + Maxim or double Prometheus S; 1 bank of Harpoons, 1 bank of Trebuchets.

I love the Prom S for gauntlets due to the insane range on the thing. You often end up in head-to-head passes and being able to get off 3 volleys outside the range of the enemy's guns more than makes up for the slight damage loss compared to the Kayser.

[Edit] Added which weapons I'd use.

[BlackDove]

You're obviously wrong.

Osiris is the best bomber. Ever. Forever.

Also, the loadout for the Erinyes if I remember correctly is;

Top Bank; Prom S
Low Bank; Kayser

Top Bank; Harpoon/Rockeye when former not available
Low Bank; Tempest

[Hades]

I am not voting until you add the Erinyes

[Hippo]

I did the FS1 gauntlets in an ursa.


(seriously)

[Hades]

I did the FS1 gauntlets in an ursa.


(seriously)

So did I.
Those Valks can't match the Ursa.

[BlackDove]

Yes, they're easy to do when you're on the fringe, reloading and sniping.

Now finish it like a real man, on insane, with an Erinyes.

Of course, the regular gauntlets are for pussies. You're looking for the STV Gauntlet.

[Gamma_Draconis]

Is this Freespace 1 or Freespace 2? There's like ships from both eras but no Hercules or even the Hercules Mk.2.

[Mobius]

Fighter: GTF Perseus

Bomber: GTF Myrmidon

(I know, I know...it was so obvious...but still funny!)

[eliex]

 

Is this Freespace 1 or Freespace 2? There's like ships from both eras but no Hercules or even the Hercules Mk.2.

 Sorry . . . I just wanted to see how our all-ace-pilots here deal with the junk that usually crops up sometime.

[Snail]

Of course, the regular gauntlets are for pussies. You're looking for the STV Gauntlet.

Oh yes, I remember that one. Shade playing for hours with everybody else an observer.

[Deepstar]

Freespace 1
Fighter: PVF Horus
Bomber: GTB Athena

Freespace 2
Fighter: SF Mara (terran)
Bomber: GTB Artemis D.H.

Sure, no Hardcore Bomber, so it's impossible to destroy an Destroyer, but these're my choices for a Gauntlet.

[haloboy100]

For freespace 2 i would use the GTB Artemis D.H. and a GTF Erynes. In heavy fighters i just feel invincible somehow.

[Desert Tyrant]

You're obviously wrong.

Osiris is the best bomber. Ever. Forever.

Also, the loadout for the Erinyes if I remember correctly is;

Top Bank; Prom S
Low Bank; Kayser

Actually, the standard loadout by the game was the standard Subach/Prom R.  AS for those picks, i'd rather go with Kasyer+Maxin gun, even given the Erinyes's slightly better tham mediocre energy bank.

Top Bank; Harpoon/Rockeye when former not available
Low Bank; Tempest

Standard Harpoon+Hornet combo.  Either that or two banks of rockeyes.

Anyways, for FS1, The Apollo is pretty decent at survivng, while having decent speed and maneuverability.  Good all around fighter.  Bomber should obviously be the Athena, even given lack of Prom support.

FS2: Myrmidon or Erinyes.  Both have excellent primarys, and can mount Subachs, Prom S, and Kayser, and are very surviable ships.  Bomber: Atemis D.H.  Yes, it's not really better, but the darker colour makes it harder to hit the thing for the first few shots.

Of course, the regular gauntlets are for pussies. You're looking for the STV Gauntlet.

I can't argue with this. 

[Bob-san]

Freespace 1 Era: GTB Ursa
Freespace 2 Era: GTB Ursa or GTF Ares

I much prefer heavy fighters and bombers. The stability of the ship plus strong shields and strong hull and strong weapons... all take precedence over raw speed. Heck--when in a bomber or when out of CMs, I run at half speed and leave the afterburners there to dodge. The wider your speed gap, the better you can dodge.