[Snail]

Yes, it's probably been done before but I'd like to see what people say this time.

Whoops forgot Clash of the Titans II

[NGTM-1R]

Evangelist which probably infected me with my bomber mania.

Clash of the Titans, which captured the feel of "oh crap capital slugfest" in a way FS2 really can't with high-powered capital weapons. Fortunately we have ST:R to take us back sometime... 

Surrender, Belisaurus!, for introducing TEH BEAMZZZ!11! OF DHOOM!!!11 in such a dramatic fashion.

Sixth Wonder for the excellent intro to the Colossus...pity it wasn't kept up.

Insert obligatory "Into The Lion's Den iz teh bestest" here. Because it is.

[nubbles526]

LOVED the "DIVE DIVE DIVE! HIT YOUR BURNERS PILOT!" quote.

[karajorma]

Can anyone see Lions Den not winning this one?

I voted for Bearbaiting as well since I do love the way that it has so many goals that it has a lot more replay value than most missions.

[Molybdenum]

I voted:

"Into the Lions Den" because yeah.

"Exodus"(FS2 version) because I like hardcore bomber intercept and a challenge.

"Slaying Ravana" first time I played it I took the Ravana to really be more threatening than it really is. It truly does seem massive when you fight it in the nebula and gives the feel of a Star Wars trench run mission.

"Black Omega" first mission is an Ursa with an intriguing set of objectives. I like bomber missions you see.

"Tenderizer" the first OMGWTFHARD mission in the series. I played it so many times I managed to perfect it. Its a real ***** on Hard and Insane difficulties but makes you respect the Herc after this. Really cool FREDing with kamikazes. Too bad  didn't use this motive more.

[ShadowGorrath]

Clash of the Titans II because I liked the feel in that mission. Like giving all you've got for survival. And etc.

Apocalypse - you can call it a massacre or a mess. It was fun actually. And hearing the corvette's officer saying "We're going down" when the supernova's about to hit them was awesome. Really added up to the atmosphere. Plus, when replaying, the feeling that the supernova will start soon.

Their Finest Hour - lots of capital ship kills ( especially the Lilith one ), and just enjoyed it anyway. The Colossus being destroyed in that mission added up too.

And I think I'm the first one who didn't vote for 'Into the Lions Den' Didn't vote for it because: only the begining was actually good, sometimes the messages can hardly be said properly ( in my situation, I had a couple of messages that had to be said at the same time, but got delayed and turned into a mess ), some capital ships aren't named properly, and I already voted for the other 3 missions without knowing how many votes can you do.

[Droid803]

The King's Gambit - Lots and lots of beams. That's the only reason, really. It's a massive flak-filled battle. i like the massive chaos in that one, possibly the closest thing to a BoE in FS2.

Bearbaiting - The only mission where I actually restarted after I technically "passed" because I wanted my next mission to be "sit back and watch" type thing. It was fun shooting down the last beam cannon as the Sath was warping out . Smashing the Beleth with Helios is fun too. The massive amount of mission objectives makes it feel like "Oh ****...this isn't going to get done in time!"

Their Finest Hour - Shooting shivan cruisers with maxims. What's not to love?

[terran_emperor]

Endgame is a sweet mission. Im disappointed that Joshua isnt used more than once in the main campaign.

i love the entire "Chess Trilogy" - Kings gambit, Sicilian Defence and Endgame

[cloneof]

Surrender Belasarius, the only time Vasudan capital ship destroyed something.

[Goober5000]

Can anyone see Lions Den not winning this one?

Well, although it has an unforgettable beginning and a thrilling first five minutes, the time between ~05:01 and 12:59 is rather boring, IMHO.  You blow up two comm nodes and that's about it.

And just as ShadowGorrath said, if you have an itchy trigger finger and accidentally trigger the second sequence of messages too early, you end up with an opening conversation that makes no sense.

[Shade]

Wow, some hard choices to make. After much consideration though, here are mine:

FS1:
Out of the Dark, Into the Night - Introduces the Shivans. Enough said.
Doomsday - Loss of the Galatea. That actually hurt... I got quite attached to that ship when playing FS1.

FS2:
Battle of the Wilderness - Because the full nebula effect never looked better anywhere than it does in this mission.
Bearbaiting - Yep.
Love the Treason... - Because of Snipes, mainly.

Honourable mentions: Into the Lions Den - Would've had the 6th spot if it were available, for obvious reasons. Feint! Parry! Riposte! - Because it shows that on rare occations, Command can actually come up with a sound plan. Surrender, Belisarius! - Beams, beautiful beams. Eve of Destruction - For kicking it all off.

[Droid803]

IMO, As Lightning Fall had, by far, the best nebula effect. It was dark. It was mysterious. It was f*cking EMP-storming. If the Shivans weren't worthless, it would have been damn freaky.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I chose The Sixth Wonder, Feint! Parry! Riposte!, A Game of TAG, A Flaming Sword, and Their Finest Hour.

Reasons:

The Sixth Wonder - Lots of flying around and chasing down warheads. The chatter near the end is quite funny too.

Feint! Parry! Riposte! - I like the idea of luring the enemy fighters away. Speed-matching keeps them chasing me while I remain out of the range of their missiles.

A Game of TAG - Because it is funny to hear the TAG missile fly by, hit a Shivan, and the next thing you know, the TAGged gets raped by ULTRA Anti Fighter beams.

A Flaming Sword - Because I can fly the GVF Ptah and fly it like a fighter.

Their Finest Hour - Flying the GTF Ares has never been much better.

My sixth option would either have been As Lightning Fall, because I am forced to fly an Erinyes, or Into The Lions' Den, because of the Sathanas in your face and because I am forced to fly a Mara.

...if you have an itchy trigger finger...

You mean like pressing the fire button before closing the last two clicks to the first Shivan Comm Node? Snipes was supposed to say something like...

Do not engage, repeat, do not engage. They're just checking us out. Fire only when fired upon, just like a swimmer with sharks.

[Akalabeth Angel]

Wow it's been so long since I've played either campaign I couldn't honestly say until I gave them both another go.

[Goober5000]

You mean like pressing the fire button before closing the last two clicks to the first Shivan Comm Node? Snipes was supposed to say something like...

Do not engage, repeat, do not engage. They're just checking us out. Fire only when fired upon, just like a swimmer with sharks.

Exactly.  However, there's a bug in FS2 where enemy fighters that have you targeted will cause your HUD to light up and your threat indicator to sound, even if the fighters aren't actually attacking you.  So, I thought I was being fired upon.  It took me a couple years to realize that they weren't actually shooting yet.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

You mean like pressing the fire button before closing the last two clicks to the first Shivan Comm Node? Snipes was supposed to say something like...

Do not engage, repeat, do not engage. They're just checking us out. Fire only when fired upon, just like a swimmer with sharks.

Exactly.  However, there's a bug in FS2 where enemy fighters that have you targeted will cause your HUD to light up and your threat indicator to sound, even if the fighters aren't actually attacking you.  So, I thought I was being fired upon.  It took me a couple years to realize that they weren't actually shooting yet.

I think there's a protect-ship SEXP in effect until you fire a shot or get close to Shivan Comm Node 1.

[karajorma]

Exactly.  However, there's a bug in FS2 where enemy fighters that have you targeted will cause your HUD to light up and your threat indicator to sound, even if the fighters aren't actually attacking you.  So, I thought I was being fired upon.  It took me a couple years to realize that they weren't actually shooting yet.

I don't think that's an actual bug really. They are still a threat even if they aren't firing.

[Goober5000]

I don't think that's an actual bug really. They are still a threat even if they aren't firing.

It's more of a conceptual bug.  I believe the threat indicators are triggered when enemy fighters target you, not when they actually attack.  Regardless, the threat indicators weren't going off every five seconds in Playing Judas.

[Fenrir]

I always thought that the theat indicator meant that their missiles were locking/locked on.

[Snail]

I thought the threat indicator did what it does do.