How do you put up with bombers?!

light ABs, head towards the target, let the torps fly, then get the hell out. repeat as necessary
 
Depends on the bomber. But I always clean some red dots on my radar before I nail the capships.

Shrikes and Longbows: Make good use of your missiles.
Broadswords and Crossbows: They are agile enough for a dogfight.
Devastator: Besides the large missile loadout, you have that Big Gun™, so use it.
 
I always thought the Longbow seemed a little too capable in a dogfight. The Devestator is the exact opposite - I'm terrified to use the thing.
 
Killing enemy fighters in a bomber is easy, just use the heavier weapons loadout and shields to your advantage. Frankly, I think they should have made the bombers much less manuverable to put some challange in it.
 
I love taking the Devestator in for a dogfight. One shot with the plasma gun, and the target's toast. Plus it's got a Stormfire for a little extra range. Not the most maneuverable, but the forward firepower and all those turrets make up for it. Anyway, my tactics are:

Broadsword-Make the first pass with your Mass Drivers, then stay out of flak range of your target, go to full speed, then rotate through the turrets to keep the fighter in sight. Sometimes, you can also go for torpedo lock, while using the turrets, but it's usually best to clear all fighters.

Crossbow, Longbow, and Shrike-Keep on the fighters till they're gone, then head for the capship. Use whatever missles you've got.

Devastator: You can either dogfight, or just head for the engines of the capship. All those turrets on the Devastator can keep the enemy honest, and if one comes at you and doesn't break off, just swing around and hit him with a plasma shot. Blow up the capship or base, then head in for a dogfight.
 
The Crossbow fights very well as a fighter.

The Broadsword is remarkably good because it's heavily armed and has fantastic shields.

The devastator has the BFG, so it can defend itself, to some degree.

The Longbow is somewhat vulnerable and not very maneuverable. Use your missiles wisely, because in some situations you'll have no escort.

The Shrike is weak, and depends on escort to heavier dogfights. But generally you'll have a decent escort.
 
I favour heavier ships, but unless I'm actually on a strike mission, I'd rather not fly a bomber. Still...

Broadswords have the benefit of their turrets and thick shields and armour, although the shields can take a while to recharge. Reminds me of the Orion. Three mass drivers are quite strong too.

The follow-up Crossbow that much of an improvement, IMHO. Despite a small increase in speed and manoeuvrability, it dropped the side turrets. Also, it's guns can take out anything in a couple of shots, but it drains the capacitors dry, and takes a while to recharge.

I didn't fly the Longbow much (preferred the Thunderbolt for strikes), and it really is quite a pig to fly.

The Shrike is reasonable as a fighter as well as a bomber, but its relatively small gun pool... well, it sucks. This is really noticeable in SO.

The Devastator's BFG makes dogfighting fun, but of course, you'll need a fighter escort. It really sucks in a couple of missions when multiple Mantas designate you as their primary target and refuse to give up.
 
Most bombers have nice big guns up front. Go head to head as often as you can. Only with the faster ones it is really possible to lock onto enemy ships' tails. With the Devastator you can be as optimistic as you want with the plasma gun...if you don't hit, no hassle and if you do, that's an extra kill for you. Go head on with the Shrike using the Charging Mass and then let it rip when in range.

When playing Wc3 and Wc4 don't forget to hold onto that shift button for faster turns. You can burn after enemy ships in these 2 games as well.
 
I never had any problems with the Longbow. The shields are thick and the craft is far more responsive than the Dev or Shrike. Plus the 16IRs deal with pretty much everything.

The Shrike sucks.

The Dev is a fat pig.
 
Cap ship busting? Do it this way. Go straight for the Cap, launch all your missiles then hammer it with guns until it's dead. Then get outta dodge until you can jump out or run out of fuel. Done it with the Sivar many times, and is easy enough everywhere else.
 
For me the best bomber is Broadsword. Especially in privateer version, when you can't disengage from a wing of Broadswords at top speed with thruster on. (Speed around 1400). Incredible

Unfortunately no one can use that version except computer's pilots.

:)
 
I like the Longbow. It has heavy armor, a decent punch and is quite maneuverable compared to the Devastator. In fact, I dislike the Dev. That thing turns like a brick, I'd rather fly a broomstick than this one, plasma cannon or not.
 
Im gonna go with the longbow....i agree with Lynx, the Deva was a pain in the rear...yeah the gun could take an enemy out with one hit (if you were playing at Rookie), but the lack of speed/manuverability made it easy pickings for mantas.

IIRC the laser turrets on the Deva weren't that effective unless you jumped into one of them as without you there they fired at some stupidly slow rate.
 
It's kinda fun to take out some bugs with just one shot of the BFG. Dev is cool, but can be vulnerable.
 
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