I have found the Manticore to be a great foil for elite frigates, my build would be a Storm needler, Assualt gun and a bunch of harpoons, but you could probably get similar results with The devastator and some dual Autocannons.
They may not be the best for handling big targets, but they have enough mobility to catch flankers.
Hounds are great for capturing points, and splitting up the enemy force.
I don't suppose the chaingun or the heavy Machine gun are on the table, but a dual flack may help them survive missles and fighters.
I haven't tested vangaurds against Remnants. But with a clutch of torpedoes, 2 dual ACs and a mortar, they can make for good flankers.
Like the hound, you can't just let them wander around. Keep them in packed squadrons, and keep them on the sides of the map. After your main force engages the enemy, have your vangaurds slip behind to hit enemy carriers, loners, and reinforcements. D-modded vangaurds are always cheap on recovery costs, and with the right skills a 5 ship squadron can take as little as 15 DP.
Maneuvering jets are also really nice on vangaurd squads, as they allow multiple vangaurds to bully more powerful, shielded ships. As they dart in and out, the opponent will usually try to face the closest threat, and the constant turning will prevent it from making full use of it's weapons.
That being said, hounds and vangaurds are not practical if you don't like issuing a lot of orders. And hounds completely lose any offensive value without chainguns or heavy machine guns. But they are both very fast, and useful for tactics that are otherwise infeasible with a strict Luddic fleet.
