Mitsubishi Stuka and Thunderbolt

[RPS69]

Germans admited that gunners were there to improve the moral of the crew, not for achieving any brilliant results. They were there to bring the idea that they were not just flying pigeons.

The difference with B17's were the closed box formation. For the fighter groups, it was like attacking a ground position with heavy AA fire, without armored aircraft. The way they found to combat this situation, was to break the box formation to pick less riscky targets. The under wing mortars, were used to this purpose, (badly represented in game, because bomber crews got excelent morals allways!) they were fired in the general direction of the bomber formations to generate confusion and panic, but getting a direct hit was just a special bonus, and not an expected result.