"Every bomber shoots back: gunners for the Heinkel, the Ju 88, the Havoc and the 110"

October 8, 2026 · feature

Until now the B-17 was the only bomber with a seat for a friend. The rest of the hangar flew with their gun positions modelled, glazed and pointed uselessly aft — painted on. Not any more. The He 111, the Ju 88, the A-20 Havoc and the Bf 110 all take gunners, at the positions their real crews fought from, behind the guns those crews actually had.

A cobalt He 111 and Ju 88 flying together, tracers streaming aft from the Heinkel's dorsal hood and belly gondola and from the Ju 88's rear canopy toward two crimson Mustangs closing from behind, one of them trailing smoke — Don't follow a Heinkel home. Its dorsal and gondola gunners and the Ju 88's rear gunner alongside, all on the same pair of Mustangs.

Seven new seats

Open BOMBER CREW on the spawn screen and the cards now name the airframe as well as the station, so you know exactly where you'll be sitting:

He 111 Dorsal Gunner — an MG 131 under the sliding hood behind the wing, covering the sky astern and above.
He 111 Gondola Gunner — another MG 131 in the Bola, the gondola slung under the belly, for the fighter who thinks he's found the blind spot under the tail.
Ju 88 Rear Gunner — a twin MG 81Z at the back of the cockpit glass. It sits ahead of the wing, so you fire aft over the whole airframe.
Ju 88 Gondola Gunner — the MG 131 in the Ju 88's Bola, the quietest seat in the hangar right up until it isn't.
A-20 Top Gunner — twin .50s in a full-circle power turret. The Havoc fights low and fast, right where the fighters are, so this gun sees more work than any other crew seat.
A-20 Tunnel Gunner — a single .50 down through the belly hatch, catching the fighter sliding in low astern.
Bf 110 Rear Gunner — the Zerstörer's twin MG 81Z on the rear canopy, the sting in a heavy fighter's tail.

The B-17's tail and top guns are still there, and still the heaviest crew guns in the sky.

Pick the bomber, not just the seat

Every bomber numbers its own stations, so the cards are one per airframe and station. Pick the Heinkel's gondola and you'll be seated on a friendly Heinkel, never dropped into a Fortress's tail because a seat happened to be free. If no friendly He 111 is in the air, you wait for one, and the spawn screen tells you which bomber you're waiting on. Or pick another seat, or another unit, and fly now.

With five crewable bombers instead of one, the wait is shorter. Most of the time there's a friendly bomber up with your seat open. Bots fly every one of these types, so you'll rarely be the only one guarding the formation.

Different guns, different jobs

The seats play differently. A dorsal gun covers the classic attack from high astern. A gondola or tunnel gun looks down and back, so it does nothing until a fighter tries to get in under the tail, and then it's the only gun that can reach him. The German rifle-calibre twins spray a fast, light stream that sets engines smoking. The MG 131s and the American fifties hit harder per round. The Havoc's turret turns all the way round, but the hand-held guns only cover the arc behind them. Rule of thumb for the fighter pilot: every bomber in the sky can bite now, so pick your angle before you close.

The rest works the way the Fortress's guns always have. Your aim stays fixed to the airframe through every bank, your rounds carry the bomber's speed, and your kills go on your record. The crew shares the bomber's fate, and F bails out. Belly gunners get an eye below the gun line, so you look out under the fuselage, not up into the bomb bay.

A bomber stream used to be a target. Now it's five kinds of answer.