@Shin:
I prefer OOB G40 SBR, but only marginally. I think if you take away the +2 damage and leave fighters defending at 1, that would probably be fine. But then, I’ve only ever seen it as a nice option to have, one that is used sometimes. For some reason, others saw it as an absolute must and a major problem. I never really understood why.
Probably from an historical POV, Fighters being shot massively by flight of bombers seems awkward.
Also, bombing Axis power was what make possible D-Day and ended war on Japan.
Otherwise, Europe would have been communist and many GIs would be killed trying to submit Japan without burning many many cities. Nuke, in a few cases, were not as devasting than firestorm in other japanese cities.
So, without SBR working correctly, you WWII theme-like game is misrepresenting things.