You're right. There are all kinds of ways to skin a cat. And a straightforward high altitude heavy bomber attack proved fruitless. The wide bomb spread did not compensate for the maneuverablity of an evading Task Force. But it was worth a try.
One idea that does work well is to hit the CV and Cruiser escort first with a tactical dive bomber. This takes out a number of ACK guns greatly reducing the TF's defensive firepower. Then you come in with level bombers at 8 thousand feet and make quick work of the two primary ships. Sure. You're gonna take the occasional engine hit or fuel line damage. But the likelyhood of the reduced defense actually blowing a bomber out of the sky (even at 8K), is pretty slim.
I learned about this tactic in forum discussions as well. Some ideas are just complete B.S. Others have proved their worth as a winning strategy in the MA. Everything has to be verified.
Speaking of which, I'm just going to throw this anecdotal evidence at the wall and see if it sticks. How impressed are you with the B-26's ability to repell ACK compared with other bombers of a similar size ? I routinely bomb targets with a B-26 formation at under 8 thousand feet and rarely lose one to ACK hits. Try the same thing with a formation of B-24J's and you end up flying back with two planes. I've bombed with both planes at the same speed and altitude and target. The 26's always fare better against Flak hits. Why ?
I have no answer as to why you percieve the B26 as being better at avoiding ack. My only guess is that it does have a bit higher speed vs most other bombers. Also, keep in mind that ack does not fire above 7k (or 6.5k?). The Ostwind can only really reach 3k up from what I have been told, the wirblewind 1.5 up, and the M16 quad .50 cals only 1.2 up. Dont quote me on those numbers, that is what I was taught when I started the game a few months ago. I like the B26 for taking down towns and field ack with carpet bombing techniques. If the air is safe from enemy fighters, and the ack is down, it can finish off a town with all the .50 cals it can bring to bear. Also, the B26 is very well armed defensively with plenty of ammo to spare, no need to be shy about keeping the fighters at bay.
The next time you want to experiment with something, try taking a bomber loaded with as many 100lb bombs as you can pack (or 250lb) and instead of trying to sink the CV group, try and disable the ack for allied dive bombers. To earn points, you dont have to destroy, ya know.
