Funny how well we usually agree on WWII, eh, teribus? ;-)

The Germans made one attempt at a strategic bomber, the Heinkel 177. It was hobbled by an insane 1938 design specification that it should be capable of dive-bombing! This was an asinine requirement to demand of a heavy bomber. It led to the airplane having to be strengthened structurally, which increased its weight, and to have four engines combined in tandem in only 2 engine nacelles, driving a huge four-bladed propellor (this reduced drag).

The result: WWII's most trouble-prone and unreliable large airplane. The He 177 tended to very frequently catch fire from engines overheating. More of them were lost to that cause than to any other cause. I believe they built about 1,000 of them. Most were used to bomb Russia, a few to bomb England, a few for anti-shipping strikes. They were interesting looking planes, but were anything but successful, and had little effect on the war except to waste Germany's resources in a futile effort.

Italy also had one heavy bomber, a Piaggio 4-engine plane, and a good one, but they didn't have enough of them to make any significant difference to the conflict in the Med. They used some to bomb Gibraltar on occasion.