Fun mission, though the carrier AI is infuriating. After dealing with the first wave of Fighters and Bombers, my carrier basically refused to launch anything else into everyone had landed - so it was just sitting there not launching anything as the Backfires got into range. It was so infuriating I'm going to play Nimitz full capacity next time.

Also, somehow my F-14's are very bad at engaging the Mig-25s. Tons of misses and getting shot down. I know Phoenix is not designed for Fighters, but Sidewinder and Sparrow's missing galore too.

Still, carrier survived with just one hit, thanks to the close in air defense and the Prowlers jamming.

Glad to hear you liked it, I will look into a randomization update at some point when they give us more tools. For further replay-ability.

This is an awesome and very fun scenario! Exactly what I've always wanted to play out: can you defend a US carrier battlegroup against a large airstrike with all the latest weapons (F-14, E2C, Ticos, and more). Works well with the early access AI.