Oh, I can assure you an ESG will be making an appearance. Given my tendency to try to fool around with real-life events, that would be the Tarawa ESG (although the Tarawa and Germantown will have to be played by similar ships (Wasp, HF), not sure what to do with the Cleveland (LPD 7)). I was thinking that the phibs would mostly be in port at the time, while the escorts Port Royal, Hopper, and Ingraham would be out doing other things.*
As for carriers, I was thinking that under these situations they would probaby hang back on the other side of Hormuz, where mosquito boats would be less of a factor, they can keep a safe distance from potential ASuW threats, where they will have an easier time reacting to land-based ASCM attacks, can establish a better CAP, and where the acoustic conditions will make it easier to spot submarines trying to sneak in.... IOW, my judgment had been that inside the Gulf is the last place a CSG wants to be when the shooting starts. Am I wrong about that?
*It seems like that was the plan all along. It appears that the Tarawa dropped off some troops in Kuwait for exercises and helped a few ships in distress off the coast. No mention is made of its escorts after it arrived in the 5th Fleet AOR. Nor does any news about the escorts mention the phibs... It seems as though the escorts detactched upon arrival, which might have something to do with
why the Port Royal and Hopper were chosen to link up with the Gulf-bound Tarawa in the first place.