A Question

[Mike Abberton]

First let me say that the WitP manual is very innacurate after all the revisions, so the rule you quoted is not quite accurate.

Anyway, the rule is that CVs (and CVLs) in coastal hexes (with or without a base) get the 50% penalty. The idea is that a Carrier TF sailing close to shore would have a harder time "sailing into the wind" to launch strikes/CAP. Therefore the penalty. To support invasions you have two choices, use LRCAP from a non-coastal hex, or use CVEs which do not suffer the 50% penalty.

While the rule might appear to not make sense, e.g. why don't CVE's suffer the penalty, it does make the player stick to more historical tactics. TF38/58 did typically stand off and support invasions from a discrete distance. CVE's, like those in Taffy 3, on the other hand did stick much closer to the invasion fleets.