MY HEAD HURTS SO BAD.
The short version of calculating BV is as follows:
Calculate Defensive Value
Calculate Offensive Value
Add the together to get the final Battle Value
The problem is I have been looking at the instructions for how to calculate BV for about a week now, and I'm literally getting sick just from trying to understand them. Are there any tutorials or walkthroughs on this stuff?
Compiled and dissected many years ago...
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2d6 Probability Table
2d6 chance to roll chance to roll or beat
2 2.78% 100%
3 5.56% 97.22%
4 8.33% 91.67%
5 11.11% 83.33%
6 13.89% 72.22%
7 16.67% 58.33%
8 13.89% 41.67%
9 11.11% 27.78%
10 8.33% 16.67%
11 5.56% 8.33%
12 2.78% 2.78%
At short range, a weapon without minimums or to-hit modifiers will have its damage multiplied by 91.67% for each short range hex. (look at "chance to roll or beat for 4 on the above table) If it were a pulse laser, you would add a -2 to-hit, making the short range to-hit only 2, meaning it will hit all the time so the damage is multiplied by 100%. If it has (at a particular hex range) a +1 or more modifier due to minimums, then you would use a 5, 6, or 7 from the above table.
Then, do the same thing for each hex of Medium Range, where the base to-hit is 6. (hitting 72.2% of the time, 91.67% for -2 or 83.3% for -1)
Finally, do the same thing for each hex of Long Range, where the base to-hit is 8. (hitting 41.67% of the time, 72.2% for -2 or 58.3% for -1)
Add all of these separate damages for each range, from 1 to the maximum long range, together.
If the weapon does single shot damage of 12 or more points, multiply this total by 1.2 (the head-chopper bonus).
If the weapon uses ammo, the ammo BV per ton is 1/8 the weapon BV. Round both to the nearest integer.
If the weapon is an energy weapon (no ammo), multiply this total by 1.5. Otherwise, multiply it by 1.2.
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That's it... BV in a nutshell. So for example lets do the I.S. Gauss Rifle. Here is the chance to hit at every range interval:
Hex - Damage x Probability to Hit = Probable damage at that range
01: 15 x .7222 = 10.83 (.722 due to +2 from Minimum range modifier)
02: 15 x .8333 = 12.50 (.833 due to +1 from Minimum range modifier)
03: 15 x .9167 = 13.75
04: 15 x .9167 = 13.75
05: 15 x .9167 = 13.75
06: 15 x .9167 = 13.75
07: 15 x .9167 = 13.75
08: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
09: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
10: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
11: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
12: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
13: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
14: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
15: 15 x .7222 = 10.83
16: 15 x .4167 = 6.25
17: 15 x .4167 = 6.25
18: 15 x .4167 = 6.25
19: 15 x .4167 = 6.25
20: 15 x .4167 = 6.25
21: 15 x .4167 = 6.25
22: 15 x .4167 = 6.25
Total all those together and you get 222.50 rounded to 223. Then multiply by 1.2 because it's not an energy weapon to get 267.6, then multiply by 1.2 again because it can head-chop (do more than 12 points of damage to a single location) and you get 321.12 rounded up to 321. The ammo would have a BV of 40 per ton. (321/8=40)
BV for units is more complex, but pretty straightforward.
First you calculate Defensive BV:
Points of Armor x 2 (for Mechs and Fighters, x1 for everything else) = Armor BV
Number of Internal Structure points x 1.5 (with standard engine, .75 with I.S. XL, 1.125 for Light or Clan XL) = Structure/Engine BV
Mech/Fighter Mass = Weight BV (zero value for other vehicle types)
Total BV of all Defensive subsystems (ECM, AMS, etc.)
Add all these together and you get a subtotal that you multiply by the Vehicle Modifier. (1 for Mechs and fighters, 0.8 to 0.4 for Vehicles based on type)
Then you subtract the Ammo Modifier which is 20 times the number of tons of ammo present on the design (5 per ton if using CASE II) and the Overheat modifier. (one half of the difference between Max heat produced by all activities including movement and the unit's Max Heat dissipation)
Multiply the subtotal by the Defensive movement modifier (1 plus one tenth of the highest to-hit modifier the unit can generate based on it's movement... i.e. 1.1 for units that have 3-5 MP running speed, etc.) with a 0.2 bonus if the unit has Stealth Armor. This gives you the Defensive BV.
For Offensive BV Simply total the BV of all weapons, ammo, and Offensive Systems (Targeting Computers, etc.) mounted on the unit and multiply it by the Heat Efficiency factor: ((1-(Heat Dissipation / Max Heat))/2) + (Heat Dissipation/Max Heat); maximum 1. (so you can't increase BV by having more heat dissipation than you need) For example if you have a max Heat generation (including movement) of 49 and 16 double HS then the factor is ((1-(32/49))/2)+(32/49) = 0.826530612
Lastly you multiply this by the Offensive Movement Modifier:
((((Running-Flank MP (double for VTOLs) + Jump MP + 1 for MASC or TSM + 1 for Supercharger) - 5) / 10) + 1) ^ 1.2 rounded to two decimal places
So for an 8 Running and 3 jump Mech the modifier is: 8+3=11-5=6/10=0.6+1=1.6^1.2=1.757696869 rounded to 1.76
Then add Offensive BV to Defensive BV for total Unit BV.
Hope this helps.