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INTRODUCTION

Defense and Weapon Damage Factor - D/WDF | Combat Efficiency - CE

Making Your Own Weapon System - WDF | Warp Engines, Impulse Engines and Shield Generators

The WER, IER, and DPC Formulas | Making Your Own Computer - Max WDF | Maximum Shield Power

In the Ship Construction manual, it gives a value for each element (engines, shields, etc) that plug into a formula. This formula will produce a value for D, or Defense. Weapons also have a value assigned to them that represents the probability to hit vs the amount of damage by a given weapon. The total of these numbers will give you the WDF, or Weapons Damage Factor. Several ships that were published [in the Recognition manuals and elsewhere] are off in either one or both figures [when compared to] a recalculation with the [following fasa-like] formulas.

This information is primarily taken from forum posts on the web. These are considered fan interpretations of the formulas Fasa used for their ship creation. They are presented here to help with fan rule and ship creation.

Here is what is thought to be a complete set of instructions for calculating the infamous Ship Stats Numbers for FASA Ships

Calculate Defense Factor (Ky'Phur 2-10-2004:

D = (WER + IER + DPC) * SER + (1.43 * SS)

CALCULATE DEFENSE FACTOR (drock  1-23-2009):

Defense Factor (D). (My roommate assures me it was basic grade 9 Algebra. Yeah... I know).

Now, the old method calculated each part and then added it all up.

• Old Method: (This is in the old school Construction Manual, on any [of the] STSTCS ship construction form)
  
  Defense Factor = (WeR + IeR + DPC) x SeR + 1.43 (SS)
  
  

CALCULATE DEFENSE FACTOR (drock/Ray Harrison  1-23-2009):

• New Method: (unofficial but without rounding errors)
  
  Now Here's the  Defense Factor Method (or the Grade 9 Algebra Method). This is what my group uses for Defense Factor calculations. This method doesn't have rounding errors. Here you go.
  
  Remember that:
  [(N x A) / Y + (N x B) / Y] x Z
  =[N x (A + B) x Z / Y ]
  
  If you can do that, you can follow the next bit yourself, but it should essentially slim down the old FASA formula into something a little smaller.
  
  D = (WeR + IeR + DPC) x SeR + 1.43 x SS
  
  D = [(1.43 x Warp_Power / MPR) + (1.43 x Impulse_Power / MPR) + (1.43 x Max_Shields / SeR)] x SeR +1.43 x SS
  
  D = (1.43 x Total_Power x SeR / MPR) + 1.43 x Max_Shields + 1.43 x SS
  
  D =1.43 x [(Total_Power x SeR / MPR) + Max_Shields + SS]
  
  I.E. A Constitution with 20 Superstructure (SS), two 20 power warp engines [nacelles], a 4 power impulse engine at 4/1 Movement Point Ratio (MPR), and a 16 power shields at a 1/2 Shield Point Ratio (SPR) has:
  
  Total_Power = 44
  MPR = 4
  Max Shields = 16
  SeR = 2
  SS = 20
  
  D = 1.43 x [(44 x 2 / 4) + 16 + 20]
  D = 82.94
  
  With rounding errors, the Federation Recognition Manual said 83.6. Pretty close, huh?

CALCULATE DEFENSE FACTOR (atkindave  9-09-2009):

WDF: Add WDF from each weapon installed on the ship and sum.

D= (WER+IER+DPC) * SER + SS

• WER and IER are the ratings of the warp and impulse engines respectively. Divide the power available from the engine by the power required per movement point and multiply by 1.43 (Round to nearest 1/2).
• DPC is the maximum damage absorption of the shield, divided by the power efficiency of the shield and multiplied by 1.43 (Round to nearest 1/2).
• SER is the power efficiency of the shield.
• SS is superstructure strength. Multiplied by 1.43.

Calculate Combat Efficiency (Ky'Phur 2-10-2004):

• CE =( WDF * D ) / 100

Calculate Combat Efficiency (drock  1-23-2009)

And one tiny little point left.

• Combat Efficiency (CE) is D x WDF / 100... but in all honesty the divide by 100 part is pretty redundant.

CALCULATE Weapon Damage Factor (Steve Pugh  7-13-2001):

It's been over ten years since I worked it out and I've hardly thought about it since, and of course I have no way of knowing whether this is the 'proper' way of calculating it, but here goes:

• Start with the firing chart. Add up all the to-hit numbers in the chart. e.g. Firing Chart G would be 7+7+6+6+5+5+4+3+2+1 = 46
  
  Multiply by the damage for torps/the maximum power for beams.
  
  Now divide by 168.
  
  For beams add on
  0.03 for each hex of range that adds 1 to the damage.
  0.07 for each hex of range that adds 2 to the damage.
  0.14 for each hex of range that adds 3 to the damage.
  
  Round to the nearest 0.1 (most of the weapons in the construction manual are rounded up but some are rounded down...)
  
  If the ship is cloaked multiply by 1.5
  
  Example 1, FH-13, firing chart T, add up all the to-hit numbers and you get 107. Max power is 8. Does +1 at 1-5, +2 at 6-12 and +3 at 13-18.
  
  So that's ((107 * 8) / 168) + (5 * 0.03) + (7 * 0.07) + (6 * 0.14) = 6.575 rounded up to 6.6 as given in the construction manual.
  
  Example 2, KP-4, firing chart Q, add up all the to-hit numbers and you get 92. Damage is 18.
  
  (92 * 18) / 168 = 9.857 rounded up to 9.9, (construction manual rounds down to 9.8)
  
  Allowing for rounding errors, as in example 2 above, the Fed and Klingon weapons match this formula. About half the Romulan weapons match it (I don't know how they calculated plasma bolt WDFs and so don't count them), all but one of the Orion beams match it, the Gorn beams match, but the Gorn torps don't. Generally the discrepancies are small.
  
  Maybe someone else has a better formula.

CALCULATE Weapon Damage Factor (Ky'Phur 2-10-2004):

• FCT = Add up all the to-hit numbers in the chart.
  e.g. Firing Chart G would be 7 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 46
  
  MPD = maximum power for beams OR damage for torps
  
  Multiply FCT by MPD and divide by 168
  
  For beams:
  p1DM = 0.03 time the number of hexes of range that add 1 to the damage.
  p2DM = 0.07 time the number of hexes of range that add 2 to the damage.
  p3DM = 0.14 time the number of hexes of range that add 3 to the damage.
  
  For torps these three numbers are zero.
  
  Add these numbers to previous results and round to the nearest tenth (0.1)
  
  WDF = ((FCT * MPD) / 168) + p1DM + p2DM + p3DM
  
  If the ship can cloak, multiply WDF by 1.5
  
  Add the WDF for all Weapons to get the Ship's WDF.
  
  Calculate Shield Generator DPC and SER:
  
  Max Shield Power x 1.45 x (Shield Point Ratio) and round down to the nearest half (0.5)
  
  SPR (2/1=2.000, 1/1=1.000, 2/3=0.667, 1/2=0.500, 1/3=0.333, 1/4=0.250)
  
  DPC = Max Shield Power (of all Warp Engines) x 1.45 x (Shield Point Ratio)
  
  SER is the Shield Ratio inverted: (2/1=0.500, 1/1=1.000, 2/3=1.500, 1/2=2.000, 1/3=3.000, 1/4=4.000)
  

CALCULATE Weapon Damage Factor (drock  1-23-2009):

My roommate, the big math genius, says the example shown above is close but not quite.
But my roommate tips his hat. Steve Pugh is the closest he's seen anyone get to figuring it out.

He's worked on these formulas for a long time. It took him an entire year of on and off work just to reverse engineer and figure out the numbers. The accelerator cannons were wrong in the manual and had to be ignored. The lasers made no attempt to factor in that they could be fired twice. Otherwise it works for all weapons, including all missiles, beam weapons and plasmas. Some of the original FASA numbers were off too, according to him, so his is the closest approximation he could find.

Here ya go. Great for figuring out the nuts and bolts of the weapons in your Construction Manual... or for making your own!

• The Ray Harrison Weapon Damage Factor (or What da f***?) Calculation Method
  
  Step by Step
  
  1). Find Firing Chart Number (FC): Add up all the to-hit numbers for your weapon's desired range. These can be found on your firing chart table.
  
  I.E. Chart H (just like the Steve Pugh method): 10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1=55
  I.E. Chart A = 20, Chart W = 127, Chart Y = 144
  For our example we'll use the FH-10 Phaser. It uses firing chart W. We got the number already, which is 127.
  
  2). Find Average Damage (AD): Pretty straight forward, but each weapon has its own method.
  
  Photon = Max damage. Photon torpedoes do the same damage no matter what anyways.
  
  Plasma = Max Damage X 0.75
  I.E. To have a 32 damage plasma, 32 X 0.75 = 24
  Note: The RPL-1 is an exception. It is listed without its max damage. The 24 in the Plasma chart is max X 0.8 because the first number in the E firing chart is 1-8 out of 10. Therefore max dmg is 30. They get 24 because 30 x 0.8 = 24.
  
  Beam Weapons = Max Damage plus AVERAGE BONUS
  I.E. We'll use the FH-10 phaser as an example. It has a max damage of 7, with +3 bonus at ranges 1-10, +2 at 11-17 and +1 at 18-20. Max range is 20.
  There are 10 (+3) bonuses, 7 (+2's) and 3 (+1's).
  Average bonus is 30+14+3 = 47
  Divide by maximum range (in this case it's 20 hexes).
  Now put it all together. 7+[(30+14+3)/20] = 9.35
  
  3). Calculate the Weapon Damage Factor (WDF): do this by multiplying Step 1, Step 2 and 'The Scale Factor'
  The Scale Factor is 0.006. This is the magic number.
  So it's FC X AD X 0.006
  
  I.E. Back to the FH-10 again.
  Firing chart number is 127 (as seen in step one ). Average Damage is 9.35,
  Therefore 127 x 9.35 x 0.006 = 7.1247
  Round it to one decimal places. The number is 7.1!
  Note: Steve Pugh's final formula is pretty close. FC x AD / 168. It's very close, but the times 0.006 method is a bit more accurate. Also 1 / 0.006 = 166.6666666... you get the idea.
  
  4). If applicable, apply the Rule of Cloak (Or 'The Shadow Rule'): Only applies to cloaked vessels. Multiply Step 3 by 1.5. Cloaked ships take more processing power, and are calculated as such.
  
  I.E. The FH-10's put on a cloaked vessel. So, WDF x 1.5.
  7.1 x 1.5 = 10.65!
  
  So now you have everything you need to know to make your own weapon systems. Enjoy!
  
  Those numbers definitely got to be taken with a grain of salt. They don't factor in firing arcs and how much damage you can pump per arc (So an all forward firing vessel has the same offensive potency as a ship with guns spread out over all arcs? I don't think so...), the weapons technology outstrips the shields in later models so Defense Factor becomes less relevant. But worthless? Hardly. They're a guideline, and should be taken as such.
   

CALCULATE Weapon Damage Factor (atkindave 9-00-2009):

I worked this out on my own, I had too much time on my hands in my early teens. Therefore, there is no "Equation" per say, more of a method.  I've tried, but I don't know a good way to make an easy equation out of it. You could with torpedos, I guess, but with variable damage weapons... ach. You'll see. This works for every weapon that does damage.


Method:

1. Convert the Fire Chart for the weapon to decimal(Hit Probability(1.0 or less)), the To Hit Numbers. 10=1.0 (will hit) 5=0.5 (half a chance of hit).
2. Multiply Maximum Damage(including Bonus) by Hit Probability, per each range factor and sum. 
3. Divide the sum by 24 and multiply the result by 1.43 OR divide by 16.8 (roughly the same). Round this result to the nearest 0.1 point.
   

That probably made no sense to you. So I'll go over a few examples with very popular weapons:


FH-11
Maximum Beam Power 10,
Damage Modifier per Range +3 at 1-10, +2 at 11-17, +1 at 18-24.
Fire chart Y is 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 9, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1


First Take the Fire Chart of the weapon and multiply each Maximum To Hit Number by .1
(Max To Hit Number)x(.1)=Accuracy Per Range at Maximum To Hit

Fire Chart Y
------------------
(10)x(.1)= 1.0
(10)x(.1)= 1.0
(10)x(.1)= 1.0
(9)x(.1) = 0.9
(9)x(.1) = 0.9
(9)x(.1) = 0.9
(8)x(.1) = 0.8
(8)x(.1) = 0.8
(8)x(.1) = 0.8
(7)x(.1) = 0.7
(7)x(.1) = 0.7
(7)x(.1) = 0.7
(6)x(.1) = 0.6
(6)x(.1) = 0.6
(5)x(.1) = 0.5
(5)x(.1) = 0.5
(4)x(.1) = 0.4
(4)x(.1) = 0.4
(3)x(.1) = 0.3
(3)x(.1) = 0.3
(2)x(.1) = 0.2
(2)x(.1) = 0.2
(1)x(.1) = 0.1
(1)x(.1) = 0.1





Next:

• (Maximum Beam Power+Maximum Damage Modifier)x(Accuracy Per Range at Maximum To Hit)=Maximum Damage Per Range

FH-11 Maximum Beam Power is 10

+3 at 1-10 From ranges 1-10, with a maximum of 13 damage, we get a damage x hit probability of 114.4 (13+13+13+11.7+11.7+11.7+10.4+10.4+10.4+9.1)= 114.4
----------------
(10+3)x(1.0)= 13
(10+3)x(1.0)= 13
(10+3)x(1.0)= 13
(10+3)x(0.9)= 11.7
(10+3)x(0.9)= 11.7
(10+3)x(0.9)= 11.7
(10+3)x(0.8)= 10.4
(10+3)x(0.8)= 10.4
(10+3)x(0.8)= 10.4
(10+3)x(0.7)= 9.1
TOTAL = 114.4
Somewhat easier method: {(1.0x3)+(0.9x3)+(0.8x3)+(0.7x1)}x13=114.4


+2 at 11-17 From ranges 11-17 the damage is 12.
-----------------
(10+2)x(0.7)= 8.4
(10+2)x(0.7)= 8.4
(10+2)x(0.7)= 8.4
(10+2)x(0.6)= 7.2
(10+2)x(0.6)= 7.2
(10+2)x(0.5)= 6
(10+2)x(0.5)= 6
(10+2)x(0.4)= 4.8
TOTAL = 48


+1 at 18-24 From ranges 18-24 damage drops to 11
-----------------
(10+1)x(0.4)= 4.4
(10+1)x(0.3)= 3.3
(10+1)x(0.3)= 3.3
(10+1)x(0.2)= 2.2
(10+1)x(0.2)= 2.2
(10+1)x(0.1)= 1.1
(10+1)x(0.1)= 1.1
TOTAL = 17.6


114.4+48+17.6=180 Sum





Next:

• (Sum/24)x1.43 = WDF round to the nearest tenth 0.1
• (180/24)x1.43 = 10.725 then 10.7 (This agrees with FASA's 10.7 WDF for the weapon.)
  

OR

• Sum/16.8 = WDF round to the nearest tenth 0.1
• 180/16.8 = 10.714 then 10.7
  

_____________________________________________________________________


FP-4
Damage 20
Fire Chart S is 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Torpedoes are easier as the damage is constant.
Just add up the hit probabilities and multiply.

First Take the Fire Chart of the weapon and multiply each Maximum To Hit Number by .1

• (Max To Hit Number)x(.1)=Accuracy Per Range at Maximum To Hit

Fire Chart S
------------------
(10)x(.1)= 1.0
(10)x(.1)= 1.0
(10)x(.1)= 1.0
(9)x(.1) = 0.9
(9)x(.1) = 0.9
(8)x(.1) = 0.8
(8)x(.1) = 0.8
(7)x(.1) = 0.7
(7)x(.1) = 0.7
(6)x(.1) = 0.6
(6)x(.1) = 0.6
(5)x(.1) = 0.5
(4)x(.1) = 0.4
(3)x(.1) = 0.3
(2)x(.1) = 0.2
(1)x(.1) = 0.1
TOTAL = 10.5 Accuracy Per Range at Maximum To Hit



Next:

• (Damage)x(Accuracy Per Range at Maximum To Hit)=Maximum Damage Per Range

FP-4 Damage 20

20x10.5=210

Next:

• (210/24)x1.43=12.5125, FASA's rating is 12.5

It's a lot of work, but you only have to do it once per weapon. Then you have a rating and can use it over and over again. You can see that missiles are quite easy(since the damage is more constant), beams are a bit of work, due to the variable damage(because of the bonus), and you can guess that plasmas (or other weapons with more variable damage) are quite the nightmare, (due to each range category has a different damage).
I've done a few plasmas. I'm glad that they're not very popular weapons.

You could probably come up with a spreadsheet for this. So far I only do it with a calculator. I think it's more important to know the method anyway. [it's] Best, probably, to work out on a few weapons with known WDF's, just until you've got the technique or for the occasional practice as needed. Then go berzerko.

Bonus: The WDF for the FAC weapons is wayyy off! Check it out! (Once you get confident, that is).

For turning the Maximum To Hit Number into a Hit Probability, you can get away with leaving the DC numbers alone and dividing by 10 at the end (or 240 instead of 24), as long as you can keep your head around it.
The divide by ten thing is for changing the to hit numbers into hit probabilities (to hit# 10=1.0 probability, 7=0.7 etc). Doing it step by step, you'd normally do it in the beginning. But really, since all you're doing is dividing, you can do it either at the beginning or at the end.

The original number I came up with for the coefficient was 16.8 when I did the reverse engineering. It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized that x/16.8 was the same as x/24 *1.43, and 1.43 is the constant used throughout the D equation. (in other words, FASA likes 1.43 for some reason). [other people have used 1.45, but thats less accurate].

Calculate Engine Efficiency (Ky'Phur 2-10-2004):

Multiply Maximum Engine Power by 1.45 by Movement Point Ratio and round down to the nearest half (0.5)

MPR (7/1=0.143, 6/1=0.167, 5/1=0.200, 4/1=0.250, 3/1=0.333, 2/1=0.500, 3/2=0.667, 1/1=1.000, 1/2=2.000, 1/3=3.000, 1/4=4.000)

WER = Max Engine Power (of all Warp Engines) x 1.45 x (Movement Point Ratio)

IER = Max Engine Power (of Impulse Engine) x 1.45 x (Movement Point Ratio)

drock  Jan 23, 2009

The following formula are also handy for making your own Warp engines, Impulse engines and Shield Generators.

MPR = Movement Point Ratio

• Warp Efficiency Rating (WeR) = 1.43 x warp power / MPR (The Construction Manual always rounds to 0.5... horrible rounding error!)
  
• Impulse Efficiency Rating (IeR) = 1.43 x impulse power / MPR (ad nauseum)

SPR = Shield Point Ratio

• Shied Efficiency Rating (SeR) = 1 / SPR (NO ROUNDING THIS TIME!)
• Defense Point Co-efficient (DPC) = 1.43 x max shield / SeR (can you guess where you have to round it to yet?
  

I.E. An FSN shield on a class IX vessel. SPR 1/2, Max Shielding 16

• SeR = 1 / SPR = 2
• DPC = 1.43 x 16 / 2 = ll.44 (And guess what? The book rounds to... 11.5)

ninjaelf   Dec 13, 2001

"Does anyone have formulas to calculating the WER for Warp Engines, IER for Impulse Engines, and DPC for Shield Generators? SER, I gather, is simply the Shield Generator's power to shield point ratio"

The closest I can get to the Shield Generator DPC values listed in the Shield Charts is by using this formula: [the value 1.45 shown below should probably be 1.43].

• Max Shield Power x 1.45 x Shield Ratio (2/1=2.000, 1/1=1.000, 2/3=0.667, 1/2=0.500, 1/3=0.333, 1/4=0.250) and rounding down to the nearest 0.5.

The same formula can be used for the WER and IER values as well, but the Ratio multiplier is inversed: [the value 1.45 shown below should probably be 1.43].

• Max Engine Power (of both engines, if Tandem) x 1.45 x Engine Ratio

(7/1=0.143, 6/1=0.167, 5/1=0.200, 4/1=0.250, 3/1=0.333, 2/1=0.500, 3/2=0.667, 1/1=1.000, 1/2=2.000, 1/3=3.000, 1/4=4.000) and rounding down to the nearest 0.5.

This formula, as well as the one for DPC, seem to produce values that are either spot on with what is in the construction manual or with in +/- 0.5 of the listed value.

• SER is the Shield Ratio inverted:

(2/1=0.500, 1/1=1.000, 2/3=1.500, 1/2=2.000, 1/3=3.000, 1/4=4.000)

bjecko2000  Dec 24, 2001

"Importing Equipment"

Well, most of the time, we go from one system that's from Star Trek to another. That usually makes it easy, as you can just take what ever numbers you get for the "Enterprise" class ship and make that a base for your other calculations. But it sounds like you have a totally different system your incorporating.

Your best rule of thumb is to keep things within 10 to 20% of the established totals for the three major races. If your WDF ends up being higher, make sure your computers weight is also higher. Same for the weight of the weapons. This helps keep things limited. There isn't a "pre-set" formula for weight to WDF (although if you'd like me to try and figure one out, I'd be happy to. I have all the info in a spread sheet and it's just a matter of a formula or two.)

When ever your creating any components, remember that things need to be balanced. Each race might have a slight advantage in one area, while a slight disadvantage in another. This keeps the game fun. (If one side has too much of an advantage, then they simply roll over the other side, and it very frustrating for your opponent. BUT! If you opponent has, say better shields, while having weaker weapons, that keeps things somewhat balanced.) It is hard to create things from scratch, though. I'm on holiday until Thursday, but would be willing to help you or anyone else figure out some general guidelines to component creating. Hope that helps a little.

bjecko2000  FEB 17, 2011

david atkinson FEB 21, 2011