The Shortcomings of BV

It is fairly well-known that Battle Value isn't a perfect measurement of the capabilities of a force in BattleTech.  The system breaks when certain metrics seriously differentiate the forces, even when those metrics are ostensibly counted in the equation.  This is especially clear when you're looking to put BattleMechs against non-BattleMech forces.  Light vehicles, especially aircraft, can quickly climb their to-hit numbers well into the impossible 13+ bracket simply by moving at high speed.  Conversely, a force with few high-skill units will usually defeat a less-skilled unit of equivalent BV, at least in my experience.

In addition, BV makes no provisions for environment and tactical situation.  Infantry attacking BattleMechs in an open field are doomed, unlikely to even make it within range of the target, while infantry in a defensive position within a city that the same BattleMechs must enter to achieve their objective is horrifying to the attacker.  Likewise BattleMechs enjoy a serious advantage over conventional vehicles in any situation where particularly hilly terrain restricts tracked and wheeled vehicles to a road or other contained area, while the BattleMech force can climb cliffs and use jump jets to maneuver into superior positioning.

For these reasons, while BV balancing makes a good starting place for similar forces meeting in a situation where the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth are roughly equal, it is almost useless for the kind of assymetric engagement one is likely to encounter in an A Time of War campaign.  As such, I need to develop a better way of estimating what most RPG's would consider Encounter Difficulty without having to run through the engagement several times to determine the risk level to the party.

This is one of those statement-of-problem entries.  I don't have a solution at the moment.  But I mean to find one.