Behind the cockpit: How content is created on Mechstrategen.de (and why AI is my tech adept)
Hello everyone,
Lately I’ve been getting feedback from you (through the current survey and other channels) that content on Mechstrategen.de seems or could seem “too slick” or “AI-like”. Some of you are worried that the personality or seriousness of our beloved hobby BattleTech or the blog will fall by the wayside.
I take that very seriously. That’s why I want to open the hatch today and show you how I work. Yes, I use state-of-the-art AI tools – but not to sit back and relax, but to raise the quality and Lore fidelity to a level that I could otherwise hardly manage as a lone fighter.
Here is my process – from the first radio message on Discord to the finished PDF.
1. the spark: topic identification & research
Nothing is created in a vacuum. Before the first line is written, I am out and about in the community.
- Inspiration: I follow your discussions on Discord, YouTube or in the Facebook groups, for example. What is on your mind? Which rules are unclear? What moves the community?
- The digital library: I use NotebookLM for my research. I specifically feed the tool with trustworthy sources such as sarna.net or the official rule PDFs.
- The trick: the AI doesn’t write itself, it acts as my ultimate index. It helps me to find and extract the “key moments” of a topic in seconds so that no detail contradicts the Lore. Every single point of the AI result is verified by me using the primary source.
2 The centerpiece: My perspective
Now that the hard facts are in, it’s time for the most important part: my two cents. I add my own thoughts, strategies and opinions to the summaries. This usually happens in rough bullet points or half sentences – just like taking notes during a heated game.
Only when this framework of facts + personal opinion is in place can the AI(Gemini 3) get to work to turn the whole thing into a flowing, readable text. Nano Banana 2 is used for the visuals to capture the mood of the Inner Sphere.
3. the supreme discipline: campaigns & scenarios
This is where most of the work is put in, which you might not even see at first glance. A scenario, campaign or campaign ruleset on Mechstrategen is not a product of chance.
The battle plan:
- Concept: I determine the topic (e.g. a skirmish during the Fourth Succession War).
- Lore/Background story: The text of the background story is generated using NotebookLM and your own research
- Structure: I determine the framework conditions:
- Which (optional) rules make sense?
- How many missions does the story need?
- Calculation of the PV values (point value) for the balance.
- Define the mission objectives and the map layout.
- Fine-tuning & logic: The finished concept goes through an AI check several times to eliminate logical errors or ambiguities in the description.
The manual finish:
After the AI has helped with the formulation, I take over completely manually again. I correct, shorten and refine. Then everything goes into designrr.io, where I create the layout, add the masthead and put the finishing touches to the design.
The most important step: I personally test-play each mission. If it doesn’t work on the table, the PDF is revised until the game is just right.
Why this way?
BattleTech is complex. The Lore is huge, the rules are deep. The AI is my targeting computer: it helps me to be more precise and efficient. But the pilot in the cockpit is still me.
My aim is to provide you with high-quality, error-free and visually appealing material that you can print out and put on the table straight away. The fact that this sometimes looks “too perfect” is a side effect of my attention to detail – but behind it is always the passion of a fan who has been pushing mechs across the maps for years.
I hope this insight helps you to understand why the blog is the way it is. If you have any questions about the process or would like to see specific topics covered, please send me an email or message me on Discord!
Your feedback is having an impact – the survey continues!
Parallel to this insight into my workshop, my survey on the further development of the blog is still running. Even though this has not yet been completed, I have already taken the initial feedback to heart.
One point has stuck particularly clearly: You want more “real” pictures.
This means photos of painted miniatures on the gaming table or real snapshots from everyday hobby life to make the blog even more tangible. I have put that firmly on my list as the first major point for improvement!
An honest word on this: However, this will take a little time. Setting up a setup for good photos, finding the right lighting and arranging scenes on the plate is much more time-consuming than generating them using AI. So it will be a gradual transition, but the direction of travel is clear.
The survey is still open! I’m still waiting for more feedback from you before I draw final conclusions for the coming months. So if you haven’t taken part yet: your vote counts!
Greetings
Sören from Mechstrategen.de
