Writing Briefings 101

Reading a briefing should take less than five minutes and should convey all important information in that amount of time.

Length of the briefing should never be an excuse used by a leader or even a regular player when missing critical information.

Layout

In reality, briefings use a format called SMEAC. For more in depth details on SMEAC check TTP3: here. SMEAC stands for Situation, Mission, Execution, Administration(logistics), Command/Signal. The last part is usually omitted as its very rare that signals are used within ARMA missions.

A fast and easy way to use this layout for your mission is to use the F3 mission briefing generator located here.

SMEAC is an extremely efficient way of conveying information and should be used in all cases as it allows for fast and easy reference of relevant information.

Critical Information

When designing your mission and therefore writing your briefing you should make a couple assumptions on the players behalf.

1. That the command element is competent enough to have gathered intelligence and recon of the area/enemy prior to staging the mission

2. That the command element is aware of nearby enemy positions, if you plan on having the enemy be reinforced from an area that is otherwise outside of the area of operations, do make a note of the enemy presence in that area lest its existence is ignored in the planning phase and suddenly players are getting gunned down from a position they didn't expect hostiles from. Fog of war is the exception, not the rule.

Do note that these assumptions do not mean that the briefing has to be 100% accurate about all positions, and all weapons available to the enemy but be a rough guide of what to expect and what to prepare for. A mission that involves a heavy enemy armour presence should mention this fact in the briefing, armour is noisy and obvious and any decent recon of the area prior to the assault would have noticed it. While a mission with concealed anti-tank positions inside buildings can probably omit this fact from the briefing or be more coy with their description.

Some missions will call for an 'enemy unknown' kind of situation where you are fighting a completely unknown force with no recon at all this means you should at least write what to expect in a worst case scenario. If you're invading a foreign country with a large well-funded military force you should state so in the briefing so the player will expect both armour and air assets to be involved. While a poorly armed insurgent force will more than likely only have small arms and maybe static defences.

'Gotcha' situations can still happen but remember a mission where the players get gunned down mercilessly by an unexpected enemy are not very enjoyable except for the sadistic mission maker.

Explain friendly support assets

When some sort of support asset is provided for the player it's a good rule of thumb to constantly mention the friendly assets in the briefing. In the past it has been common for the existence of such assets to be overlooked due to it either being mentioned off hand in a lengthy briefing or as a minor note in a usually ignored section.

It is a good idea to include the existence of such assets in the MISSION, Commander's Intent, Fire Support and Administration sections of the SMEAC.

Include both the expected friendly assets and how the player is supposed to call upon them.

Conclusion

This guide is not attempting to say that briefings should be a humourless void but that gigantic blocks of texts that contain a single line of important information should be avoided or not included in the real SMEAC briefing. Gimmick missions are an obvious exception as the mission should be designed around the idea that it isn't to be taken seriously but if you are putting players in a serious, difficult mission, a proper briefing is not just encouraged but completely mandatory for the mission to succeed.