Intent

In military parlance, Intent is a stripped-down version of a Leader's plan, indicating the most basic maneuvers and objectives the leader wishes to be accomplished by their subordinate units. It is conveyed to the subordinates before execution of the plan. Subordinates then try to follow the Intent to the best of their ability, while being able to improvise the details as required by the parameters of the terrain, the positioning of enemies, and so on.

Intent is communicated by various leaders at various points throughout the mission. Even Command is given the general Intent of a mission before the Briefing starts, to let them know what the mission is. Command then explains their own Intent to the Platoon Leaders or Squad Leaders, who explain their Intent to the Fireteams. At each level, the Intent becomes slightly more elaborate but also more specific to the units being instructed.

In ShackTac, Intent is the closest thing to a direct order; Subordinates will attempt to follow a leader's Intent as closely as they can, so long as it does not become excessively dangerous or impossible to accomplish. If a unit cannot follow the leader's Intent for any reason, they will report this to the Leader and wait for a revised Intent (or for an order to execute the original Intent despite the difficulties). Anything that is not explicitly included in the Intent is open to interpretation and improvisation by the subordinate (known as "taking the Initiative").

Intent is typically communicated by Radio, but can be communicated by Voice if the leader and all relevant subordinates are within earshot. It must be conveyed in a simple and clear manner to avoid any confusion. Map Markers are almost always used to provide a visual component of the Intent.

Commander's Intent
The Commander's Intent is essentially the objective of the entire mission, along with key elements regarding its execution.

At the start of a Mission, all players are handed a Briefing Text which can be accessed through the Map interface. The Briefing Text includes the "Commander's Intent" section, which describes what the entire Side will be doing and the general way in which they will do so. The Commander's Intent is typically just two or three lines long at the most, describing the objective and the general method by which it will be achieved, as well as additional important points related to Insertion, Extraction and Logistics not covered by the rest of the Briefing Text.

The Commander's Intent is written by the Mission Designer. It is generally not open to changes at all. Occasionally, videos will show Command making contact with the (off-map) high commander (played by a Game Master) to try and change the Intent or receive clarification, but this is fairly rare.

High-Level Intent
After Command reads the "Commander's Intent", they can begin to formulate a plan on how to accomplish the mission. During the first part of the Briefing stage at the start of the mission, Command will describe their own Intent to the Squads and other high-level assets such as Aircraft and Logistics.

Command's Intent is usually more detailed regarding the first part of the mission - Insertion, early positioning, and early movement. It will also describe the ultimate objective. Additional information beyond the first stage of the mission is scarce, and is not normally seen as an actual part of the Intent - seeing as it is open to radical changes (and also very likely to be changed as the mission progresses).

The High-Level Intent typically includes locations (objectives, Staging areas, dismount points, Base of Fire positions, etc.), and the path that the force will take to get to them. Oftentimes, the High-Level Intent does not give details about the specific movement of each squad if it is not of particular importance to the correct execution of the plan.

At each stage of the mission, Command will likely issue a new Intent to the relevant units describing new paths and positions up to the end of the next stage. New Intent is typically issued on Command Net, so that all units will be made aware of the entire Intent even if it isn't directly relevant to them. All leaders subordinate to Command are expected to know the Intent for each unit, to understand how the force is moving and what it is trying to achieve.

Low-Level Intent
Whenever High-Level Intent is issued to a Squad, whether during the Briefing or during the mission itself, the Squad Leader will interpret that Intent and issue their own Intent to their Fireteams. A Squad Leader's Intent is far more detailed than Command's Intent, but generally omits any details that are not relevant to the Squad.

Low-Level Intent typically includes positions, objectives, and also accurate movements paths and formations that the Squad Leader wishes to employ. Things like holding fire, Assaulting a specific building, sectors for each Fireteam to clear, etc. are often included in this Intent.

Since Low-Level Intent is usually highly-detailed, the Fireteam Leaders do not have much leeway; They need clearance to do pretty much anything that isn't in line with the Squad Leader's Intent, such as changing the position of their Fireteam or taking a different path than the one indicated.