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A Fiery Flying Roll

Hating Dungeons and Dragons before it was cool
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I've got several of the Osprey skirmish games on the way (Black Ops, Kobolds and Cobblestones, Outremer, Mad Dogs with Guns).

I'll report back when I've had a read.
Black Ops.

Solid enough modern skirmish warfare game. It uses card driven activation (I'm fine with that but some people hate it as a system). It covers everything you need in a short rulebook - suppressive fire, cover, calling in air strikes (!).

Probably its most impressive feature is the introduction of "blinds" to cover where people don't know where the area are and the stealth rules. This would handle infiltration well from what I can see.

A really good variety of scenarios, 3 standard and 6 stealth missions. It also gives six play boards from terminals to villages.

It'll do almost any faction you could want from the SAS to the Red Army Faction. (It also adds ninjas because fuck you that's why).

Writing is fine but if I'm honest it's a bit dry.

The campaign rules are only two pages and pretty basic. They feel like a bit of an afterthought. This is much more of a game for single battles.

Sample Squad:

SAS (50 Point Squad)

2 x Special Forces Soldier
Accuracy: 3 Close Quarters Combat: 3 Dedication: 4 Save:3 Card: Jack Equipment: Assault Rifle, Body Armour Speciality: Tough (-1 Save)

Special Forces Heavy

Accuracy: 3 Close Quarters Combat: 3 Dedication: 4 Save:3 Card: King Equipment: Sniper Rifle, Body Armour Speciality: Tough (-1 Save)

Special Forces Ace

Accuracy: 3 Close Quarters Combat: 3 Dedication: 4 Save:3 Card: Ace Equipment: Assault Rifle, Body Armour Specialty: Tough (-1 Save), Leader (May Use DED to influence troops)

Squad Upgrades

Grenades (one member of a squad may throw a grenade per activation), NODS (No penalties at night).
 
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Next up is Mad Dogs with Guns: Wargaming in the Gangster Era.

The main thing I can say about this is that it looks like it would be an absolute blast (pun intended) to play. This is definitely a simulation of gangster movies rather than real life gangsters and has all the amusing tropes and stereotypes you'd expect. Support for several different gang types are given from the Sicilian Mafia to the Irish Mob. It also has rules for feds and police so you can run raids etc.

It's worth noting that this is pretty low powered, especially where starting gangs are concerned. Pistols are too be expected and tommy guns are for your top guys, not a matter of default.

The system is straightforward and again uses card activation, this time with a chaotic twist. If two jokers are drawn the round ends, so some gangsters may fail to get their go. If two jokes are drawn in a row the police arrive and everyone has a round to get off the map! The rules cover a wide ground, from simply blazing away to chucking dynamite to cars and even giving your enemy a particularly scary stare.

It does seem surprisingly forgiving when it comes to damage though. Even a lowly slugger only has a 1 in 3 chance of being killed by a rifle shot.

I did find the introduction of a flicking mechanism for bombs a bit odd, because it doesn't really fit with the rest of the rules. Thankfully there's an alternative provided though.

Where Mad Dogs With Guns really shines though is the scenario/campaign material. There are 11 given scenarios which cover pretty much everything you could want from a simple gangland hit to a full on raid by the feds.

The campaign system is even more extensive, taking up more than a quarter of the book. There's definitely enough support for a fun campaign here and it's carefully integrated with the scenarios. As well as the obvious combat, you can do such fun things as buy off the mayor and roll to see if the forces of law have finally had enough of your opponent's gang. This is definitely one of the best campaigns I've seen in a skirmish wargame.

As you can tell, I was really impressed by Mad Dogs with Guns. The flaws it has are minor in my book. It can be unbalanced in some parts (I'd strongly suggest making everyone use the same gang generation system rather than allowing mix and matching as the totally random gangster generation averages out as much stronger) and there's some unclear parts in the campaign system that would need house ruling. But this is great.

With Black Ops I'd like to play a one off some time to try it out. But with Mad Dogs With Guns I'm actively wanting to try and find people willing to play a campaign next year.

My sample gang:

The Zhen De Tong


Name: Geng 'Papa' Shuren Tong Boss

Fists: 4 Gats: 4 Guts: 4 Stunts: 4 Smarts: 4 Hits: 5

Skills: Martial Artist +1 STUNTS in close combat situations. Brutal Champ. +1 FISTS when he’s in public and people are watching.

Weapon: Pistol



Name: Xia 'The Mountain' Yijun Underboss/Martial Artist
Fists: 5 Gats: 5 Guts: 4 Stunts: 4 Smarts: 4 Hits: 4

Skills: Martial Artist +1 STUNTS in close combat situations.

Weapon: Double Barrelled Shotgun



Name: Du “Baby Face” Fen Accountant

Fists: 2 Gats: 3 Guts: 2 Stunts: 2 Smarts: 5 Hits: 3

Skills:

Weapon: Pistol



Name: Mrs Shuren Gun Moll

Fists: 3 Gats: 3 Guts: 3 Stunts: 3 Smarts: 4 Hits: 3

Skills: Nice Girl (Opponents -1 Fists and Gats when facing her)

Weapon: Pistol



Name: Xiong “Two Toes” Feng Hoodlum

Fists: 3 Gats: 3 Guts: 3 Stunts: 3 Smarts: 4 Hits: 3

Skills: Squeamish (-1 Guts when rolling because of your or a friend's wounds)

Weapon: Rifle, Flick Knife



Name: Luo 'Smokes' Rong/Xing 'One Eye' Guo/Tan 'Action' Fu 3x Hoodlum

Fists: 3 Gats: 2 Guts: 3 Stunts: 2 Smarts: 2 Hits: 3

Skills:

Weapon: Various Hand Weapons

Chinatown Rackets: Projection Racket, Opium Den, House of Ill Repute
 
Next up in my Osprey skirmish wargame reviews is Kobolds & Cobblestones.

The setting here is a Ordinsport, a fantasy city with every fantasy race you could think of. And, more importantly, lots and lots of organised crime.

We run into a bit of an issue here. It's pretty hard for me not to compare this to Mad Dogs With Guns (considering that was my last review) and I really like Mad Dogs With Guns. But I'll try and be as fair as I can.

What stands out first is quite how good the setting fluff is. The game has a proper back story (a crime boss that held the city under his iron fist has recently died leading the streets to erupt in gang warfare). There's nice little descriptions of the various gang member types. Best of all are the gang boss biographies which are not only evocative but actively funny in some cases. This is the best setting I've seen in a fantasy wargame in ages.

The mechanics are interestingly quirky. Enough to stand out to me, not much of a mechanics kind of chap.

As we know, Osprey loves its playing card based mechanics and this turns that up to 11. Initiative, movement, combat? All of these (indeed everything) are handled through the use of playing cards.

Of special note is the combat system. Each gang member race has its own special criticals. So Goblin Scumbags, being in your face grubby little gits, have the "Bite" critical. But the cowardly Ratman Sewer Dwellers have the "Evade" option. This is critical (pun intended) as it's the main thing that differentiates the different figures from each other. Indeed, at the lower unit levels a lot of the gang members would be mechanically identical without this.

There's some very simple "antagonism" rules. Essentially, "good" and "evil" races don't get on and if you have both in a gang they need keeping apart or they may forgo an action on their turn. That's fine as far as it goes, but my guess is that in most groups all it really means is that there are two separate army lists that people won't mix. Which is fine, but I'd potentially have liked to see an expansion of this rule to differentiate the races a bit more. I can see why you'd avoid that though. One of the big attractions of this game is that it allows you to use all those random fantasy miniatures you have lying around and you don't want to lose that too much.

There's a good range of scenarios nicely varied from the full on aggro of "All Out Brawl" to the escort mission of "Very Important Criminal".

The bit of the game I liked least were the Campaign Rules and I will admit this is probably where the comparison with Mad Dogs with Guns was most disadvantageous.

It's kinda sound I think, but overly straightforward. You win fights. You gain notoriety. You get money and better unit types so you can win fights and gain notoriety.

What's more of an issue is that losing gang members (which is easy to do) is pretty crippling and can send you on a downward spiral. In a multiplayer campaign the main correction is that other uninvolved gangs can lend out gang members, potentially to try and fix the betting on the fight. That's fun as far as it goes (I love a bit of diplomacy in my wargames) but makes it likely to be unplayable for two players. That said, this may be unfixable in the same way it is with sports tournament games.

Generally though, this is another fun game from Osprey and a great opportunity to dig out your non tournament standard wargame minis. I just think I'd want to rewrite the campaign rules, probably with a combination of Mad Dogs With Guns rules and some stuff from earlier Blood Bowl rulesets.

Sample Gang:

The Stunties

Dorick the Loan Shark Dwarf Gang Boss
Alliance: Red Cost: N/A Move: W Fight: 4 Dodge: 2 Wounds: 10 Crit 1: Pickpocket (Take 1 Gold from other player's stash. Stun if no gold coins. Wound if already stunned). Crit 2: N/A Crit 3: Dip into coffers (Take 1 Gold from shared coffers as well as normal attack). Crit 4: N/A
Special Ability: Pay Day (+2 to stash at the start of battle)

4 x Halfing Bowmen (Runts)
Alliance: Red Cost: 1 G Move: W Fight: 2 Dodge: 2 Wounds: 2 Crit 1: N/A Crit 2: Blind (Target's Fight is reduced by 1 until end of next activation) Crit 3: N/A Crit 4: N/A

2 x Dwarf Miner (Thugs)
Alliance: Red Cost: 3 G Move: W Fight: 3 Dodge: 2 Wounds: 4 Crit 1: Grab (Any enemy trying to break away from this figure makes 2 break away tests) Crit 2: N/A Crit 3: Block (reduce damage taken by 1) Crit 4: N/A
 
Last of all (for now) from Osprey we have Outremer: Faith and Blood.

I have a complicated relationship with historical games. If I'm honest, I'm a bit of a history hipster. The World Wars, the Napoleonic Era and all the standards leave me disinterested. But an unusual setting will hook me every time. So Outremer: Faith and Blood, a game of warbands fighting for dominance in the Holy Land, is right up my street.

It's another skirmish game, with a low figure (3-13 per warband) commitment which is nice to see. Individual battles last around an hour.

I'd say the ruleset does its job, without adding a lot of innovation. That isn't necessarily a bad thing; I don't always feel the need for flashy rules that attempt to be different for differences sake and this covers the necessary elements perfectly well from ranged combat to hiding. It does add a "Faith" stat, but that's essentially a nice thematic rewording of "morale" with how it plays out. Activation is card drawn, but most other mechanics use dice. It is nice to see a system for retreating from battle hardbaked into the rules; too often this is omitted!

What stands out (and I suspect will be of particular interest to people here) is that each member of the warband feels entirely unique.

The game uses a simple career path progression system and individual character traits. This makes every character feel very distinct, which I really like.

The game provides for three factions.

The Crusaders are those who originally came to 'liberate' Jerusalem from Muslim rule. In the latter crusade period many have been there for some time, to the point where some may have been born in the Crusader States! They're a diverse grouping, with peasants, merchants and pilgrims all fighting alongside knights.

The Military Orders (the Knights Templar, Knights Hospitallar etc.) are military orders who have taken monastic vows. Notably devout, they're a professional army unlike the Crusaders and field their men accordingly. (No peasant levies here!)

The Saracens is an umbrella term for the various Muslim forces lined up against the invaders. Some are united against the infidels, others are as prone to fighting among themselves as fighting the Westerners!

Notably, considering the chaos and various agendas of the time it's fine to field any warband against another. There's nothing stopping two Military Orders clashing!

There's also two mercenary forces available to hire. Crusaders and Military Orders can call on the services of the Varangian Guardsmen, the mercenary force of the Byzantine Empire. The Saracens have the option of hiring the feared assassins of the Hashashin.

The game provides six scenarios. These are fine but unexciting. They're what you're likely to have seen before in skirmish games.

The campaign rules are more interesting. Not only do they allow character advancement, but you have to feed and clothe your warriors between battles or risk them deserting! The other notable thing is the deadliness . If a character falls an enemy in contact with them may use their next action to either capture or kill them. A capture allows an enemy rescue attempt but if failed or not used it means you can make more money by selling them in the slave market!

A sample warband (with a few house rules I'd use, only minor)

les Gardiens de Ténacité (Military Order)

Military Order Special Rules:


Unshakeable Faith. Any Faith Test is automatically passed by those on the Knight Career Path). (House Rule: I would specifically omit faith rolls to avoid desertion for non maintenance from this otherwise you never have to pay for these knights!)

By Fire and Sword. Known for their impetous nature, any model from the Knight Career path must charge an opponent if it range at the start of their activation.

Organised Army. All Knights start with a free sword, but must meet a minimum equipment standard.

Couched Lance Charge. Any Knight with a mount is assumed to start with a lance. When they charge for the first time in battle they may ignore enemy toughness rolls when wound rolls are made.

Sieur Hildebrand Geffroy - Commander

Move: 5 1/2 Shoot: Nil Attack: d10 Def: d8 Wounds: 2 Faith: d10 Tough: 5 Presence: 4 Save 3+ Type: Turcopolier-1 Experience Level: 41

Commander. All models within 5" may use the Commander's Faith Stat to make Faith Rolls.
Fast: (+1 Movement)
Large Build (Light Armour only incurs a 0.5" penalty, Heavy Armour incurs a 1" penalty)
Shield Bash (May attack twice, second time using shield as improvised weapon).

Equipment: Horse, Sword (Power d8, Damage 1), Long Shield, Maille (Heavy Armour), Full Helmet



Hennryet Gaume - Chaplain

Move: 3 Shoot: Nil Attack: d6-1 Def: d4-1 Wounds: 1 Faith: d8 Tough: 4 Presence: 3 Save Type: Chaplain-1 Experience Level: 41

May not use shield.
Turn the other cheek. Enemy Christians need to reroll faith tests to charge him.
Inspiring presence. Military order models within 3" may reroll failed faith tests.
Healer. Heal models who have been taken down. Allow one casualty to reroll scars of battle test.
Resilent. +1 Toughness
Warrior Priest. May use melee weapons normally (priests normally can't!)

Equipment: Mace (Power d8, Damage 2), Gambeson (Light amour)


Sieur Jehanson Hérisson - Knight

Move: 5 Shoot: Nil Attack: d8 Def: d6 Wounds: 2 Faith: d10 Tough:5 Presence: 4 Save 4+ Type: Knight Brother-1 Experience Level: 0

Born to lead (2). All friendly units within 2" may use unit's Faith Stat to make rolls.
Large Build (Light Armour only incurs a 0.5" penalty, Heavy Armour incurs a 1" penalty)
Agile (Reroll failed Toughness tests when falling)

Equipment:Sword (Power d8, Damage 1), Short Shield, Maille (Heavy Armour), Full Helmet

Sieur Cedric Blanc - Knight

Move: 4 Shoot: Nil Attack: d8 Def: d6 Wounds: 2 Faith: d10 Tough: 5 Presence: 4 Save 4+ Type: Knight Brother-1 Experience Level: 0

Amongst Friends. Reroll failed faith tests when within 4" of another model (this isn't a good roll but does have minimal use. There's a handful of exceptions to immunity and he can reroll those)

Slippery. If captured roll d10. On a roll of 8+ escapes without any equipment.

Equipment: Sword (Power d8, Damage 1), Short Shield, Maille (Heavy Armour), Full Helmet


Maynard Baumé - Sargent

Move: 6 Shoot: d8 Attack: d6-1 Def: d6-1 Wounds: 1 Faith: d8 Tough 4 Presence: 3 Save 6+ Type: Sargent Recruit 1 Experience Level: 0

Resilent 2. +2 Toughness.

Equipment: Mace (Power d8, Damage 2), Crossbow (Short 0-8, Long 8-24, Power: d12, Damage 2, Takes 2 full actions to load and shoot). Helmet


Warband Treasury: 2 Livres

As you can see, our starting warband is on the small side (only five models) but very skilled. However, if they don't make some money quickly they'll be in trouble!
 
Five Parsecs from Home (3e)

Next up we have a game for when you don't have any friends can't find anybody to play with. Five Parsecs from Home is a scifi solo skirmish wargame. It's also miniature agnostic, so you can cultivate them from anywhere.

Setting

Definitely one of the strong points of the game for me. It sketches in broad strokes, but there's more then enough to whet your imagination here. The setting doesn't do anything especially unusual, but it does well at invoking the proper feel. It has a galaxy spanning bureaucratic government in the shape of Unity. While Unity claims the whole galaxy, the further you get from its core worlds the more that control slips and the more varied and eccentric the worlds are. As you'd expect in this kind of game, you'll be operating in that fringe space. The game also mentions alien polities outside the control of Unity, but currently a mention is all there really is.

Speaking of alien races, this is where the game shines. Character options are base humans, one of the six primary aliens (who range from the warlike K’Erin to the cybernetic hive mind connected Soulless , bots or a "strange character" (another20 options are given here, from unusual humans like the Unity Agent to the odd tentacled aliens of the Manipulators to a time traveller!) The sheer number of options is really impressive and one of my favourite things about the game. There's also a selection of enemy races like the Abductors (who act as their name suggests).

In terms of your crew, it's very reminiscent of something like Firefly, with a group of diverse rogues carrying out various scams and jobs.

I love this about the game and it's something I'd like to see more of in wargames. I'm not talking GW levels of lore, but real attention paid to world building. If anything, I'd have liked to see more of this. What's there is great, but pretty barebones at time.

Mechanics

As you'd imagine, a large part of this is focused on combat and the game is on the rules lite end of the spectrum (which I prefer for a skirmish wargame these days). In essence, you make a modified d6 roll to hit your enemy and then make another one to see if your enemy is removed from the game. Elegant and it works. There's obviously more to it than that with rules for movement, terrain etc. but nothing in my view that adds to the complexity too gravely.

Enemies use an AI system which is simple, but suprisingly varied. It uses predetermined tactics, with the specifics varying according to the type of AI. This works really well and means that rabid beasts feel very different to fight then spaceport scum, as it should be.

As is common for wargames, it's very forgiving in terms of actual deaths. Your casualties may need to spend a turn or two in sick bay, but they only have a 15 chance of actually dying. (Which is good for those who hate using figures that don't look like the characters!)

One nice feature is how modable it is in terms of difficulty. There are five difficulty levels, which affect the strengths of enemies etc. You have story points (essentially fate points from other games, allowing rerolls or extra exp for a specific character). There's also the "stars of the story" options for those that like their games more cinematic, which are five more powerful options to help tip the balance in the crew's favour. I don't use them myself, but they're good for those that want to make the game a bit less deadly.

The story of the game is largely created by random tables, which cover everything from planetary features to rumour gathering to job offers. This part reminds me a lot of old school solo boardgames like Barbarian Prince or Star Smuggler, although it's a lot less arbitrarily brutal! The randomisation helps with replayability; there's enough there to not feel like you're repeating yourself for multiple campaigns.

Campaign

This is procedurally generated and so is prone to feeling like a series of random events (which is what it is!) rather than anything more structured. You choose your own goal (make so much money or visit so many planets) which can feel a bit abstracted. This is partially resolved by the "Story Track" campaign, where you intersperse the random events with set pieces about an old friend of yours turned enemy. I like this, but it's not really very replayable. I'd also possibly only suggest running it for a very short campaign; it suggests you carry on trying to reach a standard goal after the big showdown which I found anti-climatic.

This is definitely something the game could develop more, possibly even developing an entire supplement to structured campaigns. (Or, obviously, you can write your own).

Conclusion

Overall, this is very good indeed. I've really only scratched the surface of the contents, there's whole sections uncovered. It's both fun as an experienced wargamer and would make a very good introduction to skirmish games for a newbie. When my main criticism is that I'd like to see more content, that can only be good for a game.

Sample Crew

Name: Mila Scooker
Type: Baseline Human


ReactionsSpeedCombat SkillToughnessSavvyLuckExperience
14''03000

Background: Growing up in an overcrowded urban hellhole, Mila's favourite thing about space is the lack of people. When she's not doing her job as ship's cook she likes to paint watercolours. Her work is good enough that she's started to gain an audience in the art collectors of Unity. She doesn't socialise much, but is generally happy as long as she gets paid on time.

Equipment: Shotgun, Blade, 7 Credits

Name: Captain Wanda Rison
Type: Baseline Human


ReactionsSpeedCombat SkillToughnessSavvyLuckExperience
14'03012
Background: Wanda was brought up on a K’Erin world, where humans were openly treated like second class citizens and scorned as weaklings. This experience made her determined that she would gain the power never to be looked down on again. She has achieved that with her own ship (albeit on credit) and her experience as a trader.

Equipment: Hand Laser, Insta Wall, 9 Credits


Name: San'Yimis Van Goreh
Type: Engineer (Prime Alien)


ReactionsSpeedCombat SkillToughnessSavvyLuckExperience
14'12+200
Background: San'Yimis grew up on a heavily isolationist alien enclave, but that was never enough for him. He wanted to see the universe, to find all the sites out there. He ran away knowing he'd never be welcome back. After a short time with a mercenary unit, he signed onto the SST Nomad as, perhaps inevitably, their engineer.

Special Abilities: +1 to repair Damaged Item, Toughness can never exceed 4
Equipment: Shatter Axe, Scrap Pistol, Military Rifle with Bipod

Name: Ammyn Parker
Type: Baseline Human


ReactionsSpeedCombat SkillToughnessSavvyLuckExperience
24'03002
Background: Ammyn has been drifting all her life, going from planet to planet acting as a freelance troubleshooter. She refuses to be tied down by anyone, so it's something of a surprise she's agreed to be the SST Nomad's Security Officer.

Equipment: Scrap Pistol, Scanner Bot

Name: V
Type: Stalker


ReactionsSpeedCombat SkillToughnessSavvyLuckExperience
24'03100

Special Ability: Can Teleport

Background: There are very few places that would treat a Stalker (a strange blue skinned gene modded human originally created as part of a secret military experiment) as an equal. But Halford's Hope is the exception that proves the rule. V is incredibly grateful, so much that he uses his special abilities to make sure any threats to his personal utopia are neutralised. While he still has that role, he is also the pilot of the SST Nomad.

Equipment: Colony Rifle with Bipod, Nerve Adjuster, 3 Credits.

Name: Spanner
Type: Soulless

ReactionsSpeedCombat SkillToughnessSavvyLuckExperience
24'04102

Special Abilities: 6+ Armour Save, Cannot use consumables, roll on bot injury table, can install bot upgrades

Background: One of the cybernetic organisms known as the Soulless, Spanner started his life working on a military outpost. He got frustrated with being passed over for important roles in favour of fleshy humans with less abilities. Now he works as the SST Nomad's Accountant.

Equipment: Hand Laser, 3 Credits

The Ship - SST Nomad

Debt: 20
Ship Store: 6 Credits
Special Abilities:
Hull: 16
Patrons: 1
Story Points: 1
Rumours: 2 Quest
Rival: 2

The SST Nomad is an upgraded shuttle, not exactly fancy but certainly gets you from point A to B. The crew are a bunch of ruthless cuthroats, who originally came together after a fight with some gunslingers.
 
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Five Parsecs from Home (3e)

Next up we have a game for when you don't have any friends can't find anybody to play with. Five Parsecs from Home is a scifi solo skirmish wargame. It's also miniature agnostic, so you can cultivate them from anywhere.


If the setting doesn't appeal, there are versions adapted to different settings. I've been reading through Five Leagues from the Borderlands and thinking about giving it a run. There's also Five Men at Kursk and Five Clicks from the Zone (post-apocalyptic).
 
I have a complicated relationship with historical games. If I'm honest, I'm a bit of a history hipster. The World Wars, the Napoleonic Era and all the standards leave me disinterested. But an unusual setting will hook me every time. So Outremer: Faith and Blood, a game of warbands fighting for dominance in the Holy Land, is right up my street.

100% in the same boat. I think that's what drove me, more broadly as a student of history, into the long sixteenth century and the Low Countries in particular during that era.

So many of my historically-interested friends are all-in on the Norse Viking era, which I'm stoked they are stoked about, but I've little interest in being the hundredth person showing up to that party.

It does make finding people to game with hard, though! Oof!
 
Black Ops, like a lot of the Osprey blue book wargames, really needed about ten more pages. There's a solid game in there but you really need to fill in a lot of stuff yourself. Like the campaign system: it's perfectly serviceable and it works very well, but you're going to have to fill in a lot of the fluff yourself.

Probably my biggest disappointment with Black Ops is that it was sold as a kind of Battlefield/Modern Warfare near future wargame, when it's really more of a realistic special ops game.
 
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