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AoD Official AAR/Walkthrough #2!!!


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This AAR is making it hard to resist purchasing this expansion (plus the base game).

I'm currently playing a "Storm over Europe" campaign" but would like to also expand into the other operational theaters.

You won't regret purchasing this expansion. Between it and AoC I am not getting much sleep these days :)

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The summary above shows the situation facing the UK and France. Our enemy expressed surprise that French and British fighters were nowhere in the skies over Belgium, but Churchill felt that if Belgium was not going to help itself when faced with obvious danger, then the Allied warplanes needed to be held back for the defense of France.

The RAF is particularly well prepared now, having complemented its Hurricanes with the even speedier Spitfire.

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The previous pair of photos shows the extent of British confidence in Italy's "neutrality". Having become far too cozy with Germany, he will now have to live with the consequences.

(This turn, Italian war readiness was 92% at the beginning and jumped a small bit to 94% after I moved some French ships out of port, quite deliberately. At this point I don't care how much I tick off the Italians, because they're going to be in this thing within a turn or two no matter what I do. Now, my forces are disposed the way I want them to be when Italy makes the leap out of the frying pan and into the fire).

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Below is the situation off of Halifax. The U-32 hung around a bit too long, giving me time to bring up a couple of destroyers to support the cruisers already in the area.

(For newcomers to the game---a good tactic when hunting subs is to either surround them completely, so that they can't escape. But this is often not possible, so the next best tactic is to station other ships just out of sight of the sub. When he moves, and if I'm lucky, the U-32 may find a French ship. The effect of this will be damage to both vessels, particularly the German, and the U-boat will be stopped in its tracks, allowing me to come in and finish him off next turn---IF I'm lucky. Marc may find the one (and only one) clear path out of the area, giving us each a 50-50 chance of having a smile on our faces next turn :))

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It is May and the action in Europe heated up.

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I opened with an invasion of Norway, seizing the county.

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The invasion of France also began this turn with attacks on 2 fronts. Since Jim’s forces were well dug in and double stacked… making a direct assault by armor risky… I decided I would strike primarily south of Lille with a medium bomber and then use infantry to assault instead of armor. My second front was directly against the Maginot line. Using tactical aircraft and infantry assaults I was able to reduce French entrenchments and destroy a defending coprs and in general reduce fortification levels across the Maginot line, making that front particularly vulnerable should I commit my armor there next turn. I did not advance into the vacant Maginot line spot. I am going to take my time in the destruction of the French army in an effort to build experience for the Eastern Front.

Strategically… I think that North of the Maginot line Jim absolutely has to assault one or more of the 3 German corps, which works for me as I would rather him batter away at corps and waste his strength than against my expensive armor. He will have the prepared assault bonus so not to attack and inflict damage on the Germans might be too much of an opportunity to pass up. So in essence… he attacks and can do some damage but takes damage as well making his defenders much more vulnerable to my second wave. It will be interesting to see what he does.

In the Atlantic Jim hammered a U-Boat that has been lingering off the Canadian coast for some time… becoming more of a simple annoyance. I now have two U-Boast limping home.

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In Central China I opened up a second front against the Chinese… by pushing forward a powerful army supported directly by 2 artillery units, a medium bomber and fighters along with 2 HQ’s. I am fairly confident Jim expects (rightly so) an offensive drive in the south from the coast inward. I doubt he expected a massive push into the center of the country. Note how close my HQ is to the front… this is to provide better supply to my frontline units, making them more effective. It will be interesting to see how Jim reacts. If he attacks he potentially opens himself up to additional casualties by weakening his front line units, making them more vulnerable when the Japanese attack. Should he attack and swap those front line units out afterwards he sacrifices his entrenchments. It is a catch 22. He can see my forces advancing in the South and shortly he will have major fighting on 2 fronts… which over time should make it difficult to replace losses.

At the end of the turn Italy entered the war… which I had hoped would happen at the start of the turn. This leaves them vulnerable to attack by the Allies before I can respond.

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Abudeke, I'm curious how your going to cross the allied doubleline since I chose exactly the same defense in my hotseat and it has been very costly for the Germans not counting the numerous bristish smaller units Happycat could deploy near Paris. Hey Happycat, I suppose the French Tank should be in Paris at level 6 entrenchement, trust me, it works. Now its bit late but who knows you may have other cards in your sleeve. At first glance, I felt the French were too weak at the start but have to admit a well dug-in french/british line behind the Seine plus a doubleline on the borders may push the german player to trade unit sacrifice for an early french surrender. A good balance so far!

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Damn-it HC, you left the gate open, the cows are about to get out!

I was hoping he would choose the wrong direction and run into my hidden DD---but he chose the right route. I would have closed the gate, but one ship was just out of range :(

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Norway has fallen, and the first combat has occurred on the French border. I was, as Marc surmised, tempted to counterattack but opted not to.

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The Australian and Kiwi units, weak though they are right now, will be welcome additions to Egypt.

While I was not ready to attack towards Tobruk, the numerous Allied ships in the Med made a bombardment of the Tripoli area too good an opportunity to pass up., knocking 3 steps off of the Italian IV Corps.

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No maps or pictures from China this turn. Marc thinks he surprised me in the center, but in fact the aerial recon I flew a couple of turns back gave me an idea of the number of armies I am facing on that front. And there was never any doubt in my mind that a big push from the south was in the works.

China has a reasonable number of ground units now, mostly corps and divisions it is true. But there are some armies, and more on the way. My biggest concern is the shortage of HQ's, so I have had to be creative with using the ones I have until the new ones arrive.

Over and out.

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Abudeke, I'm curious how your going to cross the allied doubleline since I chose exactly the same defense in my hotseat and it has been very costly for the Germans not counting the numerous bristish smaller units Happycat could deploy near Paris. Hey Happycat, I suppose the French Tank should be in Paris at level 6 entrenchement, trust me, it works. Now its bit late but who knows you may have other cards in your sleeve. At first glance, I felt the French were too weak at the start but have to admit a well dug-in french/british line behind the Seine plus a doubleline on the borders may push the german player to trade unit sacrifice for an early french surrender. A good balance so far!

Abukede has proven to me in the past that he doesn't shy away from the rough stuff---he will break the Allied defense methodically and if it costs him an army or two, he'll live with it. I agree with you that the French tank unit does an awesome job if placed in Paris, but that takes away what little offensive options the Anglo-French force has. Placing the armour where I did has a two-fold effect: every air attack he makes on it is an attack not spent upon other units that, to me, are more important in terms of where they are placed. And if he does not attack the armour, then I might get a chance to use it against him at a critical moment.

That's the plan---Marc has a tendency to derail my plans however :)

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Lots of action this turn.

One of my damaged U-Boats blundered into an allied cruiser on the way home… not good. On the positive side… I began the serious task of methodically destroying the French army. Jim kept his lines in place without attacking the German line. I thought he would have done so and was prepared for serious losses but in the end he opted to sit tight… his tactical choices were not great. Unless he pulled back he was facing the prospect of serious losses either way.

Using massive air assaults and ground attacks I broke his first line of defense in several places.

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I destroyed the army defending Lille and the one adjacent to it and occupied the city. I also threw my armor into the line with solid effect. Note my armor is now upgraded to level 1.

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In this picture you can see the breaking of the Maginot Line. Next turn I expect to push around and out into France causing a lot of destruction. Having destroyed 3 French armies and a corps I think I am close to breaking the back of the French army. That said the French can still hurt me.

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In North Africa the Italians began an offensive drive on Tunisia. You can see Jim deployed his navy against the Italian ground forces in North Africa. I assume they were in the area in an attempt to crush the Italian fleet. Unfortunately for Jim… the weather over Italy was poor, hence throwing their weight against the Italian ground forces in Africa while they wait for improved conditions.

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In Asia things really got interesting as the Japanese made their first ‘real’ push against China. Much like in France Jim opted to sit tight… content to hold his positions safely entrenched. Notice the two Japanese artillery units. Both are charged with 3 shots each and both are excellent tools for defeating entrenchments. Jim’s units are dug in and entrenched. I unloaded a massive bombardment on Chengchow destroying those entrenchments and weakening the morale of the defenders.

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Here… I swapped one of the units out that attacked and had been adjacent. That attacker had used his prepared assault bonus to great effect. Having been swapped out… it is why he still looks active. Notice the number of Japanese armies on the front line for this offensive. There are 5 in view with 2 more just out of view. This is an extremely powerful force. I have also made sure to support it with 2 HQ’s and aircraft. Sadly my aircraft were grounded otherwise the destruction of Chinese forces would have been much worse.

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This is how it looked after the first turn of the fighting… with Chengchow under Japanese control. This city produced 10 MPP a turn and 5 National Morale points. The Chinese are now bleeding 11 points a turn… not counting those lost in unit destruction.

Having taken Jim’s primary source for supply in Central China… I have successfully unhinged his line. He may try an all-out assault against my forces in an attempt to retake the city and regain a supply source. He may fall back toward the mountains. I hope he attacks. If he does, it will mean I will get a real shot at doing the Chinese a lot of damage. Should he opt to hold his ground his unit readiness will soon drop like a rock.

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My offensive force that took the coastal cites… pushed forward against Jim’s Southern line. You can see another more powerful force of Japanese units just to the north. Jim is shortly going to have major fighting on 2 possible 3 fronts in China complicating any type of defense.

My goal in China is to take all of his production sources in the south and keep him too busy defending and replacing losses to even contemplate a counter-attack. So far I think I am off to a good start. Who said the early part of the game isn’t interesting? :P

Back to Jim.

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As we head into July of 1940, the French finally abandon great portions of the now essentially worthless Maginot Line. For the sake of secrecy, no maps are being distributed showing the new locations of the French units. However, I can tell you that the French now have a double line protecting Paris, and in a couple of spots the line is actually triple.

The French and British are under no illusions however---the German air superiority coupled with their tanks will make things very difficult.

In the Mediterranean, the British continue to build up forces on the Libyan frontier, and RN forces clobbered an Italian army that was pushing towards Tunis.

We do have maps from China to show you:

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Last turn Marc had the misfortune of having a U-boat blunder its way into a nest of Allied warships. This turn, I had the misfortune of seeing that U-boat dive and escape after one attack, and then I sent several ships out to search for it. Only when I was running short of ships did I find it, and another attack (by a DD) again forced the sub down and it escaped.

*****

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Lots of action this turn.

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The action in France opened with a bang. I pushed forward in a big way.

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I destroyed the corps near the French main line and then advanced forward destroying the garrison, occupying the mine, then the fighter and the corps next to my armor.

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In this picture you can see my armor in the process of destroying the last holdout on the Maginot line. I know a lot of players hesitate to assault this line but with proper planning and sufficient air support it is easily overcome. This turn I bagged 3 corps, 1 fighter, and 4 garrisons. The French army is still dangerous but much weakened. Any attacks Jim makes should hasten France’s fall.

In North Africa the Italians pushed forward against Tunisia and the Germans landed reinforcements to bolster their Italian allies. I am confident this makes Jim very uncomfortable. I plan on having a heavy German presence in North Africa and I intend to push toward Egypt after the French fall.

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In Central China Jim attacked Chengchow with a lot of units… swapping out the fully entrenched units for fresh ones after they attacked. My gallant defenders were able to successfully hold. I continued with my offensive targeting the entrenched unit south of Chengchow.

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I reduced his entrenchment level with arty and air bombardment before performing a ground assault which resulted in the destruction of the army.

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In South China Jim had attacked a special forces unit mauling him… I used him to attack and reduce fortification levels before performing attacks against Jim’s entrenched lines with limited results. I did make the decision after my attacks to sack the Japanese commander and replace him with a higher level HQ so that supply and command and control is improved.

So far I am pleased with my offensive operations in China. The Japanese are now in the process of destroying a Chinese unit a turn. The last two turns have been very costly for Jim… including his counter-attacks, meaning he is now losing more than he is making. I actually expect there is a good chance Jim will fall back in the center to the mountains to preserve what is left of his forces.

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France continues to hold out, and some understrength French units have received replacements. It appears likely that the Germans will now attempt to surround Paris and threaten it from north and east.

Meanwhile in the Mediterranean the British pondered whether to ground strike the two newly arrived German divisions in Tunisia, but in the end opted for a very successful attack upon an Italian submarine.

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As the attacks by Royal Navy aviators were being made on the Italian sub off of Tunisia, French warships steamed rapidly east and north, into the Adriatic, where they had some success against an Italian cruiser.

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CHINA: No counterattacks were made by the Chinese, although I was quite tempted to launch one in the south. Japanese forces driving north into the mountains seem to have neglected their western flank. But in the end, it did not seem worth giving up nicely fortified positions. While it seemed possible to heavily damage on Japanese army, that just isn't enough of a payoff considering the risks involved.

****

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Lots of action again this turn. German pressed forward to the border of Paris.

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I conducted air attacks followed up by ground assaults with solid results.

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Here you can see the attack pushing forward as Jim’s final line of resistance collapses.

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This is how it looked when my attacks in France were all said and done. You can see I destroyed 2 armies and 1 corps for little loss. I am also in the process of surrounding Paris. France’s morale is around 54%. I expect it to plummet this turn.

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Here is an interesting picture. Jim finally got around to sending naval assets into the Adriatic. He hammered an Italian cruiser pretty hard. However note the upgraded Italian navy. 3 fully upgraded BBs and 1 Cruiser supported by 2 upgraded and highly supplied fighters. Jim may have waited too long.

The Italians attacked the French fleet, which saw the destruction of the French BB, CA and significant reduction (primarily due to air attacks) of the sub. Though I would prefer to fight UK ships as the French are about to surrender… the national morale bonus of sinking those two ships really helped Italy.

I expect the UK navy to show up next turn… however such an attack will prove costly. Jim used one of his carriers to make multiple attacks on ground forces in North Africa and he took casualties doing it. Should he bring his carriers in, he will have to contend with land based air that is upgraded and well supplied. With much of the French navy gone… any attack is sure to be ugly. It will be interesting to see what he does… keep the Italian navy bottled up or attack?

In North Africa Italian and German troops continued their offensive in Tunisia.

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In Asia I was able to break the last fortification in Central china and destroy the corps that had been defending it. I expect to push forward next turn.

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Well, everyone may love Paris in the springtime, but the Germans will have to learn to love it in the fall. Next turn is Sept 1st and the Germans are not yet in Paris.

In France, as will be seen, the French army isn't quite finished off yet, and in the Med, their navy gets in one last lick---a wee one, but a lick! The Royal Navy didn't do anything in the Med, mainly because the elements of it that came in from the Atlantic a few turns back made their appearance, and then scooted off to the North Sea. Some bait I set for the Kriegsmarine didn't prove interesting enough, I guess, so I found something else for the carriers to do. Read on, if you're curious to know what...

China conducted its first counterattack, near Changsha. The results were not overwhelming, but not totally unsatisfactory either. I'm happy with the lowered Japanese readiness and morale, and I now have a lot more Chinese armies than I used to. Overall, China now has 49 land units to Japan's 60---and I doubt that all of the Japanese land units are in China. If they are, I'd be quite happy with that.

Now to the detailed reports:

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That's all for this turn. It's interesting that Marc is happy with France and Asia, because I'm also happy. And we may both be right. Japan has made some great advances in China, securing the coast cities, but China on the other hand still holds some very defensible ground, and is rapidly gaining strength.

France will go down, which will of course make Marc happy, but he may be less than pleased with the time it took and the loss of 14th Army. I'm happy because Britain is looking quite secure, and will soon have new DD's (and old American ones) with which to hunt the U-boats that are still hurting the economy.

*****

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A ton of action this turn… Jim destroyed an army, which I expected. When he attacked with his armor I wanted him to strike an infantry rather than an armor. He would have been hard pressed to go after my armor but I did not want to give him an opportunity to destroy one so I put my infantry forward. I need my armor with all their experience gained in Poland and France for the Russian campaign. I simply could not afford to lose one!

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I have been slow walking the French campaign for a couple of reasons. One reason was that I wanted to build a lot of experience for later in the game. The second reason will become clear in a moment.

There was a corps to the right of Paris, which was quickly destroyed. I then began the reduction of Paris proper. Notice there are no UK units left in France… at least in view Jim appears to have pulled them out.

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I took advantage of my armor to finish the reduction of the city.

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This is how the final positions in France looked. I deliberately avoided Jim’s armor, which after his attack upon my army… he pulled back to Orleans. An attack on that armor would have resulted in additional casualties. There was no sense in taking additional losses by attacking the armor directly, especially since France is defeated.

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I mentioned that I had a campaign with both German and Italian forces in North Africa. I had invaded Tunisia. Axis forces pushed into Tunisia and then Algeria. Why attack West when I have UK forces building up in the East? When I invaded the Low Countries I counted French units and I noted what seemed to be more than expected. In addition, Italy entered the war a few turns early and it seemed to me that Jim had likely pulled his French garrisons completely out of the Med. I decided to take advantage of this… with Algiers as my ultimate goal. I figured that I could completely reduce France proper (destroy most of her ground units and gain additional experience) by October and with Italian and German forces advancing in North Africa seize Algeria around the same time, especially should Jim have transferred his defending corps to Europe… hence the primary reason behind my slow walk of France. I needed to give Axis forces in North Africa time to seize Algiers, which this turn they did… walking into the city unopposed. Jim had indeed move his defending corps to France proper where they were destroyed in detail.

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Holding both Paris and Algiers I saw no need to accept Petain’s Vichy France proposal. I said “No” and France as a whole surrendered, including most of her colonial possessions around the globe. Germany gains additional production and additional ports in the Med. Taking the colonial possessions is also important because it gives my raiders additional supply and bases of operations for minor repairs. When the Japanese enter the war they can also take advantage of these ports and supply sources. There is also a third reason I went this route which I will explain shortly.

In Asia there was very heavy fighting with the Chinese seeing a number of units badly mauled. No pictures this turn of that.

Back to Jim.

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Oh neat Abukede. I bet you said no to Vichy to get Spain into the Axis fold via that decision event. Having Spain voluntarily in the Axis is going to mean a nice net gain in MPPs over the course of the game.

This also probably means you are doing an Axis attack into Egypt since you will be able to capture Gibralter & close off the med to the Allies. Pretty powerful move.

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I'm surprised the Allied player didn't see this coming when the Italians invaded French North Africa.

Great move though to punish the French for abandoning their positions. This series of events is one of my favorite from the default campaigns. I only wish there were more what if's that were supported in such a way.

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I'm surprised the Allied player didn't see this coming when the Italians invaded French North Africa.

Great move though to punish the French for abandoning their positions. This series of events is one of my favorite from the default campaigns. I only wish there were more what if's that were supported in such a way.

I agree that it's a great move. What makes it particularly painful for the Allied player is that he was spending MPPs on diplomacy in Spain. I wonder if that was what caused Abukede to decide to choose this route.

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I think that Jim wasn't expecting that move primarily because I have never pulled it with him. We have played a large number of games with Gold... and to date I have never gone with the complete conquest of France option. He knows that I like to vary things up... but I get the felling he thought it was a long shot option for me... and yes one of the reasons I pulled an invasion of Algeria was the fact that he had invested in diplomacy for Spain... but also because I felt there was a real chance of pulling it off due to the fact that he had likely stripped North Africa of the defending corps.

It is kind of a cool move.

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As might be expected France has fallen to the Germans. More surprisingly, as I see it is to some of you, Marc took the complete surrender and annexation of France.

I expected this because, as he himself points out, there is no incentive for the German to form Vichy. There are some good reasons for the Allies to be happy with this surrender of all French territory---I can now attack several French possessions before Japan enters the war, and in addition don't need to worry about ticking off the Americans if I invade what would have otherwise been Vichy territory.

Now, I have never played this option before---and I am concerned about something someone said about an event that brings Spain into the war voluntarily. If there is such an event, and I missed it, then I screwed up. But, it keeps things interesting, for sure.

No action this turn, so nothing to post other than summaries:

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