ConfigMgr 2012 Licensing - Calculations explained for Dummies

Hi.. Recently i had to calculate the number of licenses required for a ConfigMgr 2012 R2 Hierarchy to project that to my management.

The design was like with single primary and multiple remote DP's to support Few K workstations and few servers.

 I've gone through the Licensing documents provided by microsoft and i over read it as always. It confused me a lot. So i decided to raise a thread in technet and Gerry Hampson was able to clarify few things about the licensing.

From what i've taken from the thread i decide to make this post about ConfigMgr 2012 Licensing in a very simple manner.

The first that i missed from the document is

"License required only for endpoints being managed. No additional licenses are needed for management servers or SQL Server technology."

So that it, We dont require license for ConfigMgr CAS, Primary, Secondary, DP's and any other functional roles installed in a ConfigMgr Hierarchy

we require license only if you are going to manage those servers through ConfigMgr.

We have Two kind of Client management license to address specific needs.

1. ConfigMgr 2012 Workstation client licenses
2. ConfigMgr 2012 Managed server Licenses

ConfigMgr 2012 Workstation Client Licenses

  This license is required for all non Server OS ConfigMgr clients that is Workstation clients. But it's not limitted to Windows clients. The number of license required is calculated based on "Per License Per Client". The product name of this license is "Configuration Manager Client ML" and it cost $62 per license

 Suppose if you have 20K no server clients in your environment you would require 20K Configuration Manager Client ML to manage those client through ConfigMgr.

ConfigMgr 2012 Managed Server Licenses
SML's (Server management Licenses) cannot be purchased for ConfigMgr alone and it's for the whole system center.

SML's are needed to manage Server clients through ConfigMgr. And to address the virtualization complexities microsoft introduces another licensing method and it has two Editions.

1. Microsoft system center 2012 R2 Datacenter
2. Microsoft System center 2012 R2 Standard

components that are covered aunder two editions are shown above.

The differences in the supported numbers and cost of the editions are shown above.

From the above image, it's clear that the Standard edition is apt for physical servers and the datacenter edition is apt for virtualized servers.

Let's do the calculation now.

Environment :

1. 2 Physical servers with two physical processors each
2. 1 virtualized server with 10 OSE's running on it through Hyper-V (Google it to know about OSE)
3. 1000 Workstation clients.

License requirement

1. A standard edition license will support two physical processors and each server has two physical processors we require two Standard SML's ($2646)

2. As in the virtualized server there are 11 OSE's running on it, if we go for standard edition SML's, we would require (11/2 = 5.5 = 6) 6 standard edition of SML and that would cost us $7938. Instead if we go for Datacenter edition SML, a single datacenter edition SML is enoug to licence all the OSE's running on the server. So we would require 1 Datacenter SML and the cost is verymuch lesser when compared to Standard SML's (3607)

3. For 1000 clients we would require 1000 Client management licenses (1000*62=62000) $62000

The cost described above is based on the System center 2012 licensing anf if you have Service assurance or Enterprise agreement the cost will vary.

Hope this helps.
                                                                                                                                   Techytipz

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How to play MKV format videos in Sony Bravia LED TV or any other LED TV

  I recently bought Sony DAV TZ 215 DVD Home Theater System. But when i was running it for the first time i was really disappointed since it cant play MKV format videos. But all my HD movies are in MKV format.

  Later i found a way to make the HTS system play MKV formats with a little workaround. This workaround can be used for Sony Bravia and any other LED tv's

Let's see the procedure,

1. Go to http://www.videohelp.com/tools/tsMuxeR and download txMuxer latest version and extract it on your computer.
2. Double click on tsMuxerGUI.exe to open the tsMuxer
3. In the Input tab click on add to add the mkv file you want to convert
4. Select the output format as M2TS Muxing and change the video level if required
5. Click on Start Muxing, the out file will be saved in the output directory and that can be changed.
6. This process will take around 30 secs for 1Gb MKV file.
7. Copy the output file to a USB and your sony device must play that video format.

The screenshot below will show the options available

MKV is a container and M2ts is also a container, hence there is no loss in quality while transforming.

Hope this helps...

Other Supported Models : Sony BRAVIA KDL-43W800C

                                                                                                                                           S A Delphin

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Cannot edit the Object, which is used by - Admin console - SEDO - Serialized editing of distributed objects" - ConfigMgr 2012

Hello guys. yesterday one of colleague called me and wanted me to look into an issue while editing Task Sequence. The admin console did not let him edit the task sequence with a message "Cannot edit the object, which is used by Domain\admin at site 000". On seeing the message i was able to explain him that admin console is preventing this edit, since another admin is editing the same object from different site or computer. This feature of ConfigMgr 2012 is called SEDO - Serialized editing of distributed objects"

  In earlier 2007 more than one admin user can edit the same object at a time and whoever writes last wins and others changes will be dishonored. This may cause unexpected results. But in 2012 we have SEDO and with this only one admin user can edit an object at a time. This prevents unexpected results.

  So how does this work ?. Consider that i have two admin users named admin1 and admin2. Admin 1 opens ConfigMgr console and starts Task sequence edit to edit an task sequence named Task sequence1. Now the object Task sequence1 will be locked to edit. So if admin2 launches consolle and tries to edit task sequence1 the admin to will receive a message like this and he will have an option to open Task sequence1 in read only mode.

The lock will be released only when Admin one closes Task Sequence editor.

  For whatever reason if the Admin1 is not able to close the task sequence editor in a regular way (Admin console crashed or Admin1 went for a break or Vm crashed) the lock will remain for 30 more minutes on the object.

  If you dont want to wait for 30 mins you may have to release the lock manually through SQL management studio.The Lock state will be maintained on the table SEDO_LockState. By running

"SELECT *
FROM SEDO_LockState
WHERE AssignedUser = 'Domain\admin1' AND LockStateID = 1"

in sql management studio you will get the Lock_State information. If you want to remove the lock you will have to run this query in SQL management studio.

"DELETE FROM SEDO_LockState WHERE AssignedUser = 'Domain\admin1' AND LockStateID = 1"

Listed below are the SEDO enabled objects

• SMS_Application
• SMS_AuthorizationList
• SMS_BootImagePackage
• SMS_ConfigurationBaselineInfo
• SMS_ConfigurationItem
• SMS_DeploymentType
• SMS_Driver
• SMS_DriverPackage
• SMS_GlobalCondition
• SMS_ImagePackage
• SMS_OperatingSystemInstallPackage
• SMS_Package
• SMS_SoftwareUpdatesPackage
• SMS_TaskSequencePackage

Hope this helps..
                                                                                                                                S A Delphin

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"mp.msi exited with return code: 1603" Mpsetup.log - ConfigMgr 2012



Hi friends.. This post is exclusively for Newbies.

One of my friend was experiencing  an error while trying to install MP in ConfigMgr 2012 Environment. The error message is snipped below.

MpSetup.log

<10/24/13 07:04:56> mp.msi exited with return code: 1603
<10/24/13 07:04:56> Backing up C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\logs\mpMSI.log.LastError
<10/24/13 07:04:56> Fatal MSI Error - mp.msi could not be installed.
<10/24/13 07:04:56> ~RoleSetup().

After seeing these message i wanted to look at Mpmsi.log since mpsetup.log did not show any specific error so i asked him the copy of mpmsi.log too.. While digging inside mpmsi.log i found these snippet 

MpMSI.log

MSI (s) (7C!6C) [07:04:55:972]: Product: ConfigMgr Management Point -- Error 25051. Internet Information Services BITS support is not installed

Error 25051. Internet Information Services BITS support is not installed

CustomAction CcmValidateServerConfig returned actual error code 1603 (note this may not be 100% accurate if translation happened inside sandbox)

This shows clearly that IIS extension for BITS is not installed or removed. perhaps he would have installed IIS after installing BITS. So i asked him to install IIS extension for BITS through windows features and try re installing MP.

And voila it succeeded. 

Hope this helps..

S A Delphin

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SQL Query to List Collections with Maintenance Windows - ConfigMgr 2012

  Hi folks.. Have you ever worked with numerous collections with multiple maintenance windows? If it yes, probably you would know that to check the maintenance windows for each and every collection you have to visit property page of all collections.

  I have a ConfigMgr 2012 Development environment, with considerable amount of clients and collections. One fine day i was testing Nomad deployment in some of my member servers. As it is a Development environment a single member server can be a member of multiple ConfigMgr collections. One of the member from patching team configured  maintenance window of 5 mins on a test collection and the member server is a member of that collection too..

  So when i deployed Nomad Branch agent deployment failed with a message "Service windows too short". Remember as i said before to check the maintenance window in all collection i had to visit the property page of all collection and there is not default report to show the maintenance window of all collections. So i thought i would build SQL query to list maintenance window of all collections.. here is the query,

SELECT v_Collection.Name, v_Collection.Comment,v_ServiceWindow.Description, v_ServiceWindow.StartTime, v_ServiceWindow.Duration

FROM v_ServiceWindow

JOIN v_Collection ON v_Collection.CollectionID = v_ServiceWindow.CollectionID

ORDER BY v_Collection.Name

 Create a report with this query and that report will list maintenance window configured in all collections.

Hope this helps..

S A Delphin

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A Comparison between all Client deployment methods in SCCM 2012

 Hi Folks.. I'm back after a long pause to blogging.. And this time this post is about SCCM Client deployment. I thought i would start with Client deployment methods since that is the first step in SCCM deployment.

 We have almost 6 methods to deploy SCCM client to endpoints but all of them are not the same. With their pros and cons Each deployment method stand ideal for different scenarios. Let's talk about that in this post.

Client Push Method

The easiest method to deploy clients through out your hierarchy but requires some Homework. This client push can be enabled within ConfigMgr console and the status can be inspected in ccm.log in ConfigMgr installation directory and the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client.

Requirements:

•  The client must be a member of a domain in which the configmgr site server is installed. Or trust must be present
• firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB, Rpc endpoint mapper- 135 and Rpc dynamic ports must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
• Client push account must be configured correctly
• DNS name resolution should be working.
• The clients must be discovered before initiating client push

Pro's and Cons

• Reports are available to see the success and failure status
• Trouble shooting is easy
• No additional infrastructure change is required to deploy clients
• Cannot target workgroup and internet based clients
• With multiple physical locations it's a pain to open ports through firewall

Suitable for:

• large number of clients within headquarters or single physical locations for domain computers.
• IT environment which is well organized and structured

GPO Installation

 This is another client deployment method which can be used in a Domain environment. the msi which is deployed through GPO is just a Bootstrap and the client will download the package from DP. The the installation status can be found in the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client

Requirements:

• The client must be a member of a domain.
• Ad publishing or GPO for client  assignment is mandatory
• The client installation package must be available on DP and must be reachable to client
• DNS name resolution should be working.

Pro's and Cons

• No additional infrastructure change is required to deploy clients
• If combined with Client push the success rate will be close 100 for domain computers
• Cannot target workgroup and internet based clients
• Client will download client package from DP

Suitable for:

• Best at deployment across domain wide computers with multiple physical locations
• IT environment which is well organized and structured
• Domain computers residing at remote locations 

Logon script based Installation

 In this type of client deployment the client installation switches can be specified in the logon script and GPO for site assignment is not mandatory. The the installation status can be found in the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client.

Requirements:

• The client must be a member of a domain.
• firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
• DNS name resolution should be working.

Pro's and Cons

• If combined with Client push the success rate will be close 100 for domain computers
• Cannot target workgroup and internet based clients

Suitable for:

• Best at deployment across domain wide computers with multiple physical locations
• IT environment which is well organized and structured

SUP Based Installation

This is the most robust client deployment method that can be used to deploy clients. This method can be used to deploy clients to work group computers. No additional changes required if the WSUS system is already in place.The the installation status can be found in the log files found in C:\Windows\Cccmsetup folder in client.

Requirements:

• This method can be used to deploy client to work group computers, domain computers and internet clients.
• firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
• Well configured WSUS environment is mandatory
• Client targeting must be done through WSUS
• DNS name resolution should be working

Pro's and Cons

• If combined with Client push the success rate will be close 100 through out the Hierarchy
• Workgroup clients can be targetted
• Roubust design
• Internet based clients can be targeted if the WSUS server is published on the internet

Suitable for:

• Best at deployment across an environment which has domain and workgroup clients scatered across multiple physical locations
• Robust IT environment

Manual or Script based Installation

This is the best suitable option available to install internet based clients. But this method is painfull method amongst other deployment methods.

Requirements:

•  DNS name resolution should be working.
• The local copy should have all the files required to install Cm client and must be the same version as the management point that you specify
• firewall ports tcp 80-Http, 443-Https, 445-SMB must be opened between client and site systems (If we use default ports for client communication)
• Work group client must be approved manually with in sccm console

Pro's and Cons

• Workgroup and internet based clients can be targetted
• Roubust design

Suitable for:

• Best method to deploy clients to internet based boxes
• Where all the other deployment type fails because of network issue

 The above comparison is truely based on my observation and perception. One can have different thoughts abou the deployment methods. Apreciate improvement in the above post..

Hope this helps..

S A Delphin

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"Disable failed No devices disabled" devcon.exe | How to disable devices from command prompt

 This article will help you in Disable or Enable devices from command prompt. And also this will discuss about the error u may likely to encounter.

It will be really good rite, when you can disconnect your modem or internet connection in one click after you are finished with it. This article will help you to do that.

First you need to have devcon.exe. An alternate to device manager which can be run through command prompt.

Download the devcon.exe from the below link

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272 

Once you downloaded the devcon exe file, extract  the exe and paste it inside c:\windows\system32 folder. That's it you are ready to run it. 

 I've read the above procedure in a blog, and wanted to try it.  But i was getting this message..

"
C:\Windows\system32>devcon disable *mouse*
HID\VID_04CA&PID_0030\7&3A7DF96F&0&0000                     : Disable failed
No devices disabled.
"

After some digging i found the the 64 bit version of devcon available to download form Microsoft website is not compatible for windows 7 64 bit. You will need to extract it from server 2003 64 bit dvd.

Once it's done it will work like a charm. I've extracted the 32 and 64 bit version devcon.exe from server 2003 dvd and uploaded it. You can download it from below links..

Devcon.exe 32 bit

Devcon.exe 64 bit



Hope this helps..

Techytipz

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Amazing Alex Solutions - The Classroom

In my last post i made a review of an iOS game called Amazing Alex. The game is really good and brain-storming. There are totally 4 rooms and 112 puzzles. First room has 16 puzzles which is available in free and paid app. Other rooms have 32 puzzles each which is only available in paid app.

Every puzzle in Amazing Alex may have different solutions to achieve the objective. But there are only few solutions to complete the objective and collect all stars. So I decided to publish my Solutions which comes with 3 Stars. This post I will display the first room and the Room is called :

The Classroom

The Classroom is the basic room where you learn all things you need to know about the game. Mostly everyone would have completed all 16 puzzles in this room with 3 Stars. That makes 48 Stars. So below screenshots are the solutions of the first room - The Classroom.

 

 1 - PLAYTIME

 

2 - CATCH THAT BALL

 

3 - MIND THE GAP

 

4 - ROLLERCOASTER

 

5 - CHAIN REACTION

 

6 - THE ROBOT OVERLORD

 7 - BEHIND BOXES

 

8 - REVENGE OF THE ROBOT

9 - BOOKS AWAY

10 - BALL COLLECTOR

11 - PUSH AND POP

12 - FLYING WITH SCISSORS

13 - POP, DON'T FLY

14 - BALLOONED AWAY

15 - BALLOON PUSHER

16 - FREE THAT BALLOON

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App Review - Amazing Alex

Most of the people who uses mobiles know about Angry Birds. Angry Birds was created by Rovio Entertainment in 2009. Until Angry Birds Rovio was called Relude which released games for N-Cage and other J2ME mobile environment. Now the company does billion dollar revenue. Angry Bird now is not just a game but a merchandise. There are angry bird toys and also Feature films and Television series have been planned. Few months ago Rovio bought rights to Casey's Contraptions from developers Noel Llopis and Miguel A. Friginal. They revamped and branded it as Amazing Alex.

Publisher              :  Rovio Entertainment Ltd.

Developer            :  Noel Llopis & Miguel A. Friginal.

Genre                   :  Physics Puzzle

Release Date        :  12-07-2012

Universal App     :   No

Price   - Lite        :  Free
             iPhone    :  $0.99
             iPad        :  $2.99

Size                     :   19.8 MB/35.1 MB

App Store Link   :   Amazing Alex

Gameplay - Even though the game was bought from independent developers, Rovio has made some changes and given it their addictive Rovio touch. The gameplay is to use household items to set off a chain reaction and achieve the objective of the game. The goal is to collect all stars while completing the objective.

The first few levels may seem very easy but actually its kind of tutorial for you to learn the gameplay. The Classroom(First room) may look very easy but the game gets tougher by each level in The Backyard room. In free lite version you can play only The Classroom. There are totally 112 puzzles and 336 stars to be collected.

Game Physics - The game physics is the topic lot to be talked about. This game uses Box2D engine for physics engine. By the way Box2D is open source, so if you want to make a game using it, just go visit this site - http://box2d.org/


The game uses the best of the game physics. Till now I haven't seen a flaw in the game. The game music goes in hand with game and gives a good feel.


Game Graphics - Game has beautiful vector graphics. The game allows to pinch zoom like angry birds.


Solution Sharing Feature - These puzzles may contain more than one solution. After you find a solution you can share it with your Gamecenter friends. None of my friends still started sharing but i have. To view my solution you have to add me in Gamecenter, my id is Harish Arulkumar. I have completed 2 stages with all 3 Stars. You can also share in twitter and facebook.

My Level Feature - This is an awesome feature which makes the game purely unlimited. With My Level you can create your own puzzle, finish it with 3 Stars and share it with the world. Others can download through the same menu.

Rating - 8.8/10

Screenshots - 

Harish Arulkumar

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Independence Day Offer on iPad and iPhone Games!!!

On independence day App developers are celebrating the alien's fall by slashing down prices for some of their excellent games. Their sales are running up to July 9th. App store downloads are shooting to roof. I'm a big App store Shopaholic, i bought nearly 10 apps. Are you ready? Here is the list of discounted apps by each app developers...




First is EA :

• BATTLESHIP for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• Burnout CRASH! - $4.99 $0.99
• Mirror’s Edge for iPad - $9.99 $0.99
• Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition for iPad - $9.99 $0.99
• Monopoly for iPad - $9.99 $0.99
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• NBA Jam for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• RISK for iPad - $6.99 $0.99
• Scrabble for iPad - $9.99 $0.99
• Sim City Deluxe for iPad - $6.99 $0.99
• The Game of Life for iPad - $6.99 $0.99
• The Sims Medieval for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• The Sims 3 - $6.99 $0.99
• The Sims 3: Ambitions - $4.99 $0.99
• The Sims 3: World Adventures - $2.99 $0.99
• FIFA SOCCER 12 - $4.99 $0.99
• FIFA SOCCER 12 for iPad - $9.99 $0.99
• Tetris for iPad - $2.99 $0.99
• Dead Space for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• Mass Effect Infiltrator - $4.99 $0.99
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - $9.99 $0.99
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for iPad - $9.99 $0.99
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12 for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• Madden NFL 12 - $6.99 $0.99
• Yahtzee HD - $4.99 $0.99
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• Real Racing 2 - $4.99 $0.99
• Real Racing 2 HD - $6.99 $0.99
• Mortal Kombat 3 for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• Trivial Pursuit: Master Edition - $4.99 $0.99
• Flight Control HD - $4.99 $0.99
• Snood for iPad - $4.99 $0.99
• Fight Night Champion - $4.99 $0.99

Warner Bros.:

• Batman Arkham City Lockdown - $5.99 $0.99
• Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters - $1.99 $0.99
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 - $4.99 $0.99
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 - $4.99 $0.99

Chillingo :

• The Act - $2.99 $0.99
• Air Mail - $4.99 $0.99

PopCap :

• Zuma's Revenge - $1.99 $0.99
• Chuzzle - $1.99 $0.99

 Madfinger :

• Samurai II: Vengeance - $2.99 $0.99
• Shadowgun - $4.99 $0.99

Kairosoft :

• Game Dev Story - $3.99 $1.99
• Oh! Edo Towns - $3.99 $1.99
• Epic Astro Story - $3.99 $1.99

Others : 

• Kingdom Rush HD - $2.99 $0.99
• Street Figher IV: Volt - $6.99 $0.99
• Fibble HD  - $4.99 $0.99
• Super Monkey Ball 2 - $2.99 $0.99
• Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition - $2.99 $0.99
• DancePad - $2.99 $0.99

These are some awesome games. I have purchased a lot, which i will be writing reviews of soon. Battlefield was awesome on my iPad. We will be updating the list. Happy Shopping....

Harish Arulkumar

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App Review - The Amazing Spider-Man

Gameloft has come up with yet another amazing game called The Amazing Spider-Man. This game's story is spin-off from spider-man reboot movie of the same name. Gameloft, who is the leading game publisher on mobile device has given out great games in the past like Asphalt, Infinity Blade, N.O.V.A, Brothers in Arms etc. Lets see what they have given us this time.

Publisher              :  Gameloft

Developer            :  Gameloft

Genre                   :  Action

Release Date        :  28-06-2012

Universal App     :   Yes

Price                    :   $6.99

Size                     :   694 MB

App Store Link   :   The Amazing Spider-Man

Gameplay & Controls – The Amazing Spider-Man gameplay is nearly same as that previous Spider-Man 2 PC game. You Swing around city, shoot webs at enemies and save Damsel in Distress. I played the game in iPad and iPhone; found more comfortable because of its large screen. On iPhone it is little uncomfortable to play but not that bad. The best thing is that they have retained the free-roam. You can roam the streets, collect Oscorp Spiders, do small side missions and fight roadside thugs. The city is big enough to roam for many hours. The Combat and Boss fights are too easy which is a downside. But some boss fight are near excellent. The combat system which was used in Batman was used here.

Graphics – The game’s graphics is really good. Not surprised because it’s from Gameloft who gave kind of games which has the best graphics on iOS platform. The game is designed to use The New iPad’s Retina Display. The city is beautifully built and colorful. Spider-Man in blue and red costume is rendered wonderful on iOS devices.

Music – Music is not epic but its good for a mobile game.The music was composed by Maxime Goulet and Pascal Dion

Game Inventory – This game has good Skills and Power Upgradation system. You can also buy few items from store using Oscorp Spiders which you can find on the streets and collect it. The skill points which earned from completing missions, fighting villains and other stuffs can be used to Upgrade Powers like web shoot, uppercut etc for this masked superhero.

Plot – The plot is not surprising. Usual things like save the day using your super powers. This games follow the story of the film of same name. Just came back from the movie, it was good.

Conclusion - The game rocks on iOS device (i prefer playing on iPad). It keeps you engaged for hours but the downside is that the game is too easy in combats.

Rating - 7.2/10

Screenshots - 

Harish Arulkumar

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