The Tankgewehr certainly isn't for everyone. As others have noted, on its own it's a slightly underwhelming 5XP weapon. However, when you look at who can take it and what else they can take, it starts to get very appealing as a synergy weapon.

This is Dexter Drake's favorite gun on the Citadel. Molly can pull it out of his hat with flawless accuracy. He can do Great Work In the Thick of It with Charon's Obol to Delve Too Deep and have his guns on the line by the second scenario. The tank gun is competing for the affection of Dexter's hands with things like a cane, some candles, or maybe an atlas or flute; even the good books, scrolls, and gang signs don't tie into his love 'em and leave 'em relationship with spell assets. Against those, it looks respectable on its own. Then his mafioso man Friday shows some Quick Thinking to help him defray that extra action cost. Because "Activate" is a type of action, he can even shoot off one of his spell assets, then shoot off his gun, and reload with a quickness—his face is even on the card. And when worse comes to worst, he can burn one of the baddies under his Binder's Jar to cancel the hit from a badly timed reload.

Speaking of Leos, Leo Anderson is right up there with Dexter on the list of guys who love this gun. He has all the same rogue tech and economy as Dexter to support it. He may not have Molly, but he has the classic line of Guardian gun tech: Prepared for the Worst, Marksmanship/Telescopic Scope, Custom Ammunition/Custom Modifications. And he can go On the Hunt or take First Watch to make sure there are plenty of things for him to shoot (in addition to the rogue moves for that). He can let his dogs tank the hits from inopportune reloads or call on cats to get him out of the situation. The apex of this gun is when Leo quicksilver snipes a big wiggly squid face or a sticky bubble bath in the next county, then reloads right in front of a doom-spewing science project (behind his Bulwark), letting him follow up with a hasty no-scope.

Really sad that FFG did'nt add the Spell trait on this one. It makes the card unable to be used by the investigator specialized in spells, Marie Lambeau.

After gating the doom assets to 4xp so she is also unable to take them. Same with Rita/Finn and cards like Clean sneak.

Those cards aren't even OP, why forbid the only investigators who want to take them from their pool ? :(

Chapter 2 review

This is a workhorse card, giving players a +2 +1 damage weapon at the reasonably low price of 3 resources. While the level 0 version already offers a +1 +1 damage boost, any additional combat boost you can get (on a card you want to be playing already) is worth consideration. Investigators with a stat of 4 and Guardian access can be transformed into 7 test value fighter by running this with Logan Hastings, and on standard difficulty that's usually enough to pass vs. 3 fight value enemies (-4 is typically the worst thing in the bag). Ignoring Retaliate is a little bit of icing on the cake - if you miss vs. a Retaliate enemy (usually things like bosses) then you aren't punished for it.

To understand where this fits in Chapter 2 a bit more then you need to look more into the context. The Machete - as the other main one-handed Guardian weapon - is no longer the powerhouse it was in Chapter 1, instead only allowing extra damage once per round and also being situational (you need to be engaged with just one enemy for the extra damage effect). All other Guardian weapons typically require two hands (Sledgehammer, Winchester Model 12, Thompson Submachine Gun), so while you can get more damage out of all of these they are more of a commitment. Notably, with both Sledgehammer and the Thompson Submachine Gun, some of their attacks do not receive a combat boost (the fight ability on the former, the fight ability on the latter).

In terms of where going one-handed is useful, you can play Machete to compliment you M1911 and so better conserve ammo. Additionally you can play an investigate asset, with even the humble Hand-Crank Flashlight appropriately serving this purpose on someone like Tommy. If you're talking about Joe, he has things like Magnifying Glass or Fingerprint Kit that you could be playing instead.

For firearm support in Chapter 2, the new Stock Ammo Reload is very valuable - with you potentially needing to only reload once over a scenario. There's also Right Tool for the Job and Protective Vest, both of which can tutor guns out of your deck and so make finding your upgraded M1911 more reliable. It's worth saying if taking both Stock Ammo Reload and upgraded M1911 that's 8 XP, certainly a good chunk of what a campaign would provide. Extended Barrel can also provide additional boosts (while providing comical mental images...).

Conclusions: Upgraded M1911 excels at transforming investigators into competent fighters, particularly if pairing to a further +1 boost like Logan Hastings. Most Guardians are likely to want to have a larger weapon in their hands however (Sledgehammer, Winchester Model 12) so perhaps the best use of the upgraded M1911 is to turn off-class investigators with Guardian access into damage dealers. Joe is one of the best examples of this, and can find assets like the upgraded M1911 more readily with his innate card draw.

Not the best card for its cost. Especially since the stuff you ACTUALLY want to do 10 damage in one swing are typically elite, ergo, only take 5 damage. Still, it is at least SUPER funny to see everyone else's face when you actually kill something with it!

Previous reviews didn't address the most important aspects of this card.

• When committed, the performing investigator gains 4 resources (at ST.2).
• The card has a (wild) icon.

You can commit it to another investigator skill test that they are sure to pass, instantly giving them 4 resources. Just imagine solving the economy issues of a during a skill test or a during a skill test. Two classes that traditionally have economy issues.

Additionally, it is possible to use some of those resources on assets with actions to increase the odds before ST.3.

And then, if and only if the skill test fails, that investigator loses those 4 resources.

This is bonkers!!!