This card has a lot of advantages that get overlooked. First, you are going to see a lot more play out of those icons than the ones on a Lightning Gun. Second, this really takes the teeth out of a lot of treacheries. You will start to see the likes of Crypt Chill as a blessing if they can take the Springfield away. Last but not least, the ammo conservation of never being able to fire the gun puts Shotgun and the BAR to shame.

Sadly the two hand slots compete with the Kukri, but with bandana you can now take them both.

This thing sucks.

A) You need to be firing at enemies that you've evaded, blue player's aren't very good at evading, basically requiring large resource expense or card dedication (and blue player's don't have many evade options). Besides, evading an opponent is an extra action, you'dd be far better off just throwing another attack at the intended target with a Machete or something.. B) You might also be firing at enemies engaged with your allies. A sub-optimal circumstance because now you risk friendly fire AND, as the blue player, it is your job to keep enemies occupied in the first place! If your clue specialist has to spend all his time babysitting your next intended kill then he wont have time to do his job! C) It costs 4 xp! For just 1 more you'dd have a Lightning Gun! Although it's 2 resources more expensive to play it pay's for the difference with 2 extra attack power on every attack (Hitting a rather nice sweet spot of 9 attack total on both current Blue characters.) Also it doesn't have the circumstantial clause.

This weapon sucks, plain and simple. It should cost 2 or 3 XP and be neutral, that way a non-fighter might consider taking it. Often the fighter will find himself stuck in a flood of enemies that he is tanking on behalf of the team, when the going gets tough however the clue specialist has to come running with a Shrivelling or Strange Solution to untangle the battle. A weapon exactly like Springfield M1903 would be perfect for that specific circumstance, sadly this is NOT that weapon.

PROS

• Moderately priced in terms of resources, at least compared to other Guardian weapons (4 resources, same as .45 Automatic)
• +3 Combat and +2 Damage, so the Springfield will kill most monsters with a single shot
• Great against aloof enemies

CONS

• Expensive in terms of Xp
• Cannot be fired at monsters engaged with you
• Two handed
• Massive enemies needs to be exhausted before you can fire at them

Say hello to the sniper rifle of Arkham Horror. It's a fantastic weapon if you're firing at a distance and a fish bicycle if anything comes within hands reach.

So, is the Springfield a good weapon or a bad one? Well, it's not awful but its situational as heck. Since its twohanded, you'll either stick to this gun alone or invest in Bandoliers. And by the time you have paid for those bandoliers, you might as well have just bought a Lightning Gun or a Shotgun.

Who can make best use of the Springfield, then? Zoey probably, since she's not that reliant on weapons. She can use her fists and Cross to murder monsters engaged to her, and then shoot anything else from safe distance. It's a really bad fit with her ability to gain 1 Resource when she engages an enemy, however.

With the latest taboo, this can be a fantastic card, in a multiplayer scenario with a well-connected place for sniping. We confirmed this in a four-player playthrough of Return to Night of the Zealot. In the last scenario (Devourer below), Mark Harrigan was sitting in a hiding spot at the main path, with an extra hand for holding a side-arm, reloading the Springfield regularly. Never have the forests felt so tranquil... Cultists spawning aloof and getting headshotted, while others just walk past was, well, satisfying, to put it mildly. The fact that the sniper never had to move saved a ton of actions to him. We had 3 doom to go when we disrupted the ritual.

It's true that a sniper has to take the risk of hurting allies, but e.g. Mark, with only the rifle and his base stats, was fighting at skill 8. We playing on Normal, most of the time only autofail was the risk.

Elite monsters will be an issue (good thing the big boss didn't spawn), but you usually know when there will be one, so you can plan ahead.

Probably needless to say, but the new taboo ability saves practically no actions in scenarios with a linear map: in such scenarios, typically all investigators have to walk to the end of the linear map, also the sniper. But off the top of my head, I would say such scenarios are a minority; most have at least a somewhat central location good for sniping; maybe not as ridiculously OP as the main path but still.

Question for all our rules lawyers out there:

Does the latest Taboo stack with scope?

“This attack may target a non-Elite enemy up to one location away from its standard range, ignoring the aloof and retaliate keywords.” Taboo basically reads "Standard Range +1 Location away".

Scope as a reaction allows a Firearm to target adjacent location. Would that be considered the new standard range then and allow the Springfield plus Scope to target two locations away? WHich would be awesome and very unique

If not it would mean, you could gain basically the same effect but better with sticking the newly tabood scope to your shiny 4 or 5-xp-firearm. you would only ever take the springfield to save on some xp as the BAR or the Lightning Gun are still better in their own right. You could always take a higher value two-handed firearm and stick a scope on it for whatever xp your weapon costs +3xp for the scope. And lets face it, which guardian skims on the xp concerning the primary weapon?

Don't get me wrong. This new version stands head and shoulders above the old one. But XP should not be a concern for the guardians primary. So I would always take the best or most flexible base weapon and stick scope to it, if wanted to target adjacent. But targeting two locations away by adding a scope on top? That would really allow some unique camper playstyle in MP where you guard your team by sitting at a center location and picking everything off from a distance.