The obvious comparison is Ornate Bow.

But the bow has ways to cheat the reload action, can be fired multiple times in a turn, and is of course a tech weapon for foot investigators. The TANKGEWEHR does not have any of those qualities. The TANKGEWEHR has more in common with the Sledgehammer and its big brother as a highly accurate fist weapon that requires multiple actions per attack.

Compared to Sledgehammer (0) you spend 5 XP for +3 fight and +1 dmg, but are still using the same number of actions per attack. You will of course "front" the reload action by reloading the turn before you use it, but you can't capitalize on it since it exhaust after reloading. Which means that your potential damage per turn is just 4.

For a primary fighter, like the majority of those who have access to the TANKGEWEHR, a potential of 4 damage per turn is quite low. And being able to split your damage over at least two foes is very important in multiplayer. Which means that the TANKGEWEHR needs support weapons and the XP, resources, and actions to play them out.

I am not impressed. If you pay 5 XP for a weapon it should be able to stand on its own.

If you instead slap Enchanted Weapon on your Sledgehammer (0) you'd have a potential of 6 damage per turn, can split it over two enemies, will not provoke when you're stuck in a boss fight, and have similar accuracy for the big 4 dmg attack if you exhaust on it.

I think they could have given the TANKGEWEHR a special feature like being able to attack enemies at connecting locations (it's a BIG gun) or whatever, or even just automatic reload at the upkeep phase. The fact that you can only fire once per turn would make it balanced.

Nathaniel Cho (with Bandolier) might like it though. Once per turn is offset by him having events to play, and by using the TANKGEWEHR he can maximize the +1 dmg from his investigator ability.

This card is yet to see play, but so far I like it.. and also find it really weird.

So this is basically a deadlier and costlier Ornate Bow, which uses Strength, almost guarantees hit and one-shots most of the enemies in the game. And, for 5 XP, it should serve as your main big weapon.

Yet it has this weird "Hunter, Veteran, Warden only" restriction. Most of this guys are guardians or guardian-ish, and... they honestly don't need this gun.

Full guardians have decent Strength so big boost don't really matter to them. And they have strong in-class competitors, which lack "endless" ammunition, but at least they can reload it with guardians cards, as with Bow.

Guardian-ish greens who cat take it (Tony Morgan and upcoming Michael McGlen) also have 5 Strength. I guess they can fit in more actions to reload this thing with their tech, and use 10 to-hit on Expert Bag? But they lack tutoring for weapons Guardians have.

So investigators that want this card the most are ones with no comparable in-class weapons, low-to-mediocre Strength so they'll appreciate boost and readiness to dedicate hands to holding an anti-tank rifle. Which, among all investigators with Hunter, Veteran or Warden traits leave us with exactly one option! Sole hero, for whom this card is intended to be given. Some might even say it was godsend.

Enter Father Mateo, The Priest, Believer, Warden. Who needs holy books that take away your Elder Sign when you have Tankgewehr? Mateo even got XP to spare at start of the campaign!

Yeah, it's a weird card.