With the 2021-06-28 Taboo, the Springfield M1903 has gotten yet another adjustment. Is it worth the XP yet? Perhaps not, given it still takes up both hand slots, only has 3 shots, and can't fight enemies that are engaged to you. But now that it can attack adjacent/aloof enemies, it at least has an interesting enough effect that I thought I'd try making a deck that revolves around it. Naturally, this deck ends up going to Nathaniel, who doesn't care as much as everybody else does about having his hand slots occupied by what was argued to be the worst weapon in the game. (He still cares enough to use Bandolier (2) - just not as much as everybody else.)

This is a result of that terrible, terrible idea.

Fine, I'll Use the Springfield!

Nathaniel, What are you Doing, You are a Boxer

Primary Role: Monster Fighter

Secondary Role: N/A

Strategy

Mulligan Strategy

• Stick to the Plan Cards: Ever Vigilant, Sweeping Kick, Prepared for the Worst
• Always Keep: Springfield M1903, Boxing Gloves
• Sometimes Keep: Randall Cho, Bandolier (Depending on if they can all be used to fetch the full combo).

General Strategy

Get out your weapons and punch/shoot things. That's pretty much it.

Early on, your goal is to get at least one of your weapons out, along with whatever other assets you happen to have. Ever Vigilant is great for this, allowing you to play Randall Cho and the weapon he searches. You might also be able to use Emergency Cache, Stand Together or a resource gain action to play the full three assets on turn 1. Don't be afraid to play Ever Vigilant, even if you only have two assets to play at once - it's still saving you 2 resources and an action, and it's often better to have those available early on. If your initial hand severely whiffs, throw out Prepared for the Worst so you can at least have something. Note that if you can't play the Springfield early on but have other combat options or don't have your bandolier, it's valid to save it for later - by definition, if you're using the Springfield to attack, you won't be engaged to an enemy, so you can often hold on to it and play it right before taking a shot with it.

If something is engaged to you, use your fighting/damaging events to handle them (Clean Them Out/Heroic Rescue/Monster Slayer/Sweeping Kick). If enemies aren't engaged, gauge whether or not you have the spare actions or cards to use your events, or if the Springfield can make for an efficient shot. In general, the Springfield should be reserved for the otherwise awkward fights - Enemies in adjacent spaces or enemies with Aloof are good targets to consider. You should only use it for 3 HP enemies if you have no other good way of dealing with them, as Nathanial often does (Monster Slayer and Sweeping Kick being good candidates).

If fights go well, you might have spare actions. Don't be afraid to gain resources, draw cards, or play Emergency Cache, Stand Together, or Extra Ammunition if you have a spare moment. One of the benefits of the updated Springfield is that you don't need to follow your allies as closely, so try to be efficient about your movement.

Deck Variations

Initial Build

0-XP Build

Appropriate 0-XP substitutes for this deck are available in the side deck.

• Counterpunch: One of the early options to get a fight attack. Given the prices on Nathaniel's cards, this was used over "Get over here!" and One-Two Punch due to its cost.
• Emergency Cache: Did I mention the prices of Nathaniel's cards? This is meant to help with that, especially on the early turns before Clean Them Out can be used.
• "Let me handle this!": Early on, Nathaniel can't help rescue others quite as easily. This is added as one flexible option to help support that.
• Grete Wagner: It's a toss-up between this and Beat Cop, and I just prefer Grete's reusability over Beat Cop early on, when Nathaniel's answer to needing 1 more damage is to generically fight them again.

Substitution Options

• "Get over here!"/One-Two Punch - These are all reasonable fight options for Nathaniel, and the exact package you use tends to be more of a matter of preference. Feel free to substitute these in for the other combat events in the deck (Heroic Rescue/Monster Slayer/Counterpunch) or the more flexible slots from "Let me handle this!", Handcuffs, or Calling in Favors as necessary. The only combat option I wouldn't swap out is Clean Them Out, due to how resource-hungry this deck can be.
• Evidence! - If you have enough combat and resource gain, this is a solid third option.
• Daring/Take the Initiative/Unexpected Courage - There are some campaigns where the flexibility of another icon can be helpful, and this can be useful to loan to other characters. You can use this instead of a combat card or other skill, if appropriate.
• Hallowed Mirror/Riot Whistle: You technically have an accessory slot free. If you have enough combat options as is, feel free to include one of these as a consistency option, or to help give you a non-combat option.

Considered and Unused

• Beat Cop - The base Beat Cop has a good boost and is cheaper than Grete, but still has an awkward effect. Since Calling in Favors works better for allies that you can swap out after using their soak, Grete Wagner was chosen for the level 0 option instead.

Upgrade Recommendations

Pre-Gun Upgrades

This deck can go a long duration of time before bothering to grab the namesake item, so this package may not warrant being your first set of purchases. However, these are all of the purchases that can be considered essential before actually going for the Springfield.

• Stick to the Plan - Nathaniel has a lot of Tactics that can help fight, so fetching this early on can be a major boon. Even before Ever Vigilant and Sweeping Kick are available, you can attach Clean Them Out, Heroic Rescue, Prepared for the Worst, or Counterpunch to start with a reasonable set of combat options available at all times.
• Bandolier (2) - Dual wield your Boxing Gloves! This isn't that powerful of an upgrade on its own, but it's still an important consistency option before you look at the Springfield M1903.
• Ever Vigilant - Once you get the Bandolier, this deck is running 7 total assets - enough that Ever Vigilant starts looking useful in getting things set up. It's nice to play 3 assets at a time with it, but most of the time, this is worth using even if you can only play 2 assets with it - don't hold back trying to be perfectly efficient.

The Gun (and Ammo)

Is the Springfield really the best gun for this build? Hard to say! You could probably get away with any other major weapon here, and may even want to if you have a major fight in the works. However, the Springfield is more useful here than it would be elsewhere, as a 'less intrusive' option for Nathaniel that covers a potential deficiency that doesn't interrupt his primary play pattern, unlike others which would require the Bandolier to make it work.

• Springfield M1903 - The gun itself. How well does it work? Who knows!
• Extra Ammunition - Ammo for the gun. Note that while it is an option for Stick to the Plan, it's not often that you'll want it available at all times, so unless you're desperate to have more Spirit cards in your deck, it's better to have an essential card in SttP and to leave this for a later draw.

Other Useful Included Cards

These can be bought before or after the Springfield, depending on how important you think they are to you.

• Sweeping Kick - On its own, Sweeping Kick is a 1 XP, 1 Cost card that can deal up to 3 damage at a base fight of 7. This is an incredibly cheap and useful fight option, and has both the Spirit and Tactic tags for wherever you want it. Also notable is that if you have a high-HP enemy that needs multiple shots, Sweeping Kick is one of the first Guardian cards that can allow for a reliable evade, meaning you can kick something and unload your Springfield into it.
• Beat Cop (2) - Upgraded Beat Cop is still a solid fight booster and can help deal with odd damage amounts. This is more optional depending on build - Grete Wagner might be more fitting, depending on your team composition.

Other Useful Cards

There are certainly other cards that fit well into this deck, and simply weren't included due to being of incremental improvements that are not needed for the core of the deck, and which would push the XP cost higher. Feel free to use these to help smoothen out the deck, or even use them before the Springfield if it feels that unimportant.

• Stand Together (2) - Still an amazing general support/buff for a team.
• "I've had worse…" (2) - One good combination option of both soak and resource gain. "I've had worse…" (4) is also an option, though it's harder to say if you'll often get enough value out of it to justify that full cost.
• Boxing Gloves (3) - A pricier upgrade, but one that can add a lot more consistency.
• Charisma - Feel free to use this so you can use both Beat Cop and Grete Wagner, should your cost be high enough.
• Taunt (3) - In larger games, this can be a useful hand refill option, as well as a handy way for Nathaniel to squeeze out a little more damage outside of the Investigator phase, allowing for one more trigger of his ability.
• One-Two Punch (5) - An amazing combat option for Nathaniel, that has the downside of being a single event that costs as much XP as a major weapon. This is great when you can afford it, but that's a big 'when'.

Fights are Done!

If you ever feel like you have enough combat in terms of cards or actions, consider these options.

• Evidence! (2) - One clue option if you have enough combat.
• Lesson Learned (2) - Another clue option if you have enough combat.
• Grete Wagner (3) - A third clue option if you have enough combat. The bonus stat isn't as useful on you as it would be on someone else, though.
• First Aid (3) - If you really have many times where you have nothing better to do on your turn, this is one option to help fill the gap with something a little more productive.

Thanks

Thanks for looking through all of this! If you're interested in my decks, feel free to check out the other decks I've made:

• Myriad Mandy
• Everywhere and Nowhere (Luke Robinson)
• Shallow Gravedigger William
• Minimalist Zoey Samaras
• Minimalist Jenny Barnes
• Minimalist Rex Murphy

Thoughts and comments are appreciated!