Something like old trusty, this 'un

The .45 is something of a template weapon: 4 resources provides 4 ammo, each shot giving +1 and +1 damage. That breaks down to 'pay 1, get +1 and hit for 2' which is no bad thing at all. Of course, the cost to play the card is not insignificant. If you draw the .45 late in a game, particularly if you're already set up with another weapon, perhaps even a different firearm, you might struggle to afford this. Yet the cost is a hallmark of the .45's reliability: there are no conditional clauses on this weapon. You get bang for your buck and each shot you take gives you the same bonuses.

The .45 also provides some of the boons we'd associate with a staple, reliable firearm. It can be reloaded with Extra Ammunition, have its ammunition double with Contraband (as though you had a second clip sitting in your pocket, useful for those times when you don't have a duplicate .45 ready and waiting...). We've also, at point of reviewing, seen two enemies who care how you attack them. This marvel rewards keeping your distance; something in the sky fears firearms. Neither of these last details are a reason to make the .45 a "must-include" in a dedicated combat-deck, but they are certainly points in its favour.

The icon on the card is a slight disappointment, in so far as if you're set up with another weapon, particularly as a dedicated fighter, you're probably not trying to evade too much. Perhaps an upgraded .45 might have and and provide further utility.

The three investigators who can take the .45 (discounting the fact that all Dunwich investigators can, plausibly) are Roland Banks, "Skids" O'Toole and Zoey Samaras. All have respectable , and appreciate the bonus from the .45. All have access to other guardian weapons, but will happily include the .45 to fill out the weapon slots of their deck. I suspect it will be some time before this card is not given consideration by any would-be fighter.

According to the Rules Reference, page 7:

• If an investigator takes damage or horror as a cost and reassigns any of it to an asset, the cost is still considered paid.

This rule therefore allows Painkillers to work alongside Peter Sylvestre, healing your investigator and putting the horror cost onto Peter to be healed off at the end of your turn. This combo allows typically low-health survivors to tank more effectively, and action-free once both cards are in play, although using up the supply doesn't discard Painkillers so it cannot just be spammed with Scavenging.

What is not immediately clear is just what can be healed. Since the card literally says "heal 1 damage" and doesn't specify from an investigator / ally / story asset / enemy / bulletproof vest, one interpretation is that any damage on any card in any location can be healed... expect errata soon. Or just Grim Rule it.

Why are cards called Flare in FFG LCGs always really strong? An event that can tutor, or make a strong attack, that even has a wild symbol for extra gravy, and all for just 1 XP! This will never be a dead card in your deck.

The tutor effect on Flare does indeed seem wonderful on paper, replacing the cost of the ally you search for with the 2 resources paid to play the event, provided you don't whiff. And do try not to whiff into Baron Samedi!

Poaching a fellow investigator's unique ally might seem like a mean thing to do but paying just 2 resources for Leo De Luca is good for the group as a whole no matter who ends up with it. If you are playing as the designated survivor and are teamed with a guardian, then it can also be beneficial to borrow that extra copy of Beat Cop, and the synergy with Teamwork should be obvious.

Speaking of synergy, this is yet another card that is going to work even better with the soon-to-be-released Charisma. We might start to see Aquinnah creeping into some decks alongside Peter in the near future, and this will mean that survivors like Ashcan will actually want to be lead investigator and collect and dig for some of those meaty storyline allies.

There are currently only three investigators that can purchase Flare, each having a different use for it.

Agnes Baker probably actually gets the best of it. The 5 attack for 3 damage will rival her Shrivelling (and Song of the Dead), letting her easily blow up those inconvenient Silver Twilight Acolyte that she otherwise had difficulty against. She can also use Scrying to check an ideal time to use the tutor, either on her own deck or another's, and she sometimes like to run Arcane Initiate or Peter Sylvestre regardless.

Wendy Adams likes events, and she can discard it for a check then play it later using Wendy's Amulet (the exile really isn't a problem because if you're low on cards then you likely don't have allies in your deck to search). However there are better options among the rogue cards for her to use to fight.

"Ashcan" Pete loves allies in general to help soak damage and horror, and also makes impressive use of anything that works as a backup to Duke for the option for a strong third attack in a turn. Between this and Hard Knocks he can fully expect to be able to dish out 7 damage in a nova turn.

So if you find yourself lost in the dark without any friends, go get your 80s disco flares on!

When reviewing a card, one can't help to compare that card to other cards that do similar stuff. The "classic" healing options mostly are assets that use charges and require comming available actions to actually heal you. Compared to earlier in- and out of faction healing options, Emergency Aid offers something new. Well, 2 new things.

First, it let's you heal allies, which is nice . Second, it's an event, which means you commit 1 action to it instead of commiting an action to play it and then use more actions for each point you want to heal. When compared with the classic Guardian healing option First Aid, it becomes clear that Emergency Aid is a more "action efficiënt" way to heal. With Emergency Aid you pay 2 resource and use 1 action to heal you for 2 points, while with First Aid you pay the same amount of resources but have to use 3 actions to acually heal you for 2 points (1 for playing the asset and 1 action for every point of healing.)

Does that make Emergency Aid better? It al depends on your investigator and the deck you're playing. When used with a deck that is very "action heavy" or when you desperatly want to keep an important ally alive, you might like a healing option that is more action-efficiënt and heals allies. But when you're deck is less action heavy or you're playing an investigator with low sanity, you might prefer the ability to both heal physical damage and horror.

I really like these little nuances the designers are making in the different healing options and those make for very interesing deck building choices.

This is, hands down, the best card in the game (currently released, as of 2/23/2017). Identifying the solution is very often the difference between winning and losing, and including 2x in your deck (mandatory in the current meta) can ensure that you identify it twice in a single game, which is just incredible. It seems reasonably costed at 1, though I'm kind of surprised it is level zero. It seems to me that the card is at least level 1, if not 2 or higher.