Thompson (weapon)

The Thompson submachine gun is an American submachine gun that is featured in every Call of Duty title set in World War II to date.

Singleplayer
This is commonly a starting weapon for the American campaign, in a similar way to the Soviet campaign's PPSh-41. The Call of Duty and the Call of Duty: United Offensive versions are somewhat different, in that the UO version is much less powerful, only doing one third the damage as the older version, which could kill an enemy with a single bullet. It has a high magazine capacity and damage, along with only medium recoil, which makes the Thompson a versatile weapon in that it can be used to good effect at all ranges. However, its ammunition can be very scarce, and makes this weapon a bit less useful when compared to the MP40, which is very similar to the Thompson, but with more abundant ammo. It has a Fire Select switch, allowing the user to switch between semi-automatic and fully-automatic modes of fire.

Multiplayer
This can be a very effective weapon in multiplayer, as it takes just two bullets to kill an enemy at any range in Call of Duty 1. However, in UO, it loses its effectiveness at range due to damage dropoff, which forces the player to land nine rounds to kill one enemy.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
In Call of Duty: Finest Hour, the Thompson has a 30 round magazine, and is available in most of the American missions, as well as being used by British Sgt. Dehart in the British North African campaign. It can kill an enemy in two to three shots.

It uses the fire sound from the PPSh-41. It uses the circular peep sight when aiming as opposed to the above "V-notch" that all other games use.

Singleplayer
The Thompson in Call of Duty 2 is still one of the common Allied weapons. However, it now only has a 20-round magazine, which means that the player will be reloading a lot more. It is a one-shot kill in close range, but it is completely useless at long distances, where it does no damage.

It seems to be the favored weapon of Sgt. Randall. He uses it during the whole game and is never seen with an alternative.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the Thompson is still fairly ineffective, as it takes three to ten shots to kill, which, combined with its small magazine size of just twenty, makes the Thompson sub-par to the other submachine guns available.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
In Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, the Thompson is used by a variety of American soldiers. The weapon appears in every level.

Call of Duty 3
The Thompson returns yet again as one of the main weapons of the American Forces. The weapon keeps roughly the same statics fire wise as it does in Call of Duty 2 but it now has much more intrusive iron sights, taking up roughly half the player's view. It is featured in the trailer.

Singleplayer
In the campaign it can be found around American dead bodies and in the hand of many American allies. It is first introduced in the first mission, Saint-Lô, but ammo for it is somewhat rare during mid-campaign missions, but there is plenty again in the last two missions, The Crossroads and Chambois.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the Thompson is carried by the allies if the player chooses the Light Assault class. It is accurate at close to medium range. It is once again shown with the inaccurate 20 round magazine and the standard M1A1 features.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
In the PSP installment of the series the Thompson makes yet another appearance. It inflicts medium damage onto enemy troops, requiring two body or one head sot to kill any enemy soldier. It is one of the starting weapons in all of the American missions (except Lucky Thirteen, which takes place in the air).

Single player
It's never a starter weapon in missions unlike almost every other game, but it's often found on fallen Marines, it is a preferred weapon of Cpl. (later Sgt.) Roebuck when he is promoted to Sergeant and is one of the four weapons available to use and re-supply in the beginning of the level Breaking Point. Interestingly, even if the Marines used this weapon, it is often too rare to find while Arisakas, Type 100s, and M1 Garands usually rule the Pacific campaign missions. This is probably based on the fact that the Thompson was mostly used by NCOs. Because of the fairly low ammo and high rate of fire, the Thompson tends to run out of ammunition fairly quickly.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the Thompson is the first submachine gun unlocked and has manageable recoil. It is an overall decent weapon with high damage and a high fire rate, not to mention the recoil is quite controllable unlike the high kick of the MP40. This makes it more effective at medium-long range and in Hardcore. The Thompson is good for close to mid range combat where all SMGs excel in, with some differences between each. The weapon's biggest flaw is its small magazine, which causes frequent reloading and prevents the user from "spraying" as effectively (this can be good, due to the fact that it will require more skill to use it). However, this can be remedied by the Round Drum attachment (Marksman III) which raises the magazine size to 40 at the cost of a longer reload. The iron sights are quite easy to use. It is a perfect standard weapon for starting off and due to the shortage of SMGs in the game, it can be seen frequently. It is important to note that since the majority of new players will have this weapon, Bandolier may not be needed since ammo can be picked up from dead players.

The Thompson has the same penetration as rifles, which is better than the other submachine guns. It is roughly equivalent to another submachine gun with Deep Impact on. It is, stat-wise, almost the same as the Type 100 but with a smaller magazine and better penetration through walls and wood covers.

The Thompson has an unusually high rate of fire, but not quite as fast as its real-life counterpart. The Thompson using Double Tap empties a twenty round stick magazine in approximately 1.65 seconds. With the addition of the 40 round drum magazine, it can empty the magazine in approximately 2.92 seconds.

The Thompson's reload time suffers more from the Round Drum attachment than any other SMG, although it is still probably the most useful attachment unless stealth is required, in which case a Silencer should be used. The Aperture Sight can be useful for long range fighting but increases the visible recoil substantially. A very effective class combination is the Thompson with a Round Drum, Stopping Power (or Sleight of Hand if Round Drum isn't unlocked), and any third perk. Although the perks are largely personal choice, Bandolier is very useful due to the high rate of fire, as is Steady Aim, as less ammo will be wasted. This is very effective at close to medium range and can even be used effectively by experienced players at long ranged, as burst fire can control the recoil and single shots on rifle range. Another option to boost the effectiveness of the Round Drum is the Double Tap perk, which increases the already high rate of fire, negates the need for stopping power, and remedies the ammunition issue. Deep Impact is a perk that is less needed for the Thompson than other SMGs, but it can be used to enhance the Thompson's inherent advantage here even further, making it an excellent weapon for wiping out enemies hiding behind walls/cover. Since the Thompson (as with all SMGs) is well suited for the task of clearing out entrenched enemies, the perk Bomb Squad makes sense because in the task of clearing out enemies SMG users frequently fall victim to Bouncing Betties and/or Satchels. With Bomb Squad, a Thompson user will not only be able to see the enemy traps, but thanks to the Thompson's great penetrating power they will easily be able to shoot the traps, even if the traps are hidden behind walls (as they often are).

The iron sights might be difficult for first timers but are effective when mastered. While the Type 100's sights are the same style as the Thompson's, the Thompson's sights are larger. Overall it is a good choice for players who likes CQC and medium range.

Nazi Zombies
The Thompson appears in all Nazi Zombie maps/levels, both off the wall and from the Mystery Box. It can be bought for 1200 points, and ammo costs 600 points. It is a good weapon, especially in the early to mid rounds, due to its good accuracy and fire rate. In higher rounds it loses it's effectiveness quickly, and requires lots of ammo to take down a single Zombie.

On Der Riese, it can be upgraded to the "Gibs-o-Matic", giving it a larger ammo capacity and more power. Even after the upgrade, ammo reserves may become problematic in the higher rounds. However, this can be countered by the fact that ammo can be bought off of the wall for 4500 points. It is relatively ineffective unless the player can make a large number of headshots in later rounds. Thankfully, the Thompson is very accurate, which is conductive to a large number of headshots. between the 40-round magazine, lightning fast dry reload and with the addition of Speed Cola the Gibs-o-Matic can pretty much sustain fire for a fair time

Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts
Although rarely seen in this game, it seems to have lowered its power by a strong point.

Call of Duty World at War (DS)
The Thompson appears in the Nintendo DS version of Call of Duty: World at War as one of the five submachine guns available for use. Like most weapons featured in Nintendo DS games, there are a few similarities and differences between the DS version and the console version of the weapon. The first similarity would be the general appearance of the gun, even with a similar looking compensator. Another similarity would be the irons sights, though they offer a better peripheral view at the cost of being less pin point accurate. Unlike most depictions of the weapon in the Call of Duty series, this version of the Thompson is fitted with the historically accurate 30 round magazine. Even more similar to the real life counterpart, it has much higher recoil and stopping power.

Singleplayer
In single player, the Thompson is found in every American mission as a starting weapon or being used by allies. The only exception would be On the Water, which is a vehicle based level. The Thompson is well rounded weapon, killing in three shots at any range, moderate but manageable recoil, a moderate reload time, and a decent magazine size of 30 rounds. Despite the good qualities, it is beaten by the Type 100 as it has a higher rate of fire and ammunition for it is more common, at the cost of higher recoil.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the Thompson is the only SMG available to the Americans if the Allied faction is chosen. As with all weapons in multiplayer, its power is reduced, taking four shots to kill, as opposed to three. Luckily, it has still retained the steady damage at all ranges, like its single player variant. Due to these traits, it is a moderately encountered weapon. It can be effectively used in close quarters, as its recoil will push the players aim upward towards the head, where damage is increased. Its use in long range combat is also manageable, as long as the player burst-fires or uses the weapon like it's semiautomatic.

Trivia

 * On the Nintendo Wii version of Call of Duty: World at War, the Thompson's empty-reload animation is the same as its mid-magazine reloading animation. Adding a Round Drum fixes it. The Gewehr 43 also has the same issue, but only when it is equipped with a Silencer, so it is backwards.
 * The Create-a-Class picture of the Thompson in Call of Duty: World at War is missing a muzzle brake. It resembles the Thompson in Call of Duty 3.
 * This is the first American weapon held by the player in Call of Duty 2.
 * When playing online in Call of Duty: World at War with the Thompson that has a Round Drum, the player (from 3rd person view) still has the original 20 round Box Magazine.
 * In 'Loose Ends' and 'All Ghillied Up', there are posters of a Russian woman holding a Thompson. This is odd, as the Russians never used the Thompson.
 * In a 3rd person view the player model holds the weapon by the stock.
 * In Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: Roads to Victory and Call of Duty: World at War, the Thompson holds 20 rounds even though it is shown with a 30 round magazine.
 * In reality, Soldiers did use the Thompson with either a 20 round box magazine, or a 50 round drum magazine, both had flaws, the former had a low capacity, and the latter rattled a lot, and was unreliable. A 30 round box magazine was made as a solution to both issues.

Video
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Gameplay with the Thompson in Call of Duty: World at War