Thompson (weapon)

The Thompson submachine gun or the "Tommy Gun" was a .45 caliber sub-machine gun used by the Allies during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.



History
The Thompson, made famous by the gangsters of the American Prohibition era and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), was designed by General John Thompson, who wanted a one-man hand-held automatic weapon to serve as a so-called "trench broom." So he left the military and started designing prototypes for the weapon. Thompson expected to market his new weapon to the U.S. military but as he finished the first prototype, World War 1 ended and the military saw no need for a new service weapon, so he moved to the civilian and law enforcement market but only saw success with the mobsters and gangsters. One of the most famous uses of the Thompson was in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which 7 rival gangsters were mowed down on the infamous Al Capone's orders. During the European theater in World War II the Thompson became a widely-issued weapon for scouts, non-commissioned officers, and squad leaders. The Thompson was widely used by the British and Canadian commando units, but also was used by U.S. paratroops, infantry and Ranger battalions. The Thompson was also delivered to the Russians in the Lend-Lease program, although the gun was almost never used due to the rarity of its ammunition in the Soviet Union. It is regarded as the finest submachine gun ever used by the U.S and is well-recognized throughout the world.

The Thompson was expensive and complex to manufacture, being considered to be "over-weight" for a submachine gun, a trait which led to the Americans to develop the M1 Carbine and later the M3 "Grease Gun" (where the Thompson continued serving the NCO and high-ranking officers like the German Luger). Regardless, it was reliable, and even when the M3 was issued, many American soldiers were loathe to depart from the tried and true Thompson. Though popularly associated with the drum magazine, this was quickly removed from military service due to unreliability and unwieldiness.

On the Pacific front, the Australian Infantry Forces and some other Commonwealth forces used the Thompson in jungle patrols and ambushes where it was prized for its firepower, but its weight and difficulties in supply soon led it to be replaced. U.S. Marines used the Thompson in their island assaults. The Thompson was soon found to have a great effect in heavy jungle cover, where the low-velocity .45 bullet would penetrate most small trees and Japanese helmets or body armor. In the U.S. Army, many Pacific War jungle patrols were originally equipped with Thompsons in the early phases of the New Guinea and Guadalcanal campaigns, but soon began employing the M3 and M3A1 in its place due to the Thompson's high production costs. The M3 was cheap, just fine looking and same firepower, but the penetration couldn't match the Thompson.

After the war, the Thompson continued to be used by the United States by military, Federal and local police agencies up until the 1960s (in a small amount), before it was phased out of service for newer designs like the MP5. The Thompson continues to be one of the best known submachine guns manufactured and is a prize choice for collectors. Currently replica semi-automatic versions are manufactured by the Auto-Ordnance Company, called the M1927A1, A2, A3 & A5.

Call of Duty 1 and United Offensive
This is the American's submachine gun of choice. It has a 30-round magazine and very manageable recoil, making it the weapon of choice for taking out enemies in close quarters and medium range. For enemies in medium range, burst fire them. Its rate of fire will ensure that a few rounds make it to the target before the fire key is released. Its rounds do enough damage to ensure that enemies will fall very quickly. Its iron sights are somewhat awkward to use at first, but remember that what the tip of the triangle has on top of it is where the bullets will hit. Starting with a ridiculous amount of starting ammo, saving and collecting is recommended.

Another thing that players should notice, is that the weapon is selected fire, rotating from Semi-auto to Full-auto.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
In this game it has a 30 round magazine, and is available in most of the American missions, it can kill an enemy in two to 3 shots. It uses the fire sound from the PPSh-41 Starting with a ridiculous amount of ammunition, it often ends up with no ammo quickly due to it's rate of fire. It uses a different iron sight than any other Thompson in the rest of Call of Duty series by having a peep sight, not a "V-notch" sight as usual.

Call of Duty 2
The Thompson is considerably less effective in Call of Duty 2. Its magazine now has only 20 rounds, meaning that you'll have to reload a lot more often than before, due to the sped up rate of fire, and the selector switch for rate of fire no longer exists, which means players can only use a light tap on the button for semi-auto fire. Its recoil pattern has slightly changed, but most people won't notice it. It is still very powerful, but make sure to reload as often as possible. The Grease Gun's attributes are the same as those of the Thompson from Call of Duty 1, but with a reduced rate of fire. However, the Thompson is still very popular despite its reduced magazine size. The iron sight on this gun now has a circle hole in the middle instead of the triangle sight from Call of Duty 1, but still retain the similarities on aiming.

Call of Duty 3
The Thompson returns yet again as one of the main weapons of the American Forces. In the campaign it can be found around American dead bodies and in the hand of many American allies, notably NCO and some other Private soldier. In multiplayer it is carried by the allies if the player chooses the Light assault class. It is accurate at close to medium range and is very helpful in close quarters because of its light weight, high rate of fire and high melee damage. It is once again shown with the inaccurate 20 round magazine (which was issued to paratroopers) and the standard M1A1 features (which was true because the US army issues the M1A1). It is also notably featured in the trailer. Ammo for it is somewhat rare in mid-campaign missions, but there is plenty on the last mission (Chambois).

Single Player
Often found around 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
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 exactly the same as the Type 100 but with a smaller magazine (in which case it is supposed to be 30 round) and better penetration through walls and wood covers.

The Thompson has an unusually high rate of fire, but not quite as fast as it's real-life counterpart. The Thompson using Double Tap (a realistic comparison of the true M1928A1, M1, M1921A1, M1921, M1928, or M1A1) fires a twenty round stick magazine at approximately 00:01:65 seconds, (One-point-sixty five seconds). With the addition of the non-realistic 45 round drum magazine, it can dump off all of it's rounds at approximately 00:02:92 (Two-point-ninety two seconds).

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 longer ranges. 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 and praying" as effectively. However, this can be remedied by the Round Drum attachment (Marksman III) which doubles the magazine size and starting ammo count 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. A Thompson with deep impact can penetrate almost anything.

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 you will waste less ammo. 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.

The iron sights might be difficult for first timers but when mastered can be deadly if used by more experienced players. While the Type 100's sights are the same style as the Thompson's, the Thompson's sights are larger. It is recommended for players to use the iron sight for accuracy and ammo saving. Overall it is a good choice for players who likes CQC and medium range.

Nazi Zombies
The Thompson appears in all Nazi Zombie levels, both off the wall and from the Mystery Box. 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.

Inaccuracies
The Thompson appears to have the Cutts compensator (that wasn't so necessary for SMGs issued in later years) which would make the model in the game an M1928A1 (this does not apply in the Wii version), but the bolt is on the side of the weapon and lacks barrel cooling fins like the M1 and M1A1 Thompsons, both of which omitted the compensator. At the same time, it can accept the 40 round drum magazine, again attributed to the M1928A1 and not the M1s. 40 rounds of ammunitions was considered to be a bit not enough for this gun based on the fact that drum magazine was jammed and rattle. The World at War Thompson appears to resemble no existing production model, as there only be 50 round drum, not 40 round. The WaW Thompsons sound quite soft, not as powerful sound as it was in other series of WWII.

Call of Duty World at War (DS)
The DS version of the Thompson seems to have a slower rate of fire, more damage per bullet, and higher recoil than the console versions. It once again shown with the compensator as the console version. Unlike most depictions of the gun in the Call of Duty series, it is loaded with the standard 30-round magazine.

Trivia

 * The version in all COD games is actually the M1A1 version.
 * 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.
 * Strangely, it cannot share ammo with the M1911, despite both using the .45 ACP cartridge. This also happens with the MP40 and Walther P38 (9x19mm), Type 100 and Nambu (8x22mm), and PPSh-41, TT-33, and SVT-40 (7.62x25mm). This is because the pistol couldn't accept SMG magazines and vice-versa.
 * Bizarrely, this is never a starting weapon in any mission of Call of Duty: World at War. Except in "Burn 'em Out" when playing Co-Op Campaign with a friend, Player 1 has the M2 Flamethrower and M1 Garand whilst other players have a M1A1 Thompson and M1 Garand.
 * The soldier on the cover of Call of Duty: World at War fires an M1928 Thompson, not the M1A1 Thompson that appears in game, same with Call of Duty 3.
 * Strangely, although having a high rate of fire, horribly high penetration combines with the .45 ACP cartridge, it's reputations and stats seems to be a little bit disappointed in World at War. But it was being favour by many players anyway.

Video
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