FG42

The FG42 (Fallschirmjäger Gewehr 42 ) is a German light support weapon featured in Call of Duty, Call of Duty: United Offensive, Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Zombies, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: WWII.

Jared White is terrible at this game.
"The FG42 is a great multi-purpose weapon. It's one of the deadliest fully automatic weapons available and the single-fire mode is effective at all ranges. A 4x scope is standard issue."

- Call of Duty manual description.

Campaign Nigger
In Call of Duty, the FG42 is a "do everything" gun; it has a scope, the damage and accuracy of a rifle, and is selective-fire with a fast reload and a rapid rate of fire, making it useful at short ranges in full auto mode. Ammunition for it is fairly plentiful in the first three missions it appears in, though in the final appearance only one such weapon exists in the entire map. The weapon always has a low-power scope that settles extremely rapidly.

The FG42 features a semi-auto fire mode. The gun is unique in that when using this, hipfire accuracy is increased.

The FG42 is only encountered in four early levels: German Fallschirmjägers are equipped with it towards the end of "Ste. Mere-Eglise", and it is seen throughout "Ste. Mere-Eglise-Day". The player can start "Normandy Route N13" with one if they had one at the end of the previous mission and a few soldiers carry them during the level itself. A FG42 can be found resting on a box during the trench section of "Brecourt Manor", between the second and third FlaK 88s. Its final appearance is in the beginning of the final level in Berlin. There is a sniper using one in one of the buildings, where if the player shoots him and go inside the building the FG42 will have fallen to the bottom floor and one can pick it up; if it hasn't fallen, one can go on the scaffolding inside and get it.

Multiplayer
In Multiplayer, the FG42 can be found in pre-determined locations if the server enables it. It comes with no extra magazines, but retains its ability to deal massive amounts of damage per shot; it is effectively treated as a "super weapon" in multiplayer maps.

Call of Duty 2
The FG42 was planned to appear in Call of Duty 2, but was later cut and replaced with the G43 from Call of Duty: United Offensive. However, the files for this weapon can be still found in game files (including sounds, images, models, textures and the pickup icon).

Call of Duty 3
"Fallschirmjäger Gewehr 42. 7.92mm. Automatic rifle developed for German paratroopers after the invasion of Crete. 20 round side mounted detachable box magazine. 900 rounds cyclic rate. 500 meter effective range."

- In-game description

Campaign
The FG42 (listed as FG-42 in the Bonus Materials) returns in Call of Duty 3. There are two versions of the FG42 in Call of Duty 3; a regular FG42 and a Scoped FG42. The FG42 has heavy recoil when fired whilst aiming down the sights, which can make it hard to control. This is especially a hindrance for the Scoped FG42. Unusually, it has very little recoil when fired from the hip. It is just as powerful as the Kar 98k, due to it firing the powerful 7.92mm round, making it highly effective when fired in bursts or single shots.

The FG42 can be commonly found on the level "The Island", both scoped and unscoped; they share ammunition if carried together. The Scoped FG42 also appears in the level "The Mace". Ammunition for the FG42 is plentiful on the levels it appears on. An unscoped FG42 can be found in the level Fuel Plant.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
"The FG-42 was a light machine gun originally developed for paratroopers."

- In-game description

In Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, the FG42 appears only in Survival mode, which is unlocked after beating the game on Veteran. It replaces the Thompson, and Allies using it tend to fire semi-automatically. It takes two melee hits to kill an enemy with an FG-42 instead of the usual one hit.

Call of Duty: World at War
"German fully automatic machine gun with a high rate of fire. Effective at medium to long range."

- Description

Campaign
In Call of Duty: World at War, the FG42 is found only during the Soviet Red Army campaign missions; it is rare even in these. The FG42 has extraordinary power, making it effective as a one-shot-kill weapon.

There are multiple hidden FG42s in the mission "Their Land, Their Blood". One is first found at the beginning of the level, inside the starting house. It is near the newly made "exit", laying on the wall to the right. More that can be picked up in the bunkers in the trench area, and hidden behind crates later on. There are also several FG42s in the mission "Heart of the Reich". One is found lying on boxes at the beginning of the level. A second FG42 is lying inside the building the player goes in before Sgt. Reznov gives his mini speech. Another is found near one of the MG42s in front of the Reichstag. The last one is found in a small building in front of the Reichstag.

In campaign, the FG42 is always equipped with a deployable bipod, which increases accuracy but limits the movement of the weapon when deployed, severely limiting its usefulness.

Multiplayer
The FG42 is classified as a light machine gun and is unlocked at level 45. It has the same rate of fire as the MG42, but sacrifices a small amount of stopping power for lower recoil, higher movement speed, and higher hip fire accuracy. The FG42 is the only machine gun that can be equipped with a Telescopic Sight; however, it does have high sway, and is not used often due to the "pinpoint" iron sights. Its primary defect is its extremely small magazine, which means frequent reloading with this weapon. In Hardcore, when Stopping Power is equipped, it is always a one hit kill. In Core modes, Stopping Power and Bandolier are frequently used in order to conserve ammo. Sleight of Hand is popular as well. Some players put Double Tap on the FG42, but will find themselves reloading after every kill, and draining ammo after only a few bursts. Even if the player doesn't have Double Tap, it is recommended to reload after every shot or kill; the reloading is quick, but even without the Double Tap perk, the magazine is almost always empty. If one doesn't mind the lower damage, Sleight of Hand can be useful for speeding up the frequent reloads, helping to make sure one does not get caught off guard.

When held, the player runs as fast as someone with a Submachine Gun or Shotgun. This, along with it having a scope as an attachment and its very fast rate of fire, makes the FG42 one of the most versatile weapons in Call of Duty: World at War. It is very much suited to medium ranges, where semi-automatic rifles will be outclassed by recoil and rate of fire and SMGs will suffer from lower damages values.

In the Limited Edition, there is a code to access the FG42 early; however, it doesn't actually unlock the gun itself, but a class with the FG42 as its primary weapon. It replaces the Type 99 in the LMG pre-created class.

Nazi Zombies
In Nazi Zombies, it appears in Nacht der Untoten and Shi No Numa, available from the Mystery Box, and also in Der Riese, from the Mystery Box and off the wall for 1500 points, next to the Speed Cola. It has high power, ripping through zombies and Hellhounds alike. The recoil makes it a problem and is often overlooked because of this, although the recoil can actually be beneficial for getting headshots. The high rate of fire cancels out the need for Double Tap Root Beer and the frequent reloads give the need for Speed Cola. The FG42 is more effective against Hellhounds than pretty much all other wall purchasable weapons, not counting Shotguns. The pinpoint accuracy of the iron sights combined with the significant zoom during ADS makes the FG42 a great weapon for headshots from a distance, but it is probably a better idea to hip-fire in most cases as this huge zoom from ADS will restrict a player's peripheral vision, increasing the risk of being swarmed on either side. It is a regular spawn from the mystery box. Furthermore, unlike the other Machine Guns, the FG42 does not restrict movement speed, which is a major advantage in later rounds when players must sprint to outrun the zombies.

When it is Pack-a-Punched, it becomes the "420 Impeller", increasing firepower, magazine size, rate of fire, and held ammo. Recoil becomes an even bigger problem as it "climbs" while firing, so it is advisable to aim for the legs and let the recoil move it towards the head and chest. While this gun is surpassed in effectiveness by other weapons, it does have a distinct advantage of being purchasable off the wall, making managing its ammo capacity easier than weapons obtained from the Mystery Box.

Weapon Attachments

 * Bipod
 * Telescopic Sight

Call of Duty: Zombies
The FG42 appears in the iOS version of Zombies. It is available from the Mystery Box, or off the wall in Der Riese for 1500 points. It has a high rate of fire, but a longer reload time than most weapons, though it is faster than the other MGs. Like its prior appearance, it retains its exceptional power.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The FG42 in Call of Duty: Black Ops can only be obtained from the wall in Der Riese, from the revised zombie maps from Call of Duty: World at War. It uses the same model as the Call of Duty: World at War FG42, but with the higher level of polish from the graphically superior game.

Call of Duty: Online
While not available as a standalone weapon, the "FG42" exists as a skin for the MR23 assault rifle in Call of Duty Online.

Call of Duty: WWII
"Automatic rifle with high damage and modest fire rate."

- Description

The FG 42 returns in Call of Duty: WWII, with a model that differs a bit compared to its previous iterations, having a different muzzle brake, a straighter pistol grip and a curved wooden stock.

The FG 42 is an odd addition to the assault rifle. As compared to previous games, its rate of fire has been drastically decreased, as has its recoil, which is among the lowest of all automatic weapons in the game. Its damage is powerful enough to net three-hit kills at close to medium-long range, but the lower rate of fire puts it at a disadvantage in close quarters, where most other assault rifles boast faster times-to-kill. The FG 42's main area of expertise is at medium to long-range combat, where its low recoil and relatively high damage can net quick kills without much competition from other automatic weapons, which are not as accurate and cannot compete with the FG 42.

In order to most effectively cater to the FG 42's strengths, the rifle is best used as a medium-long-range support weapon, and not as an aggressive, "rushing" assault rifle. Staying back at longer ranges and burst firing the FG 42 to ensure accuracy is often the most effective way to use the weapon, as its slow time-to-kill is likely to get the player killed in close quarters. Staying back allows the player to eliminate most competition from assault rifles, shotguns and SMGs, and can allow the player to engage snipers or LMG users at their leisure.

As far as attachments go, the Quickdraw Handle is an effective choice to allow the player to access the FG 42's deadly accuracy more quickly. The Grip can be used, but is mainly unnecessary because the low rate of fire allows the FG 42's sights to mostly recenter between shots. Optical attachments can be used, as the front post on the FG 42's iron sights is rather small and can be difficult to use for some players.

Call of Duty 3

 * Unlike other weapons with attachments, the scoped FG42 doesn't have its own entry and description in the bonus material, only the standard FG42 does.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory

 * In the bonus material section, a picture of the Chatellerault incorrectly accompanies the FG-42's description.

Call of Duty: World at War

 * The Barracks incorrectly states that the FG42 will unlock a Sniper Scope instead of a Telescopic Sight after achieving 75 kills in Call of Duty: World at War.
 * Strangely, although the FG42 is available in a few levels, German soldiers are never seen using it during Call of Duty: World at War's campaign mode.
 * When aiming down the iron sight, a number and a fingerprint can be seen.
 * On the World at War and Black Ops variants, The FG42 has four numbers seen only when aiming down the sight. The numbers are 5, 6, 7 and 8 with small lines above and between them. This suggests that they are numbers to set the zoom of a certain sight.
 * According to the strategy guide for Call of Duty: World at War, the FG42 is considered an assault rifle instead of a LMG.
 * The Pack-a-Punched name, the 420 Impeller, is a reference to the gun's designation (FG42), and the 420 in the name also references marijuana.

​Call of Duty: WWII

 * The camera does not move around when reloading the FG 42 with extended mag, while with the normal FG 42 it does.