The Thompson (sometimes referred to as the Thompson M1A1) is an American submachine gun that appears in almost every Call of Duty title set in World War II to date (excluding Call of Duty: WWII and Call of Duty: Vanguard, where it is replaced by the M1928), as well as appearing in Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty Online, and being briefly seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Call of Duty and United Offensive[]
- "The Thompson submachine gun is effective at close range and fires the powerful .45 ACP round. It's notoriously inaccurate at a distance but compensates with a high rate of fire."
- — Call of Duty manual description.
Campaign[]
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 Call of Duty: United Offensive 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 minimal recoil, which makes the Thompson a versatile weapon in that it can be used to good effect at all ranges. However, ammunition is not always readily available in comparison to the MP40, which is very similar to the Thompson, but with more abundant ammo, but ammo is still plentiful in comparison to other weapons such as the BAR or the M1A1 Carbine. 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. However, in Call of Duty: United Offensive, it loses its effectiveness at range due to damage drop-off, which forces the player to land six rounds to kill one enemy.
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Call of Duty: Finest Hour[]
- "The Thompson submachine gun is effective at close range and fires the powerful .45 ACP round. It's notoriously inaccurate at a distance but compensates with a high rate of fire."
- — Manual description
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.
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Call of Duty 2[]
Campaign[]
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 more frequently. It is a one-shot-kill in close range, but at long range the damage is greatly reduced.
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[]
The Thompson is still fairly ineffective in multiplayer as it requires three to six shots to kill, which, combined with its small magazine size of just 20, makes the Thompson sub-par to the other submachine guns available.
Gallery[]
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One[]
- "Also known as the "Tommy" gun, the M-1A1 is an American weapon that became infamous for its use by gangsters during the Prohibition era."
- — Description
In Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, the Thompson (referred to as M-1A1 Thompson in the Bonus Materials) is used by many American soldiers. The Thompson is appears in every mission in the hands of Sgt Hawkins with the exception of "The Great Crusade" and other soldiers and is usable by the player in the mission, "We've Been Through Worse" and in every mission after Piano Lupo, with the exception of "Crucifix Hill". It has a 30-round magazine. Ammunition is common.
Gallery[]
Call of Duty 3[]
- "Submachine gun. .45ACP. The "Tommy Gun" was blow-back operated with a cyclic rate of 700 rounds per minute. Wartime M1A1 were fed by 20 or 30 round stick magazines and generally issued to officers and NCOs."
- — In-game description
The Thompson (listed as a Thompson M1A1 in the Bonus Materials) returns yet again in Call of Duty 3 as one of the main weapons of the American Forces. The weapon keeps roughly the same statistics 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.
Campaign[]
The Thompson is common in the campaign. It is first introduced in the first mission, "Saint-Lô". The Thompson is powerful, with low recoil, but inaccurate at long ranges. It is extremely useful for clearing out enclosed areas with multiple enemies, and should be ideally used in conjunction with a rifle for targets at a further distance. Ammunition for the Thompson is scarce on some levels, so the player should ideally watch their shots.
Multiplayer[]
In multiplayer, the Thompson is carried by the allies if the player chooses the Light Assault class. It is somewhat more accurate than the MP40, and has slightly less recoil. However, it has a smaller magazine than the MP40, but has a shorter reload time to compensate for this.
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Call of Duty: Roads to Victory[]
- "The Thompson SMG was also known as the Tommy Gun."
- — In-game description
The Thompson also appears in Call of Duty: Roads to Victory. It inflicts medium damage onto enemy troops, requiring two body or one head shot 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).
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Call of Duty: Devil's Brigade[]
It appeared in a screenshot for the cut game Call of Duty: Devil's Brigade.
Gallery[]
Call of Duty: World at War[]
- "American submachine gun with high accuracy and moderate power. Effective at close to medium range."
- — Create a class description.
Campaign[]
In Call of Duty: World at War, the Thompson is never a starting weapon in the missions, unlike almost every other game, but it is often found on fallen Marines. It can first be found in "Semper Fi", where two are on the floor of a hut, in which two Japanese soldiers are executing a Marine. 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 mission "Breaking Point". Interestingly, even if the Marines used this weapon, it is somewhat rare to find while Arisakas, Type 100s, and M1 Garands usually rule the Pacific campaign missions, yet they are far from scarce either. Because of the fairly low ammo and high rate of fire, the Thompson tends to run out of ammunition fairly quickly. When two players are playing co-operative mode on the same console, if one player receives a flamethrower as a starting weapon in a mission, the other receives a Thompson with full ammunition.
Multiplayer[]
The Thompson is the first submachine gun available.
At any range short of nineteen meters, the Thompson will deal forty damage per bullet, needing three shots to kill. Damage decreases linearly until 25 meters. At any range past 25 meters, the Thompson will deal twenty damage per bullet, needing five shots to kill. The Thompson has a three shot kill range of 21 meters, and a four shot kill range of 23 meters. The Thompson deals forty percent more damage on a headshot, reducing the shots needed to kill by one in almost all circumstances. Unlike other SMGs, the Thompson has medium penetration power, on par with the rifles.
The Thompson's damage per bullet increases when using Stopping Power. At any range short of nineteen meters, the Thompson will deal 56 damage per bullet, needing two shots to kill. Damage linearly decreases until 25 meters. At any range past 25 meters, the Thompson will deal 28 damage per bullet, needing four shots to kill. The Thompson has a two shot kill range of roughly 21 meters, and a three shot kill range of roughly 23 meters. Stopping Power is incredibly beneficial to the Thompson in Core game types, as it will make the Thompson kill faster in all scenarios, but in Hardcore game types, Stopping Power's value is highly questionable as its one shot kill range simply gets extended out to about 24 metres.
The Thompson fires fully automatically, with a fire rate of 750 RPM. Selecting Double Tap will increase the Thompson's rate of fire to 1000 RPM.
The Thompson has recoil values of 74 to the left, 85 to the right, 74 upwards, and 32 downwards. The Thompson has a centerspeed value of 1813. The Thompson has slightly higher innate zoom level on its iron sights, the same as other SMGs would have when using the Aperture Sight.
The Thompson allows the user to move at 100% of the base speed, or strafe at 40% of the base speed. The user can aim down the sights in 200 milliseconds, and the hip-fire spread is tight. The Thompson's reload speeds are highly variable and situation dependent. If reloading box magazines that are not empty, the Thompson's reload animation is 2.1 seconds long, or 2.7 seconds long if empty. The Reload Cancel speed is 1.6 seconds if the magazine is not empty, but actually speeds up to 1.2 seconds if the magazine is empty. If reloading a Round Drum, the Thompson's reload speeds are overall slower. The reload animation for a drum magazine is 3.1 seconds long, or 3.9 seconds long if the drum is empty. The Thompson's drum magazine can be reload cancelled in 2.1 seconds.
The Thompson has a default magazine capacity of twenty rounds, and a default starting ammo loadout of eighty rounds.
The Thompson gets the standard assortment of SMG attachments at its disposal. Most attachments function as expected on the Thompson, although the Aperture Sight on the Thompson will not increase its zoom level like it does on other SMGs, as the Thompson's iron sights already have that level of zoom by default.
Zombies[]
The Thompson appears in all maps, both off the wall and from the Mystery Box. It can be bought for 1200 points, with ammo costing 600 points. It is a good weapon, especially in the early to mid rounds, due to its good accuracy, fire rate, high close range power, cheap off the wall cost and easily obtainable ammo. In higher rounds, it loses its effectiveness quickly, and requires several shots to take down a single zombie, making headshots a priority. However, the Thompson remains an effective weapon to use if the player needs to gain a lot of points, as the cheap ammo, good accuracy and rate of fire allow the player to gain points very rapidly.
On Der Riese, it can be Pack-a-Punched via the Pack-a-Punch Machine into the Gibs-O-Matic, giving it a doubled magazine of 40 rounds, larger ammo reserve and more power. Even after Pack-a-Punching, ammo reserves may be 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 somewhat ineffective unless the player can make a large number of headshots in later rounds. The Thompson is very accurate laterally and vertical recoil is gentle and uniform, conductive to headshots with a good damage multiplier for such. Between the 40-round magazine, fast dry reload and with the addition of Speed Cola, the Gibs-O-Matic can sustain fire for a fair amount of time.
Thompson vs. Gibs-O-Matic[]
| Thompson | Gibs-O-Matic | |
|---|---|---|
|
| |
| Damage | 120-80 | 200-120 |
| Fire mode | Automatic | Automatic |
| Rate of fire | 750 | 923 |
| Magazine size | 20 | 40 |
| Max ammo | 200+20 | 250+40 |
| Reload | 2.1, 2.45 empty | 2.1, 2.45 empty |
| Mobility | High | High |
| Extras | More ammo, larger magazine, higher rate of fire, higher damage |
Weapon Attachments[]
Gallery[]
- For Attachment images, see Thompson (weapon)/Attachments.
Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts[]
In Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts, the Thompson M1A1 is the standard submachine gun of the U.S. Army Divisions, 80th Infantry Division in Europe and the 2nd Marine Division in the Pacific. It appears in almost all American missions, as a secondary weapon along with the M1 Garand. It is a very good weapon on medium to close range, and its ammo can be scavenged from dead American soldiers, as it ammo would not be an issue, but the problem for all players is its high rate of fire and small magazine would be outperformed by other weapons like the Type 100 and MP40.
Gallery[]
Call of Duty: World at War (Nintendo 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. Even more similar to the real life counterpart, it has much higher recoil and stopping power.
Campaign[]
In the campaign, 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[]
The Thompson is the only submachine gun 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 is semi automatic.
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Call of Duty: Zombies[]
The Thompson appears in the IOS game Call of Duty: Zombies.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[]
While never appearing physically in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, on the map Derail, pictures of a Russian woman holding a Thompson are seen multiple times. It can also be seen in Loose Ends.
Call of Duty: Black Ops[]
The Thompson returns in the revised Call of Duty: World at War Zombies maps for the Hardened and Prestige editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops and the Rezurrection map pack.
It can be purchased off of the wall, but is no longer available from the Mystery Box. It is one of the few Call of Duty: World at War weapons that can be obtained in every classic map, as it can be found on the wall in all the original maps. It remains a highly useful weapon due to the ease in obtaining ammo for it. It is worth noting if a player does not want to gamble with receiving a poor weapon from the Mystery Box, the Thompson is a good go-to weapon when available.
Thompson vs Gibs-O-Matic[]
| Thompson | Gibs-O-Matic | |
|---|---|---|
|
| |
| Damage | 120-80 | 200-120 |
| Multiplier | Head: x4 Chest: x1 Abdomen: x1 |
Head: x5 Chest: x1 Abdomen: x1 |
| Fire mode | Automatic | Automatic |
| Rate of fire | 750 RPM | 923 RPM |
| Magazine size | 20 | 40 |
| Max ammo | 200+20 | 250+40 |
| Reload | 2.1, 2.45 empty | 2.1, 2.45 empty |
| Mobility | High | High |
| Extras | More ammo, larger magazine, higher rate of fire, higher damage. |
Gallery[]
Call of Duty Online[]
The Thompson returns in Call of Duty Online.
Attachments[]
- Suppressor
- Foregrip
- Angled Grip
- FMJ
- ACOG Scope
- Reflex Sight
- Flash Suppressor
- Adjustable Stock
- Extended Mags
- Laser
- Holographic Sight
- Thermal Scope
- EMP Shielding Device
- Red Dot Sight
- Fast Mag
Gallery[]
Video[]
Trivia[]
General[]
- In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare there is a poster of a woman with a Thompson. This also appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
- All of the Thompson submachine guns depicted have the American Auto Ordnance logo engraved on top of the receiver.
Call of Duty: World at War[]
- The Create-A-Class picture of the Thompson is missing a muzzle brake. It resembles the Thompson in Call of Duty 3.
- When playing online with the Thompson that has a Round Drum, the player (from third-person view) still has the original 20 round Box Magazine.
- On the Nintendo Wii version, the Thompson is portrayed without the compensator that the consoles versions have.
- On the left side, it can be seen written, "THOMPSON SUBMACHINE GUN CALIBER.45 M1A1 NO. 080878".
- The selective fire switch on the Thompson is set for semi-automatic, even though it is always fully automatic in the game.
- In Nacht der Untoten, walking up to the Thompson on the wall tells the player the gun's cost is 1500 points, even though it actually costs 1200 points. This has been fixed in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Call of Duty: Black Ops[]
- The files for the Thompson can be found on PC even without Classic Zombies maps installed. However, the files are empty.
References[]
- ↑ Call of Duty: Finest Hour instruction booklet, page 18.
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