A real Thompson submachine gun (M1928 variant)
The Thompson is a series of American submachine guns designed by John T. Thompson in 1917. The Thompson became infamous during the 1920s-30s. It had a long list of variants, most notably the M1928, M1 and M1A1 variants which were adopted by the United States military in 1938. It was also widely used by British and Canadian units in Europe during World War II.
The Thompson fired the .45 ACP cartridge loaded typically into 20 or 30-round stick magazines, or 50 or 100-round drum magazines. The M1928 models had a rate of fire of around 1200 rounds per minute, while the M1/M1A1 had a rate of fire of about 600 because of army requirements, with a range of about 100 meters, and an effective range of about 50 meters.
Battlefield 1942
The Thompson is a weapon featured in Battlefield 1942 and is issued to the Medic kit of the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, British Army (replaced with the Sten SMG in the Road to Rome Expansion) and Canadian Army.
The weapon has the highest rate amongst all infantry weapons at 600 rpm, but with a lower damage per shot compared to assault rifles and light machine guns available to the Assault kit. It requires four shots to the body to kill at minimum range, and seven at one hundred meters and beyond. Although the Thompson has low recoil per shot, during sustained firing its high rate of fire can make controlling the weapon difficult, throwing the user's aim up and to the left or right. This, along with high spread deviation with long shots, makes the Thompson a poor choice for long range engagements, at which the gun is only semi-effective even when fired prone and in bursts or single shots. As with other submachine guns, the Thompson is, therefore, better suited to close quarters engagements, as well as shooting on the move thanks to its weapon type having the lowest max spread deviation.
When comparing the Thompson to the MP 40, MP 18 and Sten, all four weapons have identical spread, damage and recoil patterns, and only differ in reload time and magazine capacity, with the Thompson being slightly slower by 0.5 seconds, and with two less bullets in the magazine. The Thompson surpasses its counterparts in rate of fire, at 600 rpm versus 540 rpm, giving the former a slight edge when up close.
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Battlefield Vietnam
World War II Mod
The Thompson is a weapon featured in the official World War II mod of Battlefield Vietnam. Unlike many of its counterparts, the Thompson is completely redesigned from the original Battlefield 1942 version, albeit with the same stats.
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Battlefield Heroes
While not identified by name, the Royal Army Submachine guns in Battlefield Heroes are all based on the Thompson.
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Battlefield 1943
The Thompson is a weapon featured in Battlefield 1943 and is issued to the USMC in the Infantry kit. It is a direct equivalent to the Japan counterpart, the Type 100, the two weapons being statistically identical.
It has low power, low accuracy, a high rate of fire and 30 round magazine. It can kill in around 7 to 10 or so rounds, though its mediocre accuracy will require a few more shots to finally kill an enemy. It is essentially a close quarters weapon. Since the iron sights on the Thompson cannot be used, aiming simply closes up and increases accuracy, so it's efficiency deteriorates at longer ranges.
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Battlefield: Bad Company 2
— In-game description
The Thompson is a weapon featured in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Singleplayer
The weapon is seen during the beginning of the Operation Aurora. Thomas Wyatt is seen holding it in the boat but is forced to drop it in the water when discovered by the Japanese. Throughout rest of the level, Wyatt's squad-mates are seen using the weapon, but it cannot be used by the player.
Multiplayer
The WWII M1A1 Thompson is a submachine gun available to all kits. It is unlocked by reaching rank 10 or by owning either the Limited or Ultimate editions of the game. It uses the same weapon model from Battlefield 1943, though it appears to be rusted in areas due to its age and wear.
It has relatively low damage, and only beats the Type 88 LMG, M60 and F2000 in terms of damage per second. It has a moderate recoil, but is not hard to keep on target at close to medium range.
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Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam
— In-game description
The WWII M1A1 Thompson is a weapon featured in Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam. Like the base game, it is an all kits weapon and is unlocked in conjunction with Battlefield: Bad Company 2's multiplayer. It has mostly the same stats as in the base game, though it does have increased damage and a modified range of 18 metre rather than 16 metre.
Its appearance has changed slightly, with a darker steel finish and notably more rust and wear, as well as khaki-colored cloth wrapped around its handguard and magazines, similar to many other weapons in the expansion.
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Battlefield Hardline
The M1A1 is an all-kit submachine gun introduced in patch 1.04 that was released alongside the Battlefield Hardline: Criminal Activity expansion.[4] Since the weapon was released in a patch alongside the expansion, it is thereby available to all players for free and does not require ownership of the Criminal Activity expansion. Unlike other weapons, the Thompson only features a custom modeled Stubby Grip and Extended Magazine as available attachments, and can only use metallic Paints.
The Thompson's slow rate of fire and light recoil makes it easy to control and keep rounds on target, and it has very tight hipfire spread, allowing it to work well in close to medium ranges. While the M1A1 has little recoil, its spread increases very quickly while firing; firing in short bursts is useful for medium ranges. However, the Thompson suffers from a short damage falloff distance, a low minimum damage of 15, and a slow bullet velocity of 320 m/s (slightly slower than the 92FS), causing it struggle significantly at long ranges. Along with this, the Thompson's reload time is somewhat long compared to other submachine guns, so its recommended to find a safe place out of direct combat to reload to avoid being caught off guard.
Most of the M1A1's weaknesses, however, can be remedied with its two available attachments. The Stubby grip will reduce the Thompson's spread increase with each shot, so it will remain much more accurate and be able to preform better at range. Extended Magazines will increase the Thompson's magazine capacity to 50 from 30, so the longer reload will not be too much of an issue as the player will be able to fire longer. However, the M1A1 will only have 3 extra magazines in reserve instead of 5 when using Extended Magazines, so players will either need to conserve ammo carefully or work with a friendly Enforcer to stay supplied. The Thompson's iron sights, however, can be problematic as a player must be either motionless or moving forward in order to use them effectually, otherwise the rear sight will obstructed by the front sight from both sides, depending on whether the player is moving right or left, resulting in diminished accuarcy.
Overall, the M1A1 is a accurate and controlable close quarters weapon for all-kits, but it mostly benefits Enforcers and Professionals, as Operators and Mechanics already have access to better close quarter SMGs and rifles.
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Achievement/Trophy
| Image | Name | Criteria | Achievement Points | Trophy Type |
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Tommy's Favorite | Earn a Gold Service Star with the M1A1 Thompson | 25G | Silver |
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Battlefield 1
Two early prototypes of the Thompson submachine gun appear in Battlefield 1.
Annihilator
— In-game description
The Annihilator was previously seen in the Community Test Environment. Trench variant was added to the base game in the Weapons Crate Update on May 7th, 2018 and Storm variant was added to the base game in the Shock Operations Update on June 27th, 2018.
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M1919 SMG
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— In-Game Description
The M1919 SMG was introduced on May 23rd, 2018. The weapon is unlocked for use after pre-ordering the online standard or deluxe editions of Battlefield V on any platform.
Battlefield V
— In-game description
The M1928A1 is a weapon featured in Battlefield V. It was first seen in the promotional art and Battlefield 5 Official Reveal Trailer.
Singleplayer
The M1928A1 is the starting weapon for player character Billy Bridger in the war story Under No Flag, equipped with an extended drum magazine and a Lattey Sight. During The Last Tiger, enemy US Army Assault and Support troops use M1928A1s, equipped with unique 30 round magazines and 50 round drums, respectively.
Multiplayer
It is unlocked for the Medic kit at class rank 20. Unlike in previous games, the .45 ACP chambering of the M1928A1 has a lower damage model of 25.1 compared to the uniform 30 damage of other submachine guns.
The weapon is closest in performance to the Suomi KP/-31, with a slightly better accuracy in control and a marginally lower default rate of fire of 720 RPM - the second highest in its class. This is countered by high aimed recoil, lower muzzle velocity and tied lowest magazine capacity in the category of 20 rounds, which can be quickly exhausted in fully automatic fire. Inherent to the SMG class, the weapon has decent hip fire accuracy, which can be further boosted through specialisations.
The M1928A1's two upgrade paths, identical in layout to the Suomi KP/-31's upgrade tree, intends to improve responsiveness in mobile engagements, and alleviate some of the weapon's primary weaknesses, respectively. Left path upgrades of Slings and Swivels, Enhanced Grips and Recoil Buffer assist controllability, with the latter helping specifically with the Rank 3 upgrade of Light Bolt, which raises fire rate to 900 rpm. The right upgrade path is comprises of Quick Aim, Ported Barrel and Polished Action, which reduce horizontal and hipfire recoil. The alternative Rank 3 upgrade Extended Magazine more than doubles capacity to 50 rounds, alleviating the weapon's primary drawback.
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Trivia
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
- In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the Thompson used to be glitched and kills made with the it wouldn't be tracked. Rather, kills with the M1 Garand would count towards the Thompson's kill count. This has since then been patched.
- In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, when the Thompson is reloaded, the user can see the bullet in the chamber is actually ejected, but nothing happens to the ammo count.
- While reloading in Battlefield 1943 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the player first tries to put in the new magazine in at an off angle, and has to rotate it and try again.
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