MP40

Overview
When the factions of Earth found the MP7 to be getting stale, they looked to the old fashioned '''MP40. '''The MP40 is a common, versatile weapon used by the Resistance and Combine alike, having decent damage per shot, moderate accuracy and recoil, a sizable 32 round magazine, and a decent fire rate. It's more notable drawbacks being that it's accuracy and recoil get notably worse if fired for too long, alongside a rather mediocre reload speed. Coupled with the fact it's damage is not the greatest, it's a weapon more suited for mid-to-close range engagements. Out of the three basic SMGs, the MP40 is the most balanced. It has less damage and accuracy than the Grease Gun, but has a faster reload and slightly larger clip size. In comparison to the MP7, the MP40 has higher damage and is more accurate, but slower firing and has more intense recoil.

Acquisition
The MP40 first appears in Route Kanal, held by various Combine Soldiers that first start appearing after moving through the destroyed railway.

Afterwards, it appears fairly frequently in the hands of various Metrocops and Soldiers across the later levels.

Advantages
-Quite common. Ammo will not be in short supply.

-Manageable accuracy and recoil.

-Running and moving will not affect accuracy.

-Decent damage.

-Moderately high fire rate.

-Uses the very common SMG ammo.

-Iron sights will increase accuracy significantly.

-Innate melee attack.

Disadvantages
-Damage begins to falter against higher-grade enemies in later levels.

-Recoil will make longer range engagements harder to handle, even with iron sights.

-Recoil and accuracy diminish rather noticeably if fired automatically for too long.

-Iron sights can be somewhat obstructive.

-Moderately slow reload.

Tactics
-Don't try to go for targets at long range with the MP40. Switch to a pistol or other weapon instead. The recoil and low damage at range renders the MP40 simply impractical at a distance past medium ranges.

-The fire rate and high capacity can make this weapon better at handling groups than others.

-This weapon can be used rather effectively against faster targets such as Aces and Fast Zombies.

-As both this weapon and it's ammo are very common, don't be afraid to use it extensively during the game, namely during the canals.

-Remember to have a few spots of cover you can get to after firing, as the reload of the MP40 is fairly slow.

-If you wish to conserve ammo, remember that you are able to melee with the MP40, allowing you to swing the base of the weapon into someone's skull.