Klondike, CPA Headquarters – Fourteen years ago, the Underground Mafias Army sent shockwaves across the community by annihilating the Army of Club Penguin on Mammoth. Today, CPAHQ looks back on one of the most significant moments of World War III.

Context

In early 2007, the Underground Mafias Army emerged as one of the first superpowers in the community. After establishing Mammoth as its capital and base, the army fought in many skirmishes against the likes of the Nachos, the Agents clan, and the Vikings clan. At the height of its power, the UMA was so large that Pink Mafias had to split the army into two divisions: Red UMA and Blue UMA. During this time, numerous Club Penguin blogs posted about them, such as Pingu’s, Smiley’s, and Reallyred’s. In fact, Pink Mafias’ army was so popular that it became the first army to hit one million views on WordPress, surpassing the total by the end of 2007.

Meanwhile, the Army of Club Penguin was still growing in size. After overcoming the mighty Romans in World War II, Oagalthorp’s army was beginning to establish itself as a force to be reckoned with. The ACP thrived on the Miniclip Forums, but was eventually purged after a series of disputes with moderators.

Under Pink Mafias, UMA would achieve huge sizes at unscheduled events without the use of XAT, Discord or other chat platforms.

Unlike the UMA, the ACP spread itself out across different servers. However, in February/March 2007, the inevitable happened. Underground Mafias Army forces clashed with troops from the Army of Club Penguin on Mammoth, sparking a deadly conflict (World War III) that raged on for months.

The Battle of Mammoth

From the outset of the war, the UMA overwhelmed the ACP. Battles broke out daily in the Dojo, Snow Forts and Ice Berg and would last hours. Although the ACP deployed innovative ‘hit and run’ tactics, the UMA outnumbered them in almost every fight. On April 14, 2007, things came to a head in what is now known as The Battle of Mammoth. Pink Mafias received word of a scheduled ACP meeting and decided to launch a surprise raid.

The result was a massacre. UMA crushed ACP by a 6-1 ratio, securing a victory the likes of which had never been seen before. They completely demoralised their opponents and sent ACP’s High Command into disarray. Oagalthorp was left with no choice but to surrender the battle. His account in the ACP Saga perfectly encapsulates the day’s events:

By the time the battle started, it took me nearly ten minutes to even get in the Dojo. It was lagging like crazy, and the room was absolutely full. By the time I got in, I saw nothing but black and red. The UMA had come early and out-numbered us six to one. It took several minutes of chaos for me to rally a group of about 12 ACP soldiers to stage a counter-offensive, but it was not working. Most of the ACP soldier couldn’t even get in the room, and those that managed to get in could not see any of my commands due to the constant chant of “UMA UMA UMA.” Within twenty minutes of the most brutal massacre the ACP had ever been on the wrong side of, I decided that it was not worth it. No one was leaving the room, and my soldiers couldn’t get in. Even if they could, this battle was far from reversible. I had to surrender.

I invited Pink Mafias to my igloo, where I formally surrendered; the first major defeat the ACP had ever had. Only a week beforehand, I had asked for an alliance. He had said no, but I figured I should ask again. Again, he said no. But he did agree to a small cease-fire agreement, which lessened the sting of defeat for most of the ACP soldiers.

UMA’s victory cemented their place as the most powerful army at the time, a position they continued to maintain for several months. ACP were forced to leave Mammoth, their birth server and the hub of snowball fighting, and migrated to Breeze instead.

Legacy

April 14th is a date that will forever remain entrenched in the minds’ of UMA veterans. For his legendary leadership skills, Pink Mafias is remembered as the people’s champion, one of Club Penguin’s smartest tacticians, and a mastermind who pioneered the early community. The battle demonstrated his army’s true power and remains their greatest victory of all time. As the years passed, the UMA waned in military might but memories of Golden Age successes like this are still looked back on fondly.

As for the ACP, the Battle of Mammoth served as an important lesson. Oagalthorp spent the next few weeks reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of his policies. He then reconstructed his army by implementing a wide range of reforms to improve combat readiness. Among others, these included adopting the popular Roman helmet as part of the uniform to attract new recruits, and building alliances with smaller groups like the Club Penguin Air Force and the Rebel Penguin Federation. He also reported Pink Mafias to Club Penguin for promoting coin hacks, and once the ceasefire ended the ACP were able to turn the tide of the war and come out on top.

ACP vs. UMA, December 2008.

In the wider scheme of things, the Battle of Mammoth signified a point of no return in relations between the two foes. Even after winning World War III, the ACP never forgot the events of April 14th and were always wary of a potential UMA superpower resurgence. Tensions between them remained high for years, and often crystallised in the form of widescale conflicts including the ACP-UMA Cold War (late 2007), World War IV (2008), and World War VI (2012-13).

To gauge current perspectives on the Battle of Mammoth, CPAHQ was able to secure interviews with Max, ACP Temporary Commander-in-Chief, and Aaronstone42, an advisor of the recent short-lived EHUMA generation.

CPAHQ: What comes to mind when you think of the Battle of Mammoth?

Aaron: We kicked ACPs ass, lmao.

Max: The Army of CP are currently hosting ‘ACP History Week’ in which we are looking back on our past 15 years and the huge historical moments that occurred. We covered World War I and World War V, but not World War III and the Battle of Mammoth. I wasn’t there at the time, but from previous research I’ve done I know this served as the first major defeat of Oagalthorp’s ACP. But of course, as the saying goes: they lost the battle and not war, as World War III resulted in an overall ACP victory and UMA surrender.

CPAHQ: What impact do you think the Battle of Mammoth and World War III had on your army?

Aaron: Well, UMA took a hit after WW3 due to Pink’s account being banned. A lot of confusion followed, with RPF [formerly Blue UMA] running around etc.

Max: I thinking losing offers invaluable lessons for the future: how to approach things differently next time and a reminder that you are not invincible. For Oagalthorp and other leaders in the OG CPA community, I think it would have given them a dose of reality that the ACP would not always come out on top, but that’s OK as everyone deserves their time in the light regardless of how brief it is. The loss also allowed for the ACP to update their uniform with the iconic Roman Helmet as a way of gather more members to their cause, and not to mention Breeze being labelled the official base of the ACP after the fall of their stronghold in Mammoth. So without the loss, would the ACP have these two key bits of history today?

For this current generation, I think huge Mammoth battles like this have served to strengthen our connection with the server, which is part of the reason we named it our capital server during the flash CP Rewritten age of 2020. Our rich 15 year history is important to us, hence the current themed week.

CPAHQ: What are your thoughts on the historic ACP-UMA rivalry?

Aaron: It’s probably the best rivalry to exist other than the Nachos-ACP rivalry.

Max: The historic ACP-UMA rivalry was iconic for its time, and the events of World War III are still referred to in our army today: the ACP Training Regiment covers it in a History lesson every other month. But as time moves on and the community changes and develops, the rivalry has become exactly that: historic. Something to remember and read back over with interest.

It is clear the battle still holds relevance today. As Max states, historical events like this are what makes Mammoth special after all these years. Another point to note is that even though the ACP-UMA rivalry no longer exists, it still had a huge influence on the community. The impact of early UMA is undeniable as their victory on April 14, 2007, forced Oagalthorp to reinvent the ACP. Overall, the Battle of Mammoth is one of the most significant moments in Club Penguin warfare history, and a lot of valuable lessons can be learnt from it.

What do YOU think? Were you aware of the significance of the Battle of Mammoth? What are YOUR thoughts on the old ACP-UMA rivalry? Let us know in the comments below!

Coolster114

CPA Headquarters Head of History

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