KLONDIKE, CP Army Headquarters – Twenty twenty one saw the first year of Club Penguin Armies without Flash Player. Just like its predecessor, this year saw every month open their door to new dramas and scandals. It is now time to sit back and take a look at the past twelve months of the army community.
JANUARY
Words by: Max
The year began with the community united under the CP Army Hub media and league organisation. After a successful 2020 awards season and the launch of their January @ CPAH plans, everything seemed on track for an exciting year in the army community under their umbrella. However, drama and scandal were occurring behind the scenes and led to the defacement and closure of the CP Army Hub in mid-January. This scandal also saw many armies, including the Ice Warriors and Doritos, establish themselves as gaming servers rather than solely a Club Penguin army. This change was also brought about due to Flash-based platforms of the Club Penguin game ceasing to exist, and the HTML5 version of CP Rewritten still not being released. For the first time since the closure of the original Club Penguin, armies could not host their usual events like before. Instead, they hosted an array of gaming events while trialing other private server platforms such as Frosty and CP Chapter 2. Early January did see many leadership changes, with Lightningmj departing from the Pizza Federation leadership and Kehato being promoted as his replacement. Likewise, Superhero123 and Adden rejoined the Water Vikings leadership and Nell was ranked up as Help Force leader-in-training. The month of January concluded with the first Top Ten of the HTML5 era being released on the Army of CP-run Shamrock Bulletin. With only 10 armies present on the listing, the Rebel Penguin Federation topped the rankings with the Help Force and Army of CP close behind.
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FEBRUARY
Words by: Disha
February is considered as the month, when the Club Penguin Army Headquarters officially came into being and started functioning as an army media organisation in a new generation of CP Armies. With the organisation having released its opening statement on the 7th of the month, two of the major armies – Ice Warriors and Water Vikings returned to the army community on the consecutive day. The first venture that CPAHQ decided to look into was to check with the armies (mainly Special Weapons and Tactics, Rebel Penguin Federation, and Help Force) that remained open even after CPAH had shut down as a league. What followed can be said to be a miracle, as CPAHQ was able to get an interview with CompWiz5000 – “a figure that ended up being the second most recognized individual of the first Underground Mafias Army generation”, quoting from the article itself.
Special Weapons and Tactics saw changes in their leadership during this month, as Aubz and Stare3000 (Oli) stepped down from their position of leaders, and two new individuals – Legoman and Susej got inducted as new commanders of the army. Following this, even Rebel Penguin Federation saw the arrival of two new leaders – Elexonck and F6sixer who previously held the position of HCOM in the army. CPAHQ also decided to do an Edition for forgotten armies, which had the first Edition covering armies like The Warriors Army, Club Penguin Warriors, Red & Blue Alliance Army, and the Secret Spy Agency of Club Penguin. February 19th, 2021, had the league look back in the history of Club Penguin Armies to observe the major historical events that took place in the community on that day. The month ended on a note of battles, as two brother allies – the Army of Club Penguin and the Help Force engaged in what can be reviewed as a close battle, while on the other hand, the Ice Warriors and the Red Ravagers had a practice battle amongst themselves. With 14 armies present in the Top Ten Armies list, the Ice Warriors placed 1st at the end of February.
MARCH
Words by: Spotty
With armies slowly recovering from the events of January and returning to their Club Penguin roots, March became known as first the official return of the community. The month started off with the Rebel Penguin Federation bidding farewell to their much-loved leader Cosmo, who decided it was time to retire, leaving the Rebels under a completely new leadership. Meanwhile, just three days into the month, the community saw their first war of 2021, with the Golden Seas War setting sail. Shortly after declaring war on the Templars, the Water Vikings welcomed back Buddy and Adden to the Helm. However, this war was short-lived due to the community experiencing their first tournament of 2021, with CP Army HQ launching March Madness 2021.
March Madness 2021 involved twelve different armies all keen to participate in the first tournament since flash. However, it quickly became known as the most scandalous tournament of the year. As March Madness progressed, it continued to run smoothly much like any other tournament until the final four armies were left. The semi-finals consisted of four armies, with the Rebel Penguin Federation against the Army of Club Penguin and the Ice Warriors against the Help Force. Although this round did not run as smoothly as its predecessors. Both battles experienced multiple complaints, and they both went under review. The results of the first battle were overturned, declaring the ACP as the winners with a 2-1 win. Whereas, the results from the second battle were not changed, which confirmed the Ice Warriors as the victors with a 2-1-1 win. This saw both the Army of Club Penguin and the Ice Warriors move onto the final, which was scheduled for the first week of April.
As well as a war and a tournament, March also saw the Help Force celebrate their third anniversary and induct Nelly825 into their leadership. Much like the Rebel Penguin Federation, Special Weapons and Tactics said goodbye to Ganger90. Towards the end of the month, we also welcomed back the Golden Troops as they returned to the community once again.
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APRIL
Words by: Rach
April saw many posts including some shutdowns from armies and leader promotions. But two of the biggest events that happened were Spring Showdown which was an event hosted by the Shamrock Bulletin. 14 of the most known armies were invited but only 10 accepted and took part. The armies were split into 2 groups with Group A being: Army of Club Penguin, Ice Warriors, Help Force, and Water Vikings. And Group B consisted of the smaller armies: Swat, Fire Warriors, Red Ravagers, People’s Imperial Confederation, Crimson Guardians, and Golden Troops. There was no clear winner or loser and it was just a fun event to bring the community together. The first week of April saw the March Madness finals which was between the Army of Club Penguin and the Ice Warriors, after an intense battle, The Ice Warriors were declared the winners!
April also saw the Red Ravagers call a war on the Silver Empire. The war was declared due to claims of the Silvers trying to troop steal from their past allies. The Help Force had the same claims in their post as well. The Red Ravagers and the Silver Empire both had posts back and forth calling out the other armies for the way they were treated. The Beep Beep Alliance members (Fighter Pilots and Golden Troops) shared their full support as well as they were once allies with the Silver Empire. All the armies claimed that the Silvers never came to any of their events while they always went to Silvers.
Cpahq also saw some changes within this month with advisor Iceyfeet1234 changing the points to make IW higher on the Top Ten for that week which was then noticed by the admin and action was taken as Icey was removed from his position.
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MAY
Words by: Cassie
May kicked off with the return of several previously-notable armies, such as the Doritos and Army of the Orient Seas. Tamales and Midnight Troops also returned at the beginning of the month. Unfortunately, the Army of the Orient Seas did not have permission from the original creators and had to rebrand to the Sea Serpents. One of the oldest armies still around, the Rebel Penguin Federation, celebrated fourteen years of activity this month and the controversial Templars ended their war against Magma Clan, a rebellion. In a move that shocked the wider community, the Army of Club Penguin declared war upon their former brother-allies, the Doritos, over actions committed by many of the army’s legends. During the war, they went as far as to raid a practice battle between the Doritos and Special Weapons And Tactics. Growing closer to the month, Club Penguin Army Headquarters announced an innovative new tournament format, Project: Conquest, that would begin in June.
In another shocking move, just before the end of the month, but following the events of the March Madness and a controversial editing of one Top Ten, the Black Ice Alliance, aided by other armies such as the Fire Warriors and Help Force, withdrew from the Army Headquarters to form the Club Penguin Army Network – a move that would once again see a split-community.
JUNE
Words by: Sweater
June typically sees a rise in armies across the board, being the month that Summer break tends to start for many of us. Although armies’ sizes may not have risen this June compared to previous years, what we did see a rise in was controversy, media activity, and a rise in the conflict between Club Penguin Army Headquarters and the controversial Club Penguin Army Network. In a way, this year’s June was almost the exact opposite to last year’s. Last year, we witnessed the unification of the community with Club Penguin Army Hub’s founding, but this year we are possibly even more divided than before. We were able to put this aside for the first-ever community-wide event held in honor of Pride Month, though, that saw each army log on simultaneously to show support to our LGBTQIA+ members. Both the Ice Warriors and Special Weapons & Tactics had their own celebrations, marking 14 years of creation and 1 year of activity respectively. We also saw the launch of Project: Conquest, arguably the most ambitious tournament to ever see the light of day – a “season” of four weeks with four battles a week, and whoever had the most land by the end would be crowned the winner.
With Club Penguin Army Network aiming to become the main league for the community, they announced their plans to hold the Legends Cup XI. After many delays and a back-and-forth between CPA Headquarters and CPA Network, it was decided that this tournament is too important to be weaponized in a war between leagues and instead was handed over to an “independent” board of army leaders to run, something that caused even further delays. June also witnessed many army revivals, closures, and individual retirements. Notably, veterans Mustapha10, Roberto, and Lord Pain opened the Spartans; Superhero123 and df44 reopened the Smart Penguins and ActionSpark reopened the Crimson Guardians. Unfortunately, though, we lost Magma Clan and Water Vikings this month. We only saw four new leader promotions with Neha being promoted to Golden Troops leader, Tia receiving Doritos leader, and Max and Cubster receiving Army of Club Penguin leader. On the other end of the spectrum, the People’s Imperial Confederation lost their leaders SupremeP0wer, Shallissa, and Phoebe – right after their war with Sidie’s Rangers and Templars lost their leader Padme. Overall, June proved to be an active month despite the splitting of the community once more.
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JULY
Words by: DMT
With the fallout of the split between Club Penguin Army Headquarters and Club Penguin Army Network calming down, July was a month of preparation for armies looking forward to the independently run Legends Cup XI. On July 3rd, Project: Conquest came to its conclusion, with the Army of Club Penguin defeating the Silver Empire to win it all. On the same day, CPAHQ’s Discord server reached 500 members. As a result of SE’s surprise finish in second place, longtime 2nd in Command Comedy/Omsk was promoted to the army’s leadership. The early days of July also saw the return of two S/M armies: the Island Invaders and the Secret Service. In the first Top Ten of the month, the Rebel Penguin Federation claimed 1st place and would go on to never leave that spot over the course of July. In contrast, a former major army powerhouse- the Doritos of Club Penguin- announced their closure on the 5th. Following was a lengthy conflict between the Templars and the Special Weapons and Tactics, who both attempted to declare war on each other. The war went on for two weeks with both sides claiming a slew of victories. On the 16th, the CPAN administration announced the removal of the Templars from their league after concerns were raised of inappropriate tactics and harassment targeted towards SWAT members. This resulted in a war victory for SWAT.
On the 10th, the Ice Warriors announced the promotion of IceQueen to their leadership. On the 16th, CPAHQ Editor in Chief Fusion wrote a special report that exposed the Medieval Warriors for multilogging, which resulted in their closure. Later that day, the infamous Underground Mafias Army announced their return in an attempt to make a deep tournament run in Legends Cup XI. Another return took place on the 19th, with the Water Vikings announcing their return after a temporary closure in June. The new-look Vikings were commanded by army veterans Aaronstone42, Revan, NotManuGinobili, and Shinde. Then, in true CP army fashion, the Spartans of Club Penguin announced their closure on the eve of the first round of LCXI. This was the first of many shocks during the tournament, as the very next day, the Army of Club Penguin announced their withdrawal from the tournament during their battle with the People’s Imperial Confederation. The clovers cited their contempt with single-elimination tournaments, claiming that they lack excitement and innovation. UMA followed suit the very next day while battling the Help Force, though in a much more satirical manner: copy-pasting ACPs withdrawal post.
The decision by the Army of Club Penguin sparked much controversy and debate within the community. But then, ACP commander Max announced his retirement from armies on the 30th, signaling an impending new leaf for the clovers. To wrap up the month of July was a flurry of S/M news: starting with the return of the Elite Federals, the return of the Skateboarders, and the announcement of CPAHQ’s Challengers Cup 2. Then, the Smart Penguins declared war on the Golden Troops, while the People’s Imperial Confederation declared war on the Post Malone Army- a colony of GT. Lastly, longtime WV veteran, Buddy announced his return to the Water Vikings leadership. Thus, the stage was set for the final month of summer.
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AUGUST
Words by: Spotty
With the last month of summer now upon us, August became the month of tournaments, with both the Legends Cup XI and the Challengers Cup 2. We started the month off with the continuation of the Legends Cup XI, in the semi-finals round. This saw the Help Force and Ice Warriors battle it out in the first semi-final which was later interrupted by a mass kicking scandal. Despite this, the battle continued on with a short postponement, with the Help Force later on being declared as the winners. The second semi-final involving the Rebel Penguin Federation and the Templars luckily did not involve any kicking and ended with the Rebels moving into the last round. The Grand Final was also undisturbed, resulting in the Rebel Penguin Federation winning the trophy. However, just as one tournament ended another began. We saw CP Army HQ launch the Challengers Cup 2, which involved eight small/medium armies. The tournament consisted of three rounds that took place during the same week. The Cup ended with the Fire Warriors being crowned as the winners and winning their first-ever tournament.
As both tournaments took place, the community certainly did not stay quiet, as August also experienced many leadership changes. The Water Vikings welcomed back Buddy whilst the Special Weapons and Tactic said goodbye to Firestar and Mare. Red Ravagers also bid farewell to BaileyBear as they inducted BoMoBuddy. Despite winning the Challengers Cup, Fire Warriors said au revoir to Cassie and bonjour to Ugly who then proceeded to retire later in the month. Eric also retired from the Ice Warriors and the People’s Imperial Confederation inducted Legoman. The Secret Service saw not one but two leaders leave, with TD999 and JoelFreak stepping down. However, the Fire Warriors’ leadership change didn’t stop there, after their win the coup of AustinFraud was announced, with Rach and Tymatt stepping up to replace him. To top it all off, the Army of Club Penguin experienced a mass retirement at the end of the month, as we saw the likes of Csy, Cubster, and multiple HCOM members leave.
Just like retirements, August also experienced multiple wars, dramas, army closures, and one army, Eclipse, who decided to enter the community for the first time. Midway through the month, Red Ravagers suffered a major defacement of their Discord server. Meanwhile, the People’s Imperial Confederation declared war on the Golden Troops and the Templars met the Water Vikings on the battleground once again. The community also said goodbye to the Smart Penguins, Secret Service, and the Crimson Guardians. August saw a massive increase in activity as the community plunged towards the yearly September drop.
SEPTEMBER
Words by: Disha
The month of September began with the induction of a new leader, as FatChicken88 got promoted to the position of the 47th Commander-in-Chief at the Army of Club Penguin. What followed was a shocking turn of events as the Fire Warriors decided to shut down after having won Challengers Cup II, and People’s Imperial Confederation declared war on their own leader – Legoman’s creation, the Legoman Army HOO RAH. Having declared the war, the People’s Imperial Confederation also had four of their staff members retire, as Aydoon2 and ThePieLord stepped down from their position of Leaders, and Welp and Plant retired as Staff from the army. The Sea Serpents bid adieu to the army community on September 5th, and the Templars decided to declare war on the Ice Warriors, after having had a practice battle against them. Following the war declaration imposed on them from the Knights, the Ice Warriors witnessed the arrival of a new leader to the army – Dr. Queen. September can be considered the month when the rivalry between two S/M armies – the Wet Army Penguins and the Trojans, began, with the Wet Army Penguins declaring war on the Trojans.
On the 8th of September, CPAHQ made a statement on Judging in the army community, requesting all the judges to come together in union, given the instability that prevails in the community. On the same day, Eclipse inducted Yetico as the newest leader of the army. After 3 days, the Smart Penguins bid their farewell to the army community, and CPAHQ decided to host an award function titled the Night of Debauchery. With TheMightyA retiring from the Golden Troops on September 12th, the Fall Apart War came to a close with a force treaty imposed on the Post Malone Army, by the People’s Imperial Confederation. The Golden Troops witnessed another leader retiring, as Neha announced that she would be stepping down. A lot of major changes were made to CPAHQ, adhering to both the website and the discord server, whilst focusing on changes in the organisation itself wherein Sidie9 was promoted to the position of Vice Director, and new events like the Champions Cup VI and CPAHQ Staff Night were introduced. In the middle of the month, Smithy returned to the leadership of Wet Army Penguins, and the Army of Club Penguin was given a declaration of war by the Templars. The month ended on a note of celebration for the Army of Club Penguin, as on the 29th of September, the army celebrated 15 years of existence within the army community, after which they declared victory in the war with the Knights.
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OCTOBER
Words by: Rach
When somebody mentions October to you, you begin to think of spooky-scary creatures or the scent of candy, pumpkins, and the fruit that that particular house gives you. In the army world, however, this one October meant the beginning of both a tournament and the highly controversial World War VIII. The Champions Cup began, with the Water Vikings eventually taking home the trophy and World War VIII started, originally, as a continuation of the Help Force’s declaration of war onto the Silver Empire in April – though this time, it was started by Silver Empire.
As the battles raged on, more armies decided to become involved. The Army of Club Penguin expressed their support to Help Force, immediately followed by Water Vikings and Special Weapons And Tactics showcasing support for Silver Empire. Both sides formed alliances, with Silver Empire’s side forming the Western Bloc that consisted of the Silver Empire, Water Vikings, Special Weapons And Tactics, and Wet Army Penguins. On the other side, we witnessed the Help Force form the Vengeance Alliance alongside the Army of Club Penguin, People’s Imperial Confederation, and Red Ravagers. A third alliance was created, though they mostly showed support towards the Vengeance Alliance. The Templars, Trojans, and People’s Imperial Confederation formed the Red Dawn Alliance. Rather interestingly, the Water Vikings and Special Weapons And Tactics were long-time enemies, having fought against one-another multiple times, though putting their differences aside for this war. Essentially every army, bar the Black Ice Alliance, fought in this conflict. After one month of constant battles, with people logging on and off every single day, the war concluded via a treaty that stated there was no official winner – though the actual war favored the Vengeance Alliance considerably.
October saw a slight drop in activity, with the Golden Troops ending their ninth generation that was supposed to be temporary but now seems more permanent. In the Ice Warriors, we saw LawCorazon stepping down from leadership. Pink joined the Eclipse leadership, though this didn’t last very long as we also witnessed their closure towards the end of the month.
NOVEMBER
Words by: Cassie
November started with Trojans declaring war on the Wet Army Penguins and vice versa for a total of three or four times. Eventually, the conflict ends via a treaty when Wet Army Penguins successfully defeat the Trojans. Sidie9 made an interesting move this month and rejoined the small/medium powerhouse People’s Imperial Confederation as a leader. Templars cemented their growth within the community and even hit first on the Top Ten in the middle of November. For some controversies, veteran Wiki Administrator Legoman was revealed to be editing pages to make himself appear favorable within conflicts. World War VIII came to a conclusion this month, with both alliances agreeing on the final score to be a tie – despite an overwhelming Vengeance Alliance victory across battles. Templars then declared war on the Silver Empire, before the war terms were broken and they went to war with Water Vikings instead. The month came to an end with the announcement that the Christmas Chaos would in fact be going ahead this year, being the second tournament to be independently organized by army leaders.
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DECEMBER
Words by: Sweater
With the holidays coming up in December, the Christmas Chaos was ready to go. It was a highly contested tournament, with armies proving that after twelve months since the death of Flash, they’re still kicking. Alongside this, the Help Force shocked the army community by retiring four leaders in one swoop, with Wynn taking the reigns. In the first week of the tournament, we saw: Red Ravagers suffer a defeat to the Special Weapons And Tactics; Silver Empire get knocked out by Ice Warriors; Templars knocking out the People’s Imperial Confederation; SWAT lose to Rebel Penguin Federation and finally, the Help Force defeat the Water Vikings. An intense first round that, honestly, went the way the community expected.
Outside of the Christmas Chaos, a fair amount of wars took place. Templars declared war on the Silver Empire and People’s Imperial Confederation declared war on the Trojans. The most notable war, though, has to be the 36-minute conflict between the joint-Black Ice Alliance and the Templars. Covered in a live blog, the conflict unmasked some of the potential bias-related concerns within Club Penguin Army Network – notably the rule-bending that took place to allow for this two-versus-one “war” to even begin. Ultimately, the Templars left Club Penguin Army Network and have urged many other armies to do so, though there have been no other armies following in their footsteps.
In week two of the tournament, the battles became a lot more intense as the four titans went against one another. In the end, the Ice Warriors were victorious against the Templars – and the Rebel Penguin Federation against the Help Force. In a rather not-so-shocking turn of events, the Rebel Penguin Federation went on and took the entire tournament home – cementing their second win of the year, alongside Legends Cup XI.
As for our home, Club Penguin Army Headquarters, December held many fun events to bring us closer as a community. Spotty and others hosted a Trivia contest, that saw many people getting the correct answers daily. Max, Sweater, Spotty, and other Editors also held a hunting competition, where the community was challenged to find multiple letters scattered around our website and Discord. Alongside this, we also held many open-mic voice channels to celebrate the holidays together. All in all, December was rather successful for the wider community and for us, Army Headquarters.
With almost one year now since the death of Flash, armies were looking to be in a fragile state. As always, though, we pushed through and have become even closer as a result. In the same spirit, here’s to a brilliant twenty-twenty-two and hopefully you all enjoy the new year!
We can say for certain that the death of Flash Player definitely did not dampen the community, with a World War, multiple tournaments, and mini-wars. Twenty twenty-one has beyond doubt made a mark in the history books. What can we expect from the 16th year of the Club Penguin Army Community?