April 13, 2022 started like a typical day, up until an ominous message appeared on the most popular Club Penguin Private Server of the time, Club Penguin Rewritten. The City of London Police shut down the website in the midst of a copyright investigation requested by Disney. Even though CPR never returned, there are other remakes that remain popular such as NewCP and Club Penguin Legacy, along with what nearly all Club Penguin armies use, Club Penguin Army Battleground.

Designed by Master DS

What has occurred in the past year since the end of Club Penguin Rewritten? At the time of CPR’s shutdown, the army league was known as Club Penguin Army Headquarters (CPAHQ). Club Penguin Army Battleground went public ten days after the end of CPR, and CPAHQ set up a community meet-up to celebrate its release. To this day, people actively use CPAB, but it had a rough beginning. The first ever battle held on CPAB pitted Help Force against the Rebel Penguin Federation. The battle caused a multitude of server issues on the first server, Battleground and had to switch to Klondike for only two seven-minute rooms.

Final moments of Club Penguin Rewritten

Announcement by Stu, Club Penguin Rewritten admin

Practice Battle between Help Force and Rebel Penguin Federation

Come May, multiple armies shut down, including Silver Empire. RPF celebrated their fifteenth anniversary, and Special Weapons And Tactics reopened their doors. However, they quickly ran into drama when they abused CP Forever to bloat their sizes. The global community came together in June to celebrate Pride Month, and CPAHQ actively participated in the festivities. The celebrations peaked with the second annual Community Pride Parade.

July 1, 2022, saw the rebranding of CPAHQ into Club Penguin Armies, switching from a purple theme to blue. As summer break allows for more free time, many people are returning to the nostalgia of Club Penguin. Consequently, multiple armies have reopened this month to accommodate the increase in membership within the Club Penguin Army community. At the same time, the Secret Service army shut down. The Red Ravagers also announced their shutdown, which would happen after the 2022 Beach Brawl. Army of Club Penguin earned their victory in this tournament, albeit marred by connection issues. These issues continued to persist, despite it being three months since CPAB opened.

Army of Club Penguin winning Beach Brawl

The lack of a strong platform led many in the Army community to call for a delay in the Legends Cup, until the CPAB administration could figure out a solution. CPA released their server map during this month. This marked the first time there was a community-wide server map, after a long period of division between CPAHQ and CPAN. The map witnessed many armies struggle to schedule freeland invasions.

August saw the reopening of the Mercenaries and a war between the Templars and RPF. Soon, another war between the Templars and Ninjas flared up, the results of which were decided by sled racing. We also saw the closure of the Revolutionaries and Ninjas, the retirement of Army Legend Iceyfeet1234 and other leaders, and the movement of more leaders across armies. A third war of the Templars, Ice Warriors, Water Vikings, and Help Force versus SWAT also occurred. August 20 marked one month of having a unified map across the CPA community, but there wasn’t much movement and many leaders complained yet offered helpful suggestions.

September saw the announcement of the 12th annual Legends Cup, with events scheduled to start on October 1. The tournament typically takes place in the summer. However, due to the delay, CPAB administrators were able to address connectivity issues. They tested and implemented improvements during the multiple wars over the summer. In October, ACP celebrated their sixteenth anniversary, while SWAT’s multilogging scandal cast a shadow over the first round of Legends Cup XII. A (fun) war occurred between the Strawhats and the entire community, that ended due to the Strawhats’ shutdown. The next week saw the Semi Finals of the Legends Cup, with the Water Vikings and Templars advancing to the finals. The Templars managed to come out on top in the finals.

Templars vs Water Vikings in Legends Cup XII Finals

At the beginning of December, there was a Legends Cup Finals rematch after the Templars declared war on the Water Vikings. Club Penguin Armies announced the twelfth Christmas Chaos tournament, followed by ACP hosting their Double Deck the Halls tournament. Mid December saw the end of Christmas Chaos XII with RPF coming out on top over the Templars, even with a review requested. Early January saw the retirement of legendary Templars leader Xing, along with the conclusion of the Troubled Allies war between SWAT and ACP. The Templars faced multilogging accusations in January, casting a shadow over their dominance of 2022.

February saw the reopening (or opening) of a few armies such as Penguins of Madagascar, Dance Moms, and Janitors. Club Penguin Armies announced the March Madness VIII tournament. The showdown resulted in RPF coming out on top over Help Force after a month of fierce competition. There was also a Community Power Couple Competition. The Help Force and the Templars recently celebrated their fifth anniversary. ACP declared war on the Dark Vikings, after welcoming long-time SWAT leader Coolguy to their HCOM team. Drama shook the entire community this month as well, with the removal of CPA Administrator Rowan following allegations of abuse of power and the ousting of Spotty, another CPA Administrator.

RPF vs HF in March Madness VIII finals

And here we are now, on April 13, 2023, and what has changed? Not much. Armies are still active, warfaring across the virtual island and servers of CPAB. Drama continues to ensue, with various army leaders being brought to light as any flavour of discriminatory and predatory. Cornerstones of the original Club Penguin Army community, such as RPF and ACP, still remain. Meanwhile, armies that rose to prominence in the CPPS era including Help Force and Templars continue to grow. The community also witnessed the creation of new armies such as Napalm Corps and Penguins of Madagascar. The new armies continue to thrive and grow just as the rest of the community. Many thought that with the closure of CPR, the Army Community would die once and for all.

And yet, here we are. We continue to grow, welcoming new members to our ranks and help returning veterans find their way home. As said in a recent op-ed, no one can ever really retire from the CPA community — I’ve tried multiple times, and yet here I am, writing this article and serving as a staff member for my original army from 2013, ACP. Time will tell, but armies seemingly continue to withstand the adversities thrown towards them. Their tenacity continues to allow many to create a home in this community.

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