On May 12, a community poll on our Discord server revealed that 36 of you voted the Iceberg as your favorite battle location. Despite being the most popular room to host battles and community events in, I would argue it is not the most “fun.”
Designed by Dino and Wynn
Introduction
Before joining the administration of Club Penguin Armies, I would regularly judge over battles. Frequently, I would choose a room not often used for armies to battle at. My reasoning was that I am tired of the combo of Docks, Iceberg, Snow Forts or Stadium. Nevertheless, I stand by that my choices would either test the armies or provide a more entertaining battle experience.
Mare polling the community on their favorite battle locations
Without the founder of Club Penguin Army Battleground, Superhero123, I cannot fathom what the state of battling would be. Not only has he continued to host a server for armies to use for free, but he has adapted the rooms to better suit armies. In fact, the popular Iceberg has seen an upgrade. It is now bigger than the Disney version. Additionally, the forts in the Snow Forts are smaller to avoid obscuring needed space. And even the Stadium has a customized judging table for judges to spectate safely from.
However, there is only so much Superhero123 can do. The private server does not have every single room available. As a result, the new gen members (as I call them) are unable to experience some fun fights.
Of course– the battle meta has witnessed a completely departure from the meta that use to be during Disney’s era of Club Penguin. Nonetheless, I argue that, aside from tournament battles, a surprising room here and there never hurts anybody. This post will cover some of those fun room experiences we’re missing out on.
Iceberg Is Boring
Even though the Iceberg tends to be the center of community gatherings, it is quite a boring room. It has no personality aside from the view of the rest of the island in the top corner. Armies have become very reliant on the Iceberg being used in battles. At this point, anyone from a lineup could safely predict the formations armies will call live during a battle.
AUSIA Arena: Summer Edition Grand Finals
However, the Iceberg truly shines during community events. From my experience, fashion shows and galas become much easier to host when held at the Iceberg. It makes spotting out people’s costumes or pairs much easier.
So What Other Rooms Are There?
If you’ve only been a part of armies for the last couple years then it may surprise you what other rooms were often used in battles. This location happens to be where the famous “Oagalthorp‘s Last Battle” between the Army of Club Penguin and Nachos. Oagalthorp retired from his army on April 1, 2008.
In the beginning years of armies, wars were normally fought in two places: Dojo or the underground. Included in the “underground” was the Boiler Room. Despite being a more compact room, the Boiler Room hosted some of the most iconic war battles of all time. When armies first began meeting on the battlefield, it was normally done away from the eyes of the general public. Some of the earliest pictures of organized snowball fighting occurs in the igloos of players.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CftwK319wts[/embedyt]
Rest in (pepperoni) pieces, Pizza Parlor. Although Superhero123 was able to give us access to the loved mini-game, Pizzatron 3000, it was not enough to satisfy our hunger for the iconic room. And iconic for many reasons, may I add. Not only does the Pizza Parlor has arguably the best soundtrack from the original game, but it is a large, spacious room. While the tables may be in the way for some formations, the circle perfectly fits. Additionally, the Pizza Parlor would often get used for rogue events to garner large attention to an army. Especially during the era of Club Penguin Rewritten, the Pizza Parlor became a staple of the army experience.
Rebels’ rogue event on August 24, 2019
Even though it is not one of my favorites, I’ve seen some people mention the Hidden Lake as a room favorite. Moving in the Hidden Lake is next to impossible, but it provides an atmosphere that not many other rooms are able to match. If there was a difficulty tier, the Hidden Lake would certainly be one of the most difficult rooms to lead in. It can be hard getting an edge over your opponent, and you’ll be required to have attentive tactics and troops if you want to win in this room.
Army of Club Penguin versus Dark Warriors on May 30, 2020
Leaders Lounge
In the interest of asking the real experts, I went on a mission to ask leaders what their favorite room to battle in is and why.
Dino, Water Vikings: My favorite room to battle in is the Docks. I know that sounds weird and I used to hate the Docks as well. But I feel like after thinking of ways to battle in the Docks, I’ve grown to love it. Docks is still a very large room like Iceberg, Stadium, and the mines so I don’t go and think “wow this room is impossible to do forms in,” “it is too small,” etc. It is just the exits that are annoying, but frankly that fueled my love for the room: finding creative ways to cover and beat other armies not too familiarized with the underrated room. I have just liked doing innovative forms in a room people hardly give thought to, giving my army an advantage when leading. Any way to do creative things to beat your opponent in rough environments is always enjoyable when leading. I know Boomer 20 and Shadow would both have a similar-ish mindset.
Hidcre, People’s Imperial Confederation: My favorite room is probably Inside Mine. It fits well for small-medium armies alike. I know all maps are supposed to be big enough for two armies no matter what size, but Inside Mine has this sort of notch where even if your army is maxing small, you can still make it seem like you have a good formation.
Legoman, Special Weapons and Tactics: Me personally, my favorite room to battle in is the Stadium because there is great potential for stacking, the only exit being the top middle. It has stellar opportunities for Z-wipes, reverse V-wipes, as well Firework and Clockwise bombs. The circles and lines on the field are great reference to help troops make clean formations (especially for new people). Some of the best formations in the Stadium– in my opinion– would be a four-line formation and a “Z.” The Stadium has proven to be a phenomenal battle room and also a sick room to be customized for tournaments.
Sweater, Penguins of Madagascar: The Everyday Phoning Facility is probably my favorite battle room of all time. It’s a large, square, open space and is an excellent canvas for near enough any formation in the game. You can do all the basic formations exceptionally well: circle (though I guess it’s more of a square in here but still great); Plus; “X;” Upside-down T; etc. They’re all remarkably easy. But you can also use the pillars in the room to align yourselves in more complex formations like multiple lines, “V,” upside down “V” and more. I think this room is the best room in the game for every formation you can think of, rivalled only by the Iceberg but the Iceberg’s drawback is it’s funky shape.
As seen in these statements, it seems that everyone has quite differing opinions. Sweater’s answer reiterates the popularity of the Iceberg. Which room is your favorite to partake in some snowball throwing?