At the beginning of a leader’s journey, they have to master the art of war to defeat their enemies in battle. Club Penguin army warfare keeps evolving frequently. This forces army leaders to come up with new ways to secure victory. However, warfare has consistently been viewed differently by army leaders and veterans throughout history. To this day, there are conflicting ideas about what army warfare truly is and what it means.
Designed by Wynn
Club Penguin armies were founded in 2006. However, since then, the community has undergone many changes, one of which saw the creation of the battles and wars we see and experience today. Armies originally started as unorganized color clans that fought each other by throwing snowballs at the opposite team. The battles that occurred during this period of CPA history are known as World War I (The Color Wars). The unorganised format led armies to try and become more organised. They soon transitioned from being “color clans” to organized armies with names and uniforms. This also came with the introduction of Miniclip forums as a means of communication outside of the game.
After graduating from the art of snowball fighting, modern armies started using formations and tactics. These required each penguin to stand in a specific spot to form a desired shape and perform their leaders’ orders. These formations were used to help army members corner their enemies and make them look smaller on the battlefield. Another strategy used with formations was word tactics that utilized the chat bar and the quick chat button. Word tactics allowed armies to exchange words with each other, whether it be random comments or insults. This aspect added another enjoyable layer to battles and warfare. However, this enjoyable aspect was also used wrongfully to satisfy the sinister plans of some individuals within the community.
A battle between two armies during World War IX
Recently, armies have been more involved in army warfare in comparison to previous years. Wars have also become much more engaging for everyone involved, with most of the community getting involved in World War IX. Battles involve careful planning and seamless coordination between all members involved, regardless of ranks and titles. The importance of these has only increased over time. Battles have become more fast-paced and more organized than ever before. With organisation increasing, the existence of judges became necessary as there was a need to pick out a winner. However, while this is supposed to end all arguments and concerns that arise after the conclusion of the battle, it often does the opposite.
Some of the main conditions for winning a CPA battle require an army to have a higher max, speed when performing tactics and good formations in comparison to their opponents. Meeting these conditions and securing a victory is easier said than done, but every leader has a plan and a strategy of their own.
Club Penguin Armies was able to obtain an interview with 3 retired army legends, Superhero123, former Water Vikings Commander, Mchappy, former Army of Club Penguin Commander in Chief and Mustapha10 former Doritos of Club Penguin commander, who all shared their opinions and extensive experience on the matter.
How do you define CPA warfare and what do you think it means?
Mchappy: To me, when I think of “warfare” in terms of Club Penguin, I think of older battles spanning from eras such as 2006-2012. There was strategy. There was definitely an element of role-playing there, as cringey as it was. Club Penguin warfare was when two armies would be at war and there would be constant unscheduled raids on nations (servers), and a snowball skirmish happening somewhere at any undisclosed time. It felt bigger than just chat hype 30 minutes before, followed by a judge battle, rinse-repeat.
Superhero123: CPA warfare is the essence of Club Penguin armies. It includes both the in-game battles, as well as diplomatic/political warfare.
Mustapha10: CPA warfare is a niche community where we took a half baked browser game and made so much more out of. It’s a great thing and I’m glad that it happened.
Why are battles important?
Mchappy: Battles are important because that is how we determine victors. Battles used to mean much more than just size, or even tactics. Some battles in the early days would go on two, three hours and victory was only determined by who would log off first.
Superhero123: Battles are very important because they are the best way in measuring which of the two armies is the best at a particular day and time. They are the biggest test for both troops and (especially) leaders, because it requires them to act as a team and perform under sometimes enormous pressure.
Mustapha10: Battles are imperative. They’re the foundation of armies. Infact, I think all armies should constantly be challenging eachother and forming rivalries. Battles should be happening consistently. They’re so important because battles are what create the competitive atmosphere that pushes armies to the next level, form comradarie through team work. Battles are what enabled me to create many “childhood friends” and they are baseline armies. The benefits are endless. If you are having themed events instead of battling, you may not know it now but you’re being detrimental to your army and the community as a whole.
What aspects do you think attract new army members when it comes to battles?
Mchappy: If I’m being completely honest, I am not sure how new generation members feel about battles. I would imagine someone joining armies right before Legends Cup XIII would find battles to be extremely confusing, maybe even boring, and riddled with lag. I think these days we are much more in the mindset of staying for the community, battles are just sometimes an added benefit.
Superhero123: It is the adrenaline rush you get when fighting an important battle for the army you love, whether that’s in a war or a tournament.
Mustapha10: Challenging other armies are what make a team come together and have more of a reason to work together to bring in new people into the community. Now while some people may only want to rank up in a discord server, if you couple the ranking up with even more achievements like defeating the competition it’s even more rewarding. These reasons, among many other reasons, result in more than usual new members into armies.
What do you think could be done to improve the competitive nature of armies in the current Club Penguin army climate?
Mchappy: As community chat would call it, “return to monkey.” I think a lot more “fortehlulz” type battles would be interesting. Would love to see armies decide to duke it out themselves and determine battle winners without the need for judging- if that means the war goes on due to so many disputed wins then that can only fuel the fire, right.
Superhero123: I would suggest changes to the league structure to ensure constant warfare. Example ways to achieve that are to make map resets more frequent, or switch to a point-based scoreboard/league system. However, the main thing is having army leaders themselves want to participate in warfare often and have the available free time to do so.
Mustapha10: No pointless events. You hardly need training. You dont need themed events. You need war. You need to get your team together, get your friends together, and try to do big things. You need to challenge yourselves. Do what you think couldn’t have been done before. If you’re apart of an army that’s never won a war, you go out there and try to win. If you’re apart of an army that always wins wars, you go out there and try to defeat an entire alliance at once. You must constantly be setting these goals. Every army should have a challenging rivalry going. Like Nachos had with ACP. Like the Doritos had with the Ice Warriors. Make armies fun.
Club Penguin army warfare is loved by many and is believed to be an integral part of the community. This is something that army legends like Mchappy, Superhero and Mustapha10 have mentioned. No matter the era, the army community is innovative and always coming up with new ways to improve the system. Warfare has come a long way since 2006, but would you prefer if warfare stayed the same or kept on changing? What era of Club Penguin army warfare was your favorite?
More Information
Mchappy is interning at Club Penguin Armies as the Chief Executive Producer. Max held him at gunpoint to finish his biography.