2023 has been quite the year. With its fair share of highs as well as lows, we as a community have come a long way this year. Let us take a look back at all that has transpired within the army community in these past twelve months.

JANUARY

Words by: Disha

The year started with Xing, the Templars’ Founder and Emperor, announcing his retirement from his army and the community at large. After having led the Knights since its creation in 2018, he decided to move on, believing that he had accomplished all that he had wanted for his army. Soon after, the Help Force witnessed one of their long-term leaders, Snowy, retiring as well, after having led the Helpers for more than a year, being an integral figure in the army’s success that year. The Troubled Allies War featuring the Dark Vikings, the Army of Club Penguin, and the Templars going against the Special Weapons and Tactics also came to an unexpected end after the Agent’s capital was captured and the force treaties were deemed invalid.

In the month of January itself, the Special Weapons and Tactics had three of their leaders – Oli, Logical, and Rye retire from the army, leaving the leadership responsibilities to Coolguy and Legoman. Amidst these retirements and the war ending, the Mercenaries were struggling with stability, with their leadership in a state of uncertainty, after going through multiple changes. The Ice Warriors went through some major changes in their leadership too as with Levelz retiring, Josh was inducted as the new Commander of the army. Following his promotion, the army was also able to reclaim their Major status, after being classified to S/M in November 2022.

As the Communist Party merged with the Dark Vikings, two of the old armies namely the Water Vikings and the Warlords of Kosmos returned to the scene, looking forward to achieving great things within the community with the beginning of a new year. The community also witnessed the Rebel Penguin Federation hosting its Winter Olympics, following its tradition. However, the first month of the year ended on a bad and unfortunate note, as the Templars were found to have multilogged in two of their events after the thorough investigation that was carried out by the Admins. This shed light on multiple CPAB accounts that shared Xing’s IP address which were logged on at the same time as Xing’s penguin during their events.

FEBRUARY

Words by: Coolguy

February was one of the quieter months within the community and it saw armies struggle in comparison to the last few months. However, it was one which started with the breakdown of a multilogging scandal. This scandal saw Templars hit with a 0.6 multiplier in the Top Ten, some events being discounted and a force treaty being imposed upon them by Special Weapons and Tactics after the use of multilogs in their war. To add to these events, the Racecar went on to retire from the army, ending his 3-year tenure in the army. However, Maddie soon stepped up to lead the army. They had big shoes to fill but intended to do everything they could to put the army on the right path to success.

February was also the month for celebration as the famous S/M army, People’s Imperial Confederation, returned to the community after almost a year. They were joined by the Janitors, who sought to fight their way back into the community, a newly-opened Penguins of Madagascar, Napalm Corps, Dua Inn Lipa Fighters, and Dance Moms. Yet, despite the rise of new and old S/M armies, Napalm Corps closed its doors shortly after opening, on February 21st.

These were not the only surprises that happened in February as the Doritos made a triumphant, one-off return to celebrate their 13th anniversary. Their return saw an immense 54 troops log on to help the army celebrate the occasion in style.

Outside of army returns, SWAT was involved in yet another war, but this time it was against the Rebel Penguin Federation. The army desired to test their strength against one of the best in the community. After 10 battles, the war ended with a mutual treaty. The Rebels were able to win each of the battles they participated in and were happy to agree to create a treaty.

To end the month, the March Madness tournament was announced, Paving the way for many memorable moments to occur in March.

MARCH

Words by: Disha

March began with the Community Committee hosting a Power Couple Competition, which was Mchappy’s idea regarding acknowledging Valentine’s Day. Soon after, Jodi was promoted to leader in Janitors, and Moon became the new Grand Prior, joining the Templars leadership. March Madness VIII commenced with eleven armies participating, while the Ice Warriors found themselves tied up in a controversy that shocked the entire community. Amidst the allegations around them, the army ceased operations and closed its doors in the first half of the month. The Rebel Penguin Federation also got involved in a controversy, however, the army responded with a statement clarifying their stance and clearing up the air on the same.

More leadership changes in armies followed this, as Litt7 was inducted as a Commander at the Dark Vikings with Ether’s retirement and Ferdthebird1 joined the People’s Imperial Confederation’s leadership. The Help Force celebrated their fifth anniversary, the One Direction Army returned to the army community and the Water Vikings sailed their way into becoming a Major army.

Another war, namely the War of Conquest popped up in the community as the Penguins of Madagascar declared war on Special Weapons and Tactics, and with the month progressing, both armies shared the same score in the war. With the war in the background, the Club Penguin Armies witnessed a change in their administration, as Wynn, one of the Chief Executive Producers, made an official statement regarding the removal of her colleagues – Rowan and Spotty from the position of Chief Executive Producer.

In a surprising turn of events, the Water Vikings announced a Practice Battle Ban on the Army of Club Penguin, after there aroused tension within the leaders of the two armies. Following this, BScharbach2 became one of the leaders at Dark Vikings, and Magma Clan while having been inactive after their recent opening, raided the Emperor Titans and appointed Smithy as a leader of the Clan. The month ended with Coolguy departing Special Weapons and Tactics, after having led the army since 2020, following which the Army of Club Penguin declared war on their former allies, the Dark Vikings.

APRIL

Words by: Edu14463

The month of April started with two important events coming to an end. The first one was the War of Conquest, between the Special Weapons and Tactics and the Penguins of Madagascar. With both armies fiercely battling for weeks, the war ended as a treaty was signed between the two armies. The treaty was named the Pact of Women’s History Month, showcasing both armies’ dissatisfaction with Club Penguin Army Judges, putting the war in a state of cease-fire. The second was the end of March Madness VIII on April 1st. Even though the date is recognized as the ‘April Fools’, it was no lie that the Rebel Penguin Federation won the tournament against the Help Force.

The first days of April also saw some very interesting events: the Templars celebrated their 5 year anniversary, Magma Clan declared war on POM (which ended with a multilogging investigation and with POM’s defeat), SWAT achieved first place on Top Ten for the first time in 8 years. Throughout the month, the community witnessed the continuation of the war between the Army of Club Penguin and the Dark Vikings, dubbed the Deadlock Dissension, fueled by severe allegations against DV. A few days later, the Clovers claimed victory in the conflict.

Speaking of wars, both Templars and SWAT declared war on each other simultaneously, waging another conflict involving the Agents. April also saw the beginning of the tournament AUSIA Arena: Summer Edition, an opportunity to highlight the AUSIA division of all participating armies, with an innovative group stage format.

MAY

Words by: Edu14463

If we were to consider a specific month to be an eventful one, May would certainly not go unnoticed. The month started with the Magma Clan losing their war against the Templars due to war terms breakage. This resulted in the army shutting down a few weeks after being faced with defeat. Moreover, returning from the ashes of a three-year hiatus, the Elite Guardians of Club Penguin officially reopened, undoubtedly changing the fate of the community’s 2023. After only 11 days since their reopening, the Guardians began an offensive against the BASEDment Demons, seizing their territory from the map, which led them to shut down shortly after. Not satisfied, the Elite Guardians proceeded to schedule invasions; now, against the Penguins of Madagascar. Consequently, the army dropped their servers as free land, given they were not willing to engage in fights with the Guardians.

Later on in the month, the Elite Guardians would schedule a new set of invasions, but against the Special Weapons and Tactics. This fact coincided with a war declaration issued by the Army of Club Penguin against the Agents. Furthermore, this declaration came as a part of a plan to address the future of ACP and its leadership structure. Thus, the memorable Clover Triumvirate rose: Calgocubs21 would share the leadership with Coolguy and AustinFraud.

Aside from conflicts and wars, May also met the development and the finals of the AUSIA Arena: Summer Edition tournament, for which the Help Force was awarded the victor’s trophy. The fifth month of the year also saw the rise of some armies, and the downfall of others: while the Dark Pirates opened, the Wet Army Penguins met their end. Meanwhile, the Dark Vikings dropped to the S/M category and were faced with the opposition of the Sapphire Concordat in the infamous Bloodbath Barrage war, in which the Vikings were defeated with a force treaty. Without a doubt, a bustling and iconic month in Club Penguin Armies.

JUNE

Words by: Sidie9

The month of June is sure to be considered momentous in contemporary army history. The Sapphire Concordat (SCA), an alliance consisting of several small/medium armies including the People’s Imperial Confederation and Special Weapons and Tactics, announced the conclusion of the Bloodbath Barrage campaign against the Dark Vikings. Due to a purported war term violation, the Concordat enforced a force treaty on June 2nd with a decisive 12-0-0 war score. On the same day, the Elite Guardians, Rebel Penguin Federation and Water Vikings simultaneously waged war on the Army of Club Penguin, Forming the Blue Sunset Alliance (BSA), the armies cited numerous reasons for war including Calgocubs21‘s alleged “Napoleon complex”. In retaliation, the Sapphire Concordat welcomed the Army of Club Penguin and the Templars to the alliance, declaring war on the BSA. Moreover, despite deciding to refrain from officially joining the conflict, the Help Force announced its support for the Sapphire Concordat. In arguably the most eventful day of the 2023, World War IX had officially begun.

Over the span of 11 days, 32 battles had been fought between the opposing alliances. In notable battles such the battles of Alabama, Moscow and Beanie, consistent victories were earned by BSA forces. Though the Sapphire Concordat failed to manifest success on the battlefield, the persistence of the SCA began to wear down the Blue Sunset Alliance. June 12th marked a significant development in the conflict, with the Concordat’s Napalm Corps and People’s Imperial Confederation losing the remainder of their land. In spite of this, the alliance was determined to continue the war until victory was secured. To the surprise of onlookers, the Blue Sunset Alliance reached out to SCA leaders to coordinate a peace treaty. With the Sapphire Concordat demanding numerous concessions in exchange for peace, the treaty was signed on June 13th.

Though numerous servers were ceded to the Blue Sunset Alliance, considerable controversy erupted after a clause in the treaty proclaimed the war score to have wiped. Despite the BSA winning 32 battles and losing none, World War IX would officially have no victor. Additionally, the terms of the treaty dictated that any reference to the war score made in an statement (such as Discord announcement or posts) by a participating army may be interpreted as a violation of the treaty, resulting in the immediate surrender of the army’s territory. Scandal ensued amidst an apparently accidental violation of the aforementioned term by the Rebel Penguin Federation, resulting in the division of their territory amongst the Sapphire Concordat armies. The seemingly nonsensical happenings of the war have inspired many to say that “World War IX never happened”. Ironically, with more servers lost than gained by the Blue Sunset Alliance in spite of their enormous efforts in battle, many questioned if the war was worth it at all.

Many armies witnessed leadership changes in the month of June. Amidst the growing conflict, Penguins of Madagascar leader Sweater announced his decision to resign from his position to join SWAT’s leadership. The Water Vikings also announced the temporary promotions of Claire, Jojo Teri, Mogi4 and Crazyflame23 to leader positions. A leadership shuffle within the Help Force saw Desirius stepping down with Snowy and Maya taking the helm. Napalm Corps founder Cabin0416 proclaimed his resignation, naming Kyra as his successor. In addition to World War IX’s numerous leadership changes, Templars Grand Prior Maddie stepped down from her position, while Rye Bread was added to fold.

If June wasn’t already packed with enough action, more events of note were yet on the horizon. Despite having closed their doors earlier in the year, the Ice Warriors were sure to celebrate their historic 16th anniversary on June 3rd. To the dismay of the Templars, the army was re-classified as a small/medium army after ceasing to meet the requirements for major categorisation. The Club Penguin Armies organisation hosted its third annual Community Pride Parade on June 10th, boasting a staggering 83+ member turnout. In the absence of a leadership structure, the Penguins of Madagascar announced the beginning of a hiatus that would last until late 2023. The Water Vikings began the ambitious “Alabama Plan“, an effort to assist the community in rebuilding from World War IX. To conclude the month that could seemingly never end, the Napalm Corps opted to merge into its People’s Imperial Confederation ally.

JULY

Words by: Toxic Storm

July started with the army community celebrating the one-year anniversary of Club Penguin Armies and the beginning of the CPA Olympics. The Olympics concluded with a closing ceremony announcing Team Red as the Gold medal holder, followed by Team Touch Grass with the Silver medal and finally Team Moonstone winning the Bronze medal. This month also saw many leadership changes in armies, starting off with Clair and Jojo Teri being inducted to the Water Vikings’ leadership. Additionally, the People’s Imperial Confederation saw Alu rise to the leadership spot while also dealing with a scandal involving the Dark Vikings. While staying on the topic of the Dark Vikings, the army had MtJordan and Tribal inducted as leaders, while also facing consequences regarding their behavior during battles and tournaments. The Small/Meduim army community also saw many changes happening this month, starting off with Special Weapons and Tactics losing their Major army status and being classified as a S/M army. Tide left the Dark Pirates’ leadership, in addition to Snowflake retiring from Dark Vikings. The Penguins of Madagascar came back after a month-long Hiatus. The army community was also able to witness the Elite Guardians earning the “CPA Top Ten Number 1” title of the month, after having the highest top ten score in four consecutive weeks. But arguably the biggest event that the army community had witnessed that month was the announcement of the Legends Cup XIII tournament. Many armies competed in the tournament over the course of many battles, until the month ended with the announcement of Army of Club Penguin vs. Rebel Penguin Federation being the Grand Final’s competitors for the Legend’s Cup XIII trophy.

AUGUST

Words by: Wynn

August 2023 stood out as one of the most eventful months of the year. Army of Club Penguin’s dedicated efforts paid off as they emerged victorious in the Legends Cup XIII Grand Finals against Rebel Penguin Federation, claiming the most prestigious trophy. Additionally, Club Penguin Armies hosted the third edition of Beach Brawl, where People’s Imperial Confederation triumphed over their opponents to claim the championship.

Wars also dominated this month, starting with Army of Club Penguin declaring on Elite Guardians, and ending in the Clovers’ victory a few weeks later. Shortly after the first declaration, Dark Pirates engaged in conflict with Penguins of Madagascar, but the war was abandoned as the Dark Pirates merged into Special Weapons and Tactics. Following the merge, SWAT declared war on Templars, but suffered a defeat.

While some armies were engaged in battles, others were gearing up for the future or facing internal issues. The community witnessed numerous leadership changes: Ryebread was removed from Templars, Sweater quietly left SWAT to join People’s Imperial Confederation, and PIC saw the removal of Ferdthebird while welcoming back Cabin temporarily. Help Force also experienced a change in leadership, with Snowy and Maya retiring and Jo and Yoda being promoted to Commander. Additionally, August saw Tormentors, a new army, opening its doors, and Templars regaining their major status.

August was also busy for the Club Penguin Armies organisation. Besides the tournaments, the Summer Awards, End of the Summer Gala, and a community-wide census were announced. Moreover, Wynn announced Mchappy’s long-awaited promotion to Chief Executive Producer, who has been a driving force behind CPA’s growth for the past months.

SEPTEMBER

Words by: Lunita

September is commonly associated with the September Drop, thus a drop in sizes and retirements. However, this has mostly not been the case during this year’s September. Instead, September became a month of stability. The month began with the Club Penguin Armies organizing a Scavenger Hunt for the exclusive Summer Pin on CPA Battleground. Following the Hunt, the Summer Awards Results got their announcement. Several days after Pingo took the leadership position. The former Water Viking chief jumped through the ranks of Penguins of Madagascar and gained his leadership role. The next day, the CPA announced the results of the Army Census. The results provided many statistics, such as the age, first army, and the year of joining the community. Following the Census, it was announced that Dawn would take the position of Emperess for the Templars of Club Penguin. This move filled the gap made by Xing‘s retirement earlier this year. The same day, Midnight became commander in Dark Vikings. His ascent to power was followed by the retirement of Krosive, the former commander and creator of Dark Vikings. Days later, the Army of Club Penguin announced the media clash. It was the first event of its kind, as never before have media organizations fought on the battlefield. Another significant announcement soon followed the Black Clover Alliance and People’s Imperial Confederation restoring their alliance with the Elite Guardians. Thus, the Clovers and Rebels, and the Confederates and Guardians, went from enemies during the WWIX to now allies. Ninja Leader became the commander of Tormentors several days later, and then the Help Force was reclassified to Small-Medium Army, following their small sizes. As the month was about to end, Ay12 retired from Tormentors. With his retirement, September ended, giving space to the spooky month of October.

OCTOBER

Words by: Ugly

Starting off October, the Army of Club Penguin celebrated their 17th anniversary since their creation, having been around the community since 2006. The year 2023 was special for the Clovers as they went on to win their first-ever Legends Cup trophy in their entire history, as well as dominate the Top Tens and win multiple wars in the same year. Right after that, ACP leader Calgocubs21, unfortunately, announced his retirement after one year of completing many plans he promised as a leader. This of course came as sad news to many people, but Calgo assured everyone that he had good trust in Austinfraud and Coolguy to continue the legacy of the Army of Club Penguin. On October 8th, Club Penguin Armies Chief Executive Producer Wynn announced her retirement from her position. With Wynn as the Chief Executive Producer, our organization managed to accomplish many achievements such as releasing 80 posts in one month. Wynn’s presence in the development of the CPA organization was massively felt and we unfortunately had to bid farewell as she went on to focus on her real-life responsibilities.

We also had the opportunity to talk with the original Club Penguin creator Rocketsnail and have an interview with him, seeing how he has heard of Club Penguin Armies and loves the community. On October 18th, the People’s Imperial Confederation celebrated their 4th anniversary, marking yet another year of pride and honor to their community with them just having won the Beach Brawl tournament. Speaking of anniversaries, the Elite Guardians celebrated their 6th anniversary marking six years of excellence for the Guardians. They managed to max a total of 61 troops online in their anniversary event. This month we’ve had to unfortunately see two armies cease operations. The Friendly Gamers and the Tormentors shutdown on the 9th and 16th of October respectfully, we hope to see them make a comeback once again this year.

Speaking of coming back, the Coup Crusaders announced their revival on the 14th of October by Toxic Storm. Around the end of the month, the army league board had many discussions and ultimately voted to completely reset the map, and, set new rules regarding armies’ invasions of freeland, and change the map’ size. Before the end of October, six armies participated in the Trick or Treat Trials as they had to go through the Qualifier Round before reaching the Grand Finals. Both the Army of Club Penguin and Help Force managed to qualify, but after the final battle, ACP came out victorious after defeating Help Force.

NOVEMBER

Words by: Ugly

Right after the end of the Trick or Treat Trials marking the end of October, we see the Elite Guardians declare war on the Special Weapons and Tactics. Following a raid event on CPA Battleground, the Guardians didn’t take it so lightly as it was found that Fun x Time, SWAT’s high command, deliberately planned and encouraged raiding them. Later in an announcement, SWAT backed down out of the war as they stated EGCP misunderstood the situation, resulting in relations worsening between the two armies. Two weeks later, SWAT leader Legoman stepped down from his leadership position whilst announcing FWAPO, Fun x Time, and Bull Hour as the successors of the throne. In terms of leadership changes, Hidcre announced her retirement from People’s Imperial Confederation leadership to have a break, but she hopes to come back soon. Water Vikings’ leader Jojo Teri decided to announce retirement after 4 months of serving his army as a leader. This news came with the fact that he won’t be returning any time soon, stating he wants to focus more on real life. On 19th November, Army of Club Penguin hosted the second edition of Double Deck the Halls, where two teams of two armies faced each other. The battle resulted in the Rebel Penguin Federation and Coup Crusaders winning against the Army of Club Penguin and People’s Imperial Confederation. Right after the Rebels’ win, three of their high commands announced retirement on the same day. Same reason as most, all of them were busy with real-life responsibilities and therefore all planned to step down together. As we moved closer to the end of November, the Club Penguin Armies announced the Christmas Chaos XIII on November 25th. The tournament saw nine armies participating, but due to the uneven number of armies, a qualifying battle had to be held.

DECEMBER

Words by: Wynn

In December, as per tradition, the league dedicated its attention to hosting the thirteenth edition of Christmas Chaos. Nine armies signed up to compete for one of the most desired trophies of the year, but eventually, only one could become the winner. Congratulations to Water Vikings, who faced Elite Guardians in the grand finals and emerged victorious by winning one room and tying the other two.

Another major focus of the month was the war declared by the United Front Alliance, consisting of the Army of Club Penguin, Coup Crusaders, People’s Imperial Confederation, and Templars, against Elite Guardians. The Penguins of Madagascar also joined this alliance making the war a five vs. two armies situation. The conflict attracted a lot of attention and was voted the Most Controversial Moment during the CPA Winter Awards. Despite there being no map, EGCP participated in three battles out of six, winning all of them. As of now, the Christmas Crusade remains without a winner, although the accusations against EGCP resulted in the army being punished with a Top Ten multiplayer.

At the end of December, Club Penguin Armies hosted the Winter Awards and the Winter Wonderland Gala, announcing its winners and celebrating the year’s end together.

This month, the community also witnessed a new army, Winged Hussars, joining the scene, as well as some leadership changes. FWAPO decided to retire from Special Weapons and Tactics, while Cabin was promoted to Viking Commander at Water Vikings.

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Undoubtedly, 2023 has been an eventful year, marked by exciting wars, heated-up tournaments, and, of course, a fair share of controversies. We, at Club Penguin Armies, wish a happy 2024 to our dear community and expect this year to be an even better one. What was your favorite month of 2023? 

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