Step into the pages of Picture Perfect, a column dedicated to analyzing photos from throughout army history. In this week’s edition, we will delve into the Country Tournament, a mini-competition held more than a decade ago.
Designed by Cassie
A single picture has the remarkable ability to convey a multitude of emotions, ideas, and messages in a single frame. Through the artful interplay of its elements, a picture can capture the essence of a moment, evoke profound emotions, and tell a complex story without the need for words. Thus, a picture transcends linguistic barriers, making it a universally accessible means of communication that can resonate with people on a personal level.
In 2009, an army called the Black Bandits hosted an unusual tournament called the Country Tournament. The participating armies would choose a country to represent during the tournament. Moreover, they were allowed to create uniforms, XAT chats, and websites, as the chosen country represented a new theme. That way, the country theme would serve as a new army from scratch. Yes, that is right! The country-themed army could form alliances, declare war on others, and even invade servers from a list. And the funniest part: anyone could join any army of their preference. On October 24th, 2010, Club Penguin Armies Central [CPAC] decided to replicate this innovative concept and host a mini-tournament of their own.
THE COUNTRY TOURNAMENT
Australia Army vs. Brazil Army
Four days after the announcement of the mini-tournament, the list of country armies was already available. Each army was assigned a leader. And, with the websites all up, the army community was free to join whichever country they wanted to regardless of original affiliations. There were 15 countries in total, all of them fighting for sovereignty and domain. However, this was not a chaotic tournament. Even though it might have looked like one in its proposal, order was required to control those imperialistic nations.
- Only 2 servers per army (1 capital, 1 training/recruiting). I will put out a list of fairly small servers (regardless of who owns them), so don’t call me bias if ACP gets more than Nachos. This may happen because ACP owns more servers than the Nachos. Again, this is a random pick, so don’t call me biased.
- No cheating, bots, PenguinStorm, hacking, and more things a long those lines.
- You don’t have to follow a specific person. Try to spread out. For example, if Billy Mays pics Russia, then all the Nachos don’t have to join Russia. Or if Dryvit pics Germany, not all the ACP Senate has to join Germany.
- No Nazi states/countries.
- DO NOT HAVE THIS INTERFEAR WITH YOUR REAL ARMY. You still must be active in your original army (IW, DCP, Nachos, ACP, etc.) This is simply a side job, so if you army schedules events, go to those, and not these. But you still should be fairly active in your country.
- After October 31st, these armies are DONE (Unless I make an exception). After that, go back to your normal CP army life, where there is arguing, and nuclear war!!!
The List of Country Armies and Their Leaders
In a follow-up post, CPAC asked the community about the length of the tournament. Surprisingly, after the poll ended, the community chose to extend the tournament for a whole month. Therefore, after it began on October 28th, the countries would remain four weeks fighting against each other. In the end, the country army that captured more servers would be the winning army. To ensure fairness, each army started with two servers – a capital and a training or recruitment one. And so the chaos began.
France Army vs. Mexico Army
From active websites, it is safe to conclude that the Brazil Army and Australia Army were the strongest. Both armies had strong alliances (including with each other) and they swiftly started their invasion movements. Right after the beginning of the tournament, Canada quickly surrendered all of their land to Australia. A day after the tournament began, Brazil declared war on Egypt, Japan, and Spain. By October 31st, the Egyptian nation was entirely under the control of the Brazilians, as well as the Spanish servers. The Japanese – smart people – surrendered to Brazil, by transferring a server, and later allying with the country. Two days later, the Brazilians moved on to declare war on the USA. Regrettably, we do not know how this war ended.
From November 7th to November 28th, the day the tournament officially concluded, we have no documentation on the battles and wars held. Many websites were not updated with battles or speeches, which might point to a defeat or surrender. Some others are, sadly, lost in the depths of the internet and cyberdata. Nonetheless, a winner had been declared. After a turbulent and certainly fun month of conflicts, the Australian Army managed to pick up the lead and capture nearly half of the available servers. Indeed, the Aussies won the Country Tournament!
CPAC Recognizes the Australian Army Victory
Without a shred of doubt, this tournament might have been one of the most creative to ever take place in the army community. With nothing but amusement being the objective, this tournament ended up uniting troops from different armies. Furthermore, it was undoubtedly an innovative way to nurture warfare in a very healthy and positive way. What do you think? Do you believe we should see another iteration of this tournament shortly? Do you think it would be beneficial to our community?