Welcome to a special edition of This Day in History, a column that looks into historical occurrences. In this week’s edition, we will discuss leadership changes in Water Vikings that occurred yesterday, July 6 in 2013, and 2016.
Designed by MasterDS
WV’s Founding & First Generation
In late 2010, Zakster and Jed Pen founded Water Vikings from a merger between the Masked Vikings and Water Troops. Both leaders had close ties with Ice Vikings, as the army served as a major inspiration for their creation. Thus, IV became the new army’s first ally. With IV’s help, WV defeated the Platinum Warriors in its first war as an army. Moreover, WV became IV’s principal colony for much of its early history. As the army grew, it became one of the largest Small/Medium armies as the third-place army on the Small-Medium Army Central‘s Small Top Ten. Given the army’s success, it reached second place in its first tournament, Club Penguin Army Express‘ S/M Army Brawl. During the tournament, they encountered armies such as Tacos, Parkas, and Rebel Penguin Federation.
Holiday Smackdown Finals – IV vs. Army of Club Penguin
S/m Army Brawl Finals – RPF vs. WV
Following the tournament’s conclusion, WV allied with the Tacos to create the new Blue Taco Alliance. The alliance planned an invasion against Team Gold, a solid S/M army. The failure in the ensuing battle destroyed the strong relationship the two armies had previously. Not long after, a war broke out between the two that culminated in the deletion of WV’s website in February 2011. Essentially, the first generation ended with this development after only a couple of months.
WV’s Second & Third Generations
Eventually, the Vikings returned under the leadership of Soccerman179 and Zakster. The revival marked the start of the Vikings’ second generation and their first time on Club Penguin Army Central’s Top Ten. Furthermore, the army became runner-up to Light Troops in a SMAC tournament. However, a conflict with the Underground Mafias Army resulted in lower sizes for both armies involved. Moreover, the army’s upset loss against Fort Ghost Recon in the Legends Cup II tournament caused further issues for the army. At the same time, Soccerman179’s retirement left Zakster as WV’s only leader.
SMAC Tournament Battle – Blue Warriors vs. WV
Legends Cup II – Fort Ghost Recon vs. WV
In the aftermath, the army changed its name to Pirates to attract more troops based on the Fire Warriors‘ name change. Despite this new development, WV still struggled and shut down a month later after it achieved Major status under the new name. Next, the army merged into the Sun Troops for the next several months. Nonetheless, a third generation began under the leadership of Zakster, Twitchy543, Josephp3, and Bepboy9 before the former’s retirement. During this new generation, WV faced off against RPF and Shadow Troops with mixed results. After a defeat against ST, the army declined and closed for a third time. Regardless, the army soon returned for a fourth generation.
WV as PIrates – July 2011
WV Training Event
WV’s Fourth Generation
In late 2012, WV came back with Bepboy9, Zakster, and Dashing Snow as a triumvirate. With these leaders, WV built on its previous success with multiple placements in the Top Ten armies. In the generation’s first few wars, WV faced off against Dark Defenders, Pretzels of Club Penguin, and LT. These wars all ended without a clear victor but helped the army increase its size. Once the conflicts ended, the Vikings experienced another size boost as Bluesockwa1 of the Blues Brothers joined as leader. While the army reached high sizes, the success did not last as a defacement of the WV site by a staff member, Qwerty, took place. Finally, the army entered a recovery period. In short, WV had unprecedented success in the first several months of its fourth generation.
WV vs. Dark Defenders – Invasion of Sled
Pretzels vs. WV – February 2013
Water Vikings’ LeadershiCp Exits & Promotions – July 6, 2013
New Leaders & Improvements – 2013
By June 2013, WV consistently placed in the Top Ten armies. Simultaneously, it allied with the Army Republic and Nachos to fight against Dark Warriors. Consequently, DW teamed up with Pirates and Special Weapons and Tactics to even the playing field. Four days later, the war ended with a mass return of servers, and the war result was declared a draw. Along with the alliance war, the Federation, led by Kingfunks4, merged into WV after its defeat against the Army of Club Penguin in a short war. The month also included WV’s journey to the semi-finals of CPAC’s Army Warfare League tournament.
WV’s Raid of DW’s Frosty
Army Warfare League Semi-finals – Ice Warriors vs. WV
Meanwhile, Bluesockwa1 stepped down from the leadership as he dedicated more of his time to CPAC duties. In his place, Tylund1 returned to the army briefly before he retired again with Dashing Snow. Accordingly, Aaronstone42 and Jed Pen became leaders as they joined Change, Freezie66, Bepboy9, and Kingfunks on the leadership team on July 6. Moreover, Dashing Snow completed the leadership after he returned from his short retirement. Lastly, these changes kicked off one of WV’s most successful eras. Ultimately, WV’s performance during the Summer of 2013 earned the name of the “Blue Summer” period.
gOLDEN AGE PERIOD & STRUGGLES
Three years later, the army had changed greatly and gone through multiple more generations. During 2015, WV experienced its peak performance as it became one of the largest armies in the community. However, the next year went very differently with the army not as dominant. At the beginning of the year, Change retired from the army after his tenure as a leader during multiple wars against Doritos of Club Penguin. Furthermore, he led the army to the runner-up position in Legends Cup VI and Champions Cup IV.
Legends Cup VI Finals – RPF vs. WV
IW vs. WV War – December 2015
After Change’s retirement, three new leaders joined the army, such as Mortico, Sir PJ, and Buddy. Besides these leaders, Astro, Jack283, and Katie also acted as their co-leaders. Even with the new leaders, the army struggled with a drop in size, despite their earlier success. Later on, Change rejoined the leadership team, but it was too late for the army to recover. By late April, the army entered a lockdown period for two months. While the Vikings had more success, their inconsistency made it impossible for WV to maintain high sizes over an extended period.
Announcement of New Leaders
Tes7’s Removal from WV Leader – July 6, 2016
In June 2016, WV ended its lockdown and began a new era with the return of many old leaders. Additionally, Tes7 joined the leadership team after his past leadership experience in the Ice Warriors. A few weeks later, the US division of the army revived after it was defunct for several months. At the same time, troops questioned Tes7’s leadership capabilities due to his apparent inactivity. They claimed that he refused to come to events and pretended to not be available on multiple occasions. Thus, his co-leaders staged a coup and forced him out of his leadership position.
WV’s Raid of Nachos
Afterward, he did not dispute that he hadn’t been as active. While he was offered a higher-command position, he chose to retire from the community as a whole. With his removal, the leadership promoted Adden433 to Leader-In-Training. Lastly, WV made preparations for the upcoming Legends Cup tournament with the leaders who remained. All in all, Tes7’s demotion from leader caused significant changes for an army that had just returned from a month-long break.
Conclusion
Throughout WV’s history, the army experienced many ups and downs. During its early years, the Vikings were a strong S/M army that did not consistently reach major army sizes. However, WV established itself as a major force that competed greatly with future superpowers by its fourth generation. In 2015, the army became one of the fastest-growing armies and experienced its greatest success thus far. The new-found success came in part as a result of its ability to make necessary leadership changes when older leaders retired. Essentially, the army overcame several obstacles to become a dominant army. What do YOU think of these leadership changes? What other historical leadership changes stand out to you? What do YOU think of Tes7’s decision to retire?
Aurora
Senior Reporter