Fifteen Years of ACP: 15 Moments Across 15 Years

Posted on September 29, 2021 by

In celebration of our 15th, Crystal, anniversary!

Addressed to the soldiers of the Army of Club Penguin, past and present,

Today marks 15 memorable years of our clover community – an online space that has connected people from all across the globe and become a home away from home, offering us all a sanctuary and escape from the troubles of real life. Along the way there have been some defining moments in our history, and there’s no doubt we’ve been through and seen it all over the past 15 years.

As the very first army to be formed in 2006, we are the first to hit this incredible milestone. Not only do we, the ACP, turn 15 today. Today, the army community also turns 15.

September 29th, 2006: The Start Of It All

How could we not start right at the very beginning? On September 29th, 2006, the day the Army of Club Penguin was officially created. Although it looked very different to how it does today, the army under creator and leader Oagalthorp operated on Miniclip forums and was based on ‘Team Red’ vs. ‘Team Blue’ conflicts that had occurred throughout the Summer of 2006. Opposing clans, such as the Underground Mafias Army and Romans, would clash in snowball fights on the server Mammoth – the ACP’s birth server. Little did those green penguins know they were creating the foundations of an incredible community that would still be thriving 15 years later.

March 24th, 2007: World War III

Structure and organisation came in 2007 with the switch from Miniclip forums to a WordPress website and the use of xat chat groups. In the March of 2007, the ACP engaged in their most dramatic conflict yet: World War III against Pink Mafias Underground Mafias Army. When Oagalthorp found out the UMA were encouraging members to use coin and clothing hackers, he left the army with an ultimatum that was ignored. This war was significant due to the scale it took place on, with multiple armies in the ever-growing community joining the conflict on both sides. It also saw the creation of the Rebel Penguin Federation, as members of the UMA high command did not agree with the UMA’s illicit behaviour and branched off to form a new army. The UMA eventually surrendered and the ACP were victorious.

August 12th, 2008: “Should I delete the ACP website?”

Just like 2007, 2008 saw more drama and conflict within the community. The Nachos, Ice Warriors and Watex Warriors had solidified themselves as major powers and decided to team up in a ‘Great Alliance’ with the UMA, in an attempt to bring down the ACP. Perhaps this could be the start of the start of a popular ‘Anti-ACP’ trend among armies that still exists to this day. But the most interesting war of 2008 was a Cold War, within the ACP, to decide who would succeed Fort57 as leader. The race saw contenders such as Rapidy, Dr Nono Jr, Kg007, and Shaboomboom. With emotions high from the internal conflict, Oagalthorp released a post asking the members of the army if he should delete the ACP website and close the army. Luckily, the result came back as a resounding no, but imagine if it had said yes?!

April 15th, 2009: Creating the First Top Ten Armies

The Top Ten Armies is a weekly staple in the army community, with the excitement and anticipation over who will be crowned top-dog keeping everyone engaged and motivated to perform at their best. While the Top Ten listing has historically been run by the major news organisation or league at the time, it was first seen on the Army of CP website on April 15th, 2009. Army of CP leader Boomer20 stated this Top Ten Armies was based solely on “views and comments”, rather than army sizes on Club Penguin or the amount of events they held that week. As shown, the ACP were ranked first with other big names such as the Nachos and Rebel Penguin Federation close behind. This concept was then adopted by the CP Army Central 4 months later, and was eventually developed into a rankings based on a formula that considered size, tactics and number of events.

December 31st, 2010: We Actually Win A Tournament

In the year that saw major conflicts with the Doritos and the website hitting 3 million views, we ended the year with a joyous tournament victory at the CP Army Central’s creatively named ‘End of Year Tournament’. Those that have been around for the current generation will be aware of a trend involving ACP narrowly missing out on tournament wins. In fact, despite being one of the most consistently powerful armies for the past 15 years, we have always seen bad luck when it comes to tournament battles. On the final day of 2010, however, this was not the case. The ACP peaked at an incredible 130 penguins to defeat the Ice Vikings in the grand finals. Of course, there were other tournaments throughout the years that the ACP won, and most recently we triumphed in the CPAHQ’s Project: Conquest in June 2021.

February 3rd, 2011: Overcoming the Impossible

The start of 2011 witnessed a heated conflict between the ACP and Night Warriors, which resulted in the chaos known today as World War V. The Night Warriors formed a powerful alliance with the Dark Warriors and Nachos to take on the ACP – a threat deemed so impossible to overcome at the time that Oagalthorp, Boomer20 and Shaboomboom all returned to the army in a call-to-arms. Within days, the NW had claimed many of the ACP’s important servers: Snow Fort, Snow Globe and their capital Breeze. In an attempt to turn the tide of the war, an offensive invasion of Fog – the Night Warrior capital – was scheduled a week in advance. The battle was a bloodbath for the Night Warriors, as the ACP had a showing of well over 100 soldiers while the Night Warriors could only muster a mere 35-40 penguins online. Despite the odds being stacked against us, the ACP yet again prevailed and were the victors of World War V.

November 11th, 2012: Enemies From All Sides

After 6 years of dominating the top of the community, the ACP experienced a period of lower event sizes in 2012 that was immediately exploited from other armies that had grown jealous in the shadows. Throughout 2012, the ACP engaged in numerous wars with enemies such as the Nachos, Light Troops, Underground Mafias Army, Blue Miners Army, the Pirates, Shadow Troops, Special Weapons and Tactics, Pretzels, and Purple Republic. It would seem that an ‘anti-ACP’ agenda was rife throughout the community, with key enemies gathering to form the historic ‘Black Alliance’ in the later parts of 2012. With these enemies now teaming up, an ‘Alliance’ was formed with the Ice Warriors and Army Republic to counter their offensives. On November 11th, the conflict came to a head in a huge battle for the IW Capital Sub Zero that saw the BA surrender and disband shortly after. The soldiers of 2012 truly showed great courage and bravery, overcoming many enemies as they were attacked from all sides.

May 8th, 2013: The Birth of AUSIA

On May 8th, 2013, ACP General Flipmoo created the first official ‘AUSIA’ division within the CP army community, and an event held that same day saw a size of 9 penguins present after hours of recruiting. Through persistence and hard work, the division grew under Flipmoo, with September 13th of the same year being crowned ‘The Golden Day’ after ACP hit a peak maximum size of 56 at an event. There was no doubt in the community’s eyes that the ACP AUSIA division was the strongest ever to exist, and was used for many years after as their most valuable weapon in wars. Of course, other armies began to see its value and created their own AUSIA divisions too, but none were as powerful as the ACP’s under Flipmoo, or his successors. ACP’s ability to set trends and influence the entire community has been unparalleled.

April 8th, 2014: Lessons Learned In Dark Times

It would be difficult to brush over the biggest controversy of 2014: the tragedy of the Triumvirate and actions of ACP leaders Sercan and Jerry. Underneath a facade of a strong leadership that was taking the army in a fresh new direction, was the more sinister actions of these two leaders. Just 2 months into their leadership, a CP Army Central special report uncovered multilogging and event picture editing. While this is certainly a dark period for the ACP, it allowed the army to become stronger in the long run and for many lessons to be learned.

December 18th, 2015: Defending Freedom and Preserving Justice

2015 was another difficult year for the ACP as they suffered a huge multilogging scandal from their Commander-in-Chief, Trader, before he was removed in a coup d’état by fellow leader Sidie9. This shocking event, however, saw the army return to their roots of ‘Defending Freedom and Preserving Justice’, with the ACP heading a new anti-multilogging initiative: the Aerate Alliance. The plague of multilogging and auto-type recruiting had infested the army community, and the ACP wanted to change this. This new alliance between the ACP, Nachos, WV, and AR led to wars with the Light Troops and Doritos, both of who were also found guilty of mass multilogging. The events of the Aerate Alliance are a lesser known part of ACP history, but still so important as it demonstrates that even when the army has deviated from its morals due the actions of a few, the spirit of ‘Defend Freedom and Preserve Justice’ has always been a core value that drives us to be better.

May 28th, 2016: Restoring Integrity

Despite their best efforts to make positive change, the first five months of 2016 saw ACP suffer from more dishonesty and division amongst the ranks. The promotion of King Mondo and Super Edwin on May 28th, however, offered a new hope for the army: the chance to finally rebuild the ACP’s integrity. While we weren’t achieving the biggest sizes, the state of the army community had declined to a point where no army was, and ACP was still able to sit comfortably on the Top Ten rankings. Most importantly, however, the ACP and its soldiers were able to be proud of the army they were in once more. Mondo, Edwin and the staff team at the time were able to set a new precedent for how a leader and soldier of the ACP should act. A precedent that has continued to this very day.

March 30th, 2017: The Hiatus

While it might seem inconsequential now, given the successes of the army community over the past few years, but the year of 2017 was defined by the shutdown of the original Club Penguin game. It was an extremely sad time that marked the first, and only, closure of the ACP in our 15 year long history – a claim that no other army can make. On the 29th of March, soldiers past and present gathered on the server Breeze, saying goodbye to both the game they loved and the memories they made being a part of the ACP community. But ACP was to prove it was more than just a group that played Club Penguin, as it returned 2 and a half years later – outliving the very game it was created on.

September 29th, 2019: The Second Coming

The Army of CP opened its doors once more on the 13th anniversary under the leadership of Chainpro. At the time, no one could foresee the unparalleled successes of the generation to come. The ACP would go on to defeat countless enemies in war, achieve the 1st position in the official weekly Top Ten Armies numerous times, and even triumph against the top-dog Rebel Penguin Federation at the Holiday Championships tournament in early January 2020.

April 27th, 2020: Rewriting The Rulebook

2020 was undoubtedly the Second Golden Age for the ACP and army community as a whole, thanks to the worldwide lockdowns and quarantines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are so many moments to single out, the impact and long-lasting legacy of World War Rewritten cannot be overlooked. It marked a permanent change in Club Penguin warfare, with the entire community embroiled in a conflict on a level that had not been seen since well before the shutdown of the original game. It saw the ACP popularise the use of big word bubbles in offensive tactics, and kickstarted the use of a server map and comprehensive judging system within the leading organisation at the time, the CP Army Media. As always, the ACP were leading the way in progressing and innovating the community.

September 1st, 2021: The Next Generation

Following the sad departures of so many iconic and much-loved leaders and higher command members at the end of August, September 2021 saw a brand new generation for the army. While this fresh start seemed daunting in a time of such uncertainty for the community, one thing was clear: the community that the ACP had created and maintained for so many years, would endure. Now, under an awesome new leadership and team of higher command, we celebrate our 15th anniversary and look ahead to a bright and exciting future.