Army of Club Penguin

Before we get into what, why, who, how and when, I want to take you on a journey. A lot of people know Coolguy but what they don’t know is Coolguy’s journey and that is something that people will never truly understand. While this may be the telling of a story, context is always required and that is something that cannot always be provided but stay with me reading this as we go on the journey from past to present.

The statement of this post is that Coolguy, ACP’s 50th Commander in Chief has retired from ACP’s leadership.

Let’s start from the very beginning. I joined Club Penguin just for fun, it started to get popular amongst my friends so I started playing in 2011. Now, I will admit, I was one of the people who bought the membership for the game and just enjoyed playing it. It was just another way to interact with friends or people you’ve yet to meet while also just playing a game. Like many people, I came across an army event but I remember it very vaguely so I’m unsure of the army or what happened but I do recall it happening in the Forts, I believe. I participated in the event and most likely another one after that as I remember exploring a chat room for fun. I just came across things like this randomly. Yet, despite that, it wasn’t until 2012 that I really got into the community properly and started to explore. It’s because of this, that I say I joined in 11/12 rather than either of them.

In 2012, I was looking for cheats for Club Penguin and I came across a site which claimed to have codes for coins. It led me to a platform and on this platform I was messaged by a person named Crazy186. They were enlisted in the United Countries of Club Penguin (UCCP) at the time and tried to get me to join their XAT to see what they were about. To me, I saw a group that played Club Penguin and someone who wanted me to join it so I thought I’d see what they were about. I never thought I’d consider it a home but it soon became one.

After joining the Xat in the Summer of 2012, I was welcomed by Crazy and others. Soon, I became close with people in the army. I was interested in what they did and what they continued to do. I saw the site and they tried to get me to sign up to join them and I did, officially joining their army. Now, at the time, UCCP was aligned with armies like DCP and SWAT but I didn’t see this straight away, I was curious about what else was out there though, so I started to explore and soon enough I would have 14 tabs open for XAT chat rooms, exploring all of the different armies that there were. I was new at the time so I just wanted to see what was out there and try to connect with these different armies and people. One of the army XATs I remember joining is the Fire Warriors. Their graphics were actually pretty cool and I loved the whole Fire aspect of it. With red being my favourite colour, it’s clear to see why too. Anything like that intrigued me and soon enough, they held an event in which I was able to participate.

Before I participated in their event, Crazy had briefed me on what UCCP was and what they did. He wanted to help me as much as he could, and he never went back on that. He was there whenever I needed him and served as a mentor to me, so I’ll never forget it. When I did participate in a Fire Warriors event I was just there trynna have fun and get to know people. Of course, armies were different than what I was used to but it’s an easy concept to grasp.

After exploring, I started to ground myself more and focus on UCCP. I learned the ropes and got into how armies work and who UCCP was aligned with. The ally aspect still went a bit in one ear out the other but I considered them to be close anyway, which led me to help Doritos of Club Penguin and Special Weapons And Tactics out during events. There were crossovers between DCP and UCCP because we had people like 32op, Mustapha and even Victini helping out UCCP. I recall some being advisors while some were more involved. It was because of this that I got to know these people and learned about DCP too. So, it was like having multiple fun learning experiences at the same time but they were more than just learning experiences for me, I genuinely enjoyed getting to know people within UCCP and DCP. How could anyone not love Alfrondo haha. I will always remember his leadership in DCP fondly because those were good times.

But back to UCCP. So as I started to grow within the army, I started to rank up and become acquainted with Leon231231 and Yey100000 (UCCP’s creators) as well as those involved in UCCP like Dom or Brooke. Me and Dom were very much like marmite on toast. I say that because we were friends but we were also rivals. The rivalry to rank up the fastest and before the other was instilled within us, the need to grow, to progress and become a great asset for the army. We both wanted to help the army as much as we could but, whilst doing so, egos got in the way and we clashed a lot. It wasn’t nasty but just friendly competition. At the end of the day, we both knew that, even if we did write awfully spelt rants towards each other, with and without caps LOL. Now, that kind of thing is cringey as hell when you look back but it makes me laugh because the army got us so engaged that it pitted us against each other to try and see who would come out on top. To us, that was fun, challenging each other, learning and growing as individuals.

I recall challenging Dom in an election for 3ic when we eventually made up to the ranks and became high mods. In hindsight, all of this happened fairly quickly for us because we hadn’t joined that long ago (in comparison to the rank-ups you see in today’s community). It had been a month or two. Yet, we were rising. If I recall correctly, the election ended in a draw, despite what we both wished for, so Leon gave us a test. This test saw us being given potential situations and we had to say what we’d do as a leader. But the test wasn’t just “what would you do if your opponent formed a plus” but it was more reactionary than that. It was deeper than what armies do rn so if they pressed EH you may press E8 if they pressed E7 you may press E6. It was about reacting to the opponent’s tactics and coming out on top in each situation. Ultimately, Dom bested myself in that test and became 3ic but that didn’t stop me from doing what I do best and thriving under pressure. I went on to learn from the best, from people like Crazy who was a DW and SWAT legend and people like Mustapha and 32op who became friends of mine. Soon enough, I rose to the top. 

Now, most of UCCP’s history is lost because the site(s) was defaced multiple times but there are still a couple of pictures around. Of course, you have the Wayback Machine but even on that, there is literally nothing from UCCP apart from a couple of posts so all there is, is what was saved by CPAC, SMAC or other armies.

According to Club Penguin Army Central, I became UCCP’s 4th-ever leader 

I actually remember something about when I was a leader because I remember being entrusted with perms and then, suddenly, I was being threatened by someone on the outside, someone threatening to doxx me or deface the site or server if I didn’t ban a member and back then I did slightly believe him. I remember talking to Iceyfeet about it actually, and he was just like, “nah he can’t do shit”. It’s funny because I didn’t actually kick the person but I did kick someone else and ofc they easily returned. But because of that, the start of the leadership was shaky but I learned from it and used it to help me in the future. What is impressive though, is that I made my way up to becoming a leader within months. From the history I found, I received leader in mid to late October. Now, if you think about that nowadays, you’d think how the hell can this guy just waltz in here with little experience and obtain Leader that quickly. But, I was determined and I genuinely loved the army and my time there which is why I was able to prosper.

It’s funny what you remember and what you don’t because whilst I remember joining the army and little things about what went on, I don’t really remember leading that much. Yet, I know I did lead and even inducted Badboy as UCCP’s 9th leader, which even surprised me when I found out. Like, that was one of the things I could find from the Wayback machine and I had no clue about it as if I was reading it for the first time, much like some conversations I’ve had on Discord.

UCCP was a new S/M army with little to no reputation, yet the people that it had within its ranks are crazy to think about. Despite being a small army, it was often in the Medium/Major Top Tens. This says a lot about UCCP and how it was led. The community was by no means as small as it is today either so this made it even harder to make it onto the Top Tens. CPAC would put out its Top Tens weekly but Small Medium Army Central also put out its small/medium army top tens too. If we weren’t on SMAC’s TT we knew we would be on CPAC’s and vice-versa. Making it into CPAC’s Top Ten was an achievement for us and we were honoured to be able to do it. Between the 27th of August to the 16th of December, UCCP was involved in 14 of CPAC’s Top Tens. Whilst the army was outside the Top ‘Ten’ in some cases, it still made it onto the list. There were approximately only 3 of the Top Tens during that period that UCCP were not present in. Looking back, it is a big feat considering how many armies were in the community and who we were competing with. Nevertheless, the army fought hard inside and outside the TTs.

From what I could find, UCCP was present on 3 SMAC Top Tens between August to December, starting off at Number 2 on August 26th, 2 on September 2nd and 4th on November 24th and considering we were a small army, I was proud of how far we had come. 

During my time with UCCP, I witnessed a war with Pirates, with only a couple of battles taking place, from which, Pirates only won 1. In November, under my leadership, UCCP battled and destroyed the Global Defenders, giving me (assumedly) my first war victory as a leader. Considering the timeline, this was crazy. Of course, UCCP was stacked so the war wasn’t won by just me leading but the feeling of doing that, considering the timeline is immense. However, as the winter continued to creep in, members started to grow inactive and busy in real life and, ultimately, it was time for all of us to move on.

However, there is 1 thing that remains a mystery to this day. Leon disappeared from UCCP and the army scene and more or less fell off the face of the planet. Close friends hadn’t heard from him, communications were cut and since then, no one has actually seen him around. I actually did try to find out if he was still alive because both myself and Crazy wondered what happened or if he actually was dead but to this day it remains a mystery and it’s unfortunate because he did so much for us within the army, alongside Yey and many others. To not have had contact with him after our time in UCCP was sad but we moved on in late December with multiple retirements happening, leading to the army’s shutdown.

I did try to create my own army during my time in CPA but the problem for me was getting the troops in, I actually gained some friends when trying to build my own army, as I recruited them into it. I also remember trying to help them to build one too, abandoning my original idea. Despite our different experiences, we were all new and recruiting was something that was a bit harder for us to do. Yet, we still did it and got a couple of people in but not getting great amounts was a bit demotivating. We took it on the chin. I remember Samsungy and Matthebeast along with Wenny who I met along the way and helped but we never made it that far with our army, even when we did gain some troops. For us, the problem most likely was retaining those troops and being serious about creating an army. We were there for fun and we did have our jokes and stuff so it wasn’t massively serious, yet at the same time it was but, of course, it didn’t work out.

Anyhow, it is time to talk about DCP and SWAT. Well, both of these armies were in my mind because I was close to people within the armies. Crazy held a role within SWAT and because of that, I wanted to still keep in contact with him and others. People like Thalia were also in SWAT so, of course, I hung out there a bit during my time outside and inside of UCCP but the place I loved was the Doritos. It was hard not to love them when UCCP had been so close. I had formed bonds with so many people within the army, especially with people like Alfrondo, Mustapha and Darkstar. To some, these names may mean nothing but the names I have mentioned impacted my journey whether they were close friends, inspirations or both. Back then, it was more than just joining an army but it was about who you were surrounded by. While armies could be fun, the people who you had around you truly made your experience what it was and, much like with UCCP, that’s what pushed me.

I had already gained a moderator rank in DCP by just helping them as an ally and someone who genuinely just loved the army so I wanted to continue to do so…yet the army went down much like UCCP. There were a couple of things that happened a lot back then, 1 thing was site defacements and the other was army shutdowns. Both of these impacted me and my history so it made it even harder to try and track where and when but I know that once DCP was back up and stable, I was there, fighting right alongside them, making my way to 4ic.

As for what happened when UCCP died, assumedly I went towards SWAT and hung out there with Crazy, Thalia and others but SWAT had the same problems but 10x worse. Site defacements happened so much that most of SWAT’s history is lost apart from what was able to be restored and shutdowns happened frequently. What I do know is that I made some friends there and both Crazy and Yey moved to SWAT after UCCP to continue marching on in CPA.

One thing I remember about SWAT is the environment because it was very different to other armies. On their website, SWAT wasn’t afraid to say what they think. This led to a lot of explicit posts being written. Today, a lot of these posts wouldn’t be made but disregarding some of the phrases used, a lot of armies would openly express anger or frustration towards others and that made troops aware of what was going on and made any and all grievances public. While this may not be how it works in today’s armies, these petty posts gave people a reason to go to war, to have their disputes but also to deal with any drama publicly so there can be no confusion. SWAT was just one of the armies that openly spoke out and I remember that atmosphere being somewhat distorted because you had the dark atmosphere on the site and a slightly lighter one in the chat in late 2012. The troops created that atmosphere and if you had people you knew within the army then it made the journey you went on that much better. I remember 1 time from later on in SWAT. One of the people I knew there was departing from armies and I recall them transferring their XATs to me for if and when I needed them. I tried to use some of these to have someone create a profile picture for me but most of the XATs I still have on my account to this day.

So, basically, I stood alongside SWAT and ranked up to 4ic before a move had to be made. Now, SWAT often got into wars and did get into one as a part of the Black Alliance, before dropping out of the war in late January. But I don’t remember too much in terms of the timeline.

Some may ask why a move had to be made and my genuine answer is I don’t know because my own memory can only provide so much and with history being deleted, the end of 2012 and the start of 2013 is blurry, I think I made that clear by not remembering that I promoted Badboy to leader LOL.

But here’s a picture of myself in SWAT.

As for what happened with me and DCP well, who knows? One of the interesting things about me and DCP is that while my history was lost, 1 thing that remains is my memory and I always remember returning to DCP. Whether it was in 2013 or in 2017, anytime that an army died or that I had the chance to return, I would because that army meant a lot to me back then and it was the place which I knew best. It was familiar with a lot of familiar faces. I’d often just hang around the XAT chat, regardless of any situation I was in.

Sometime before or after DCP, I joined the Ice Warriors. I already knew Iceyfeet, as previously stated but I hadn’t had too many interactions with IW as an army. With my experience in armies being on the other side of the water, I was less in the know about their daily ongoings. Despite that, I worked my way up in Ice Warriors, earning the rank of 4ic and making progress and relations along the way. I’ll always remember my conversations with Icey. While I have no idea what they may have been about, it was great to know that even as a troop you could learn from the best, get to know them, get advice and much more. I don’t remember bucketloads of my time back then but I know Icey has been there throughout.

I don’t remember much else about my time in Ice Warriors and without an in-depth search through every year and every month’s pictures then I wouldn’t be able to comment on what may have happened. As weird as it sounds, a picture can speak 1000 words. Much like how pictures from UCCP brought back some memories about my time there, the same could be said about other armies in my CPA career. 

One of the people I do remember from IW is Racingwheel, which gives me a bit of an idea about my time in the army and attending some events but still…not too much.

After this, I tried to help some people I knew with the creation of an army, the Bacon Defenders. I remember being there early on when they were naming the army and it was a whacky idea that was created just for fun and that’s why it worked for us. I mean, we wanted to apply our experience whilst having fun. So, I took a leadership role within it and tried to help them break into the SM scene while also having fun, so that’s exactly what we did. This is very much a forgotten army as its time was short-lived. Despite it being short-lived, it had the support of people like myself and Klinkguin. It was just for fun and that is something that many armies aren’t – just for fun. We just had fun with the name, leading it, breaking into the Top Tens and then, of course, we moved on. 

I do just wanna run through some Top Ten placements though because it shows the resilience of us and of the army despite being new, jokey and small. So, in our first week, we placed 11th in SMAC’s Top Ten – this was 2 places behind Golds and 5 places above RPF. Our second week saw us jump from 11th to 9th, showing good progress, even with RPF jumping to 1st place. Considering that, it was pretty good ngl, with Golds ahead at 8th. Now, we never compared or competed with the likes of Golds and never had a war, as far as I can remember, but that’s what makes the Top Ten important when looking back at history and how we disrupted the Top Ten.

It’s funny, I recall being in the army and seeing someone eat bacon in real life and the thought process you have when seeing them is hilarious. At the time, I wasn’t one for eating bacon yet found the situation pretty funny. Anyhow, going back to the 2nd week in the Top Ten. After this, the bacon stopped frying and stopped appearing in the news/top tens. As previously said, the army was only for fun and despite not taking it too seriously, we were able to creep into and disrupt the Top Ten, taking away a place from armies like Night Shadows and Ice Hounds. This alone said a lot about us as leaders but it also showcased a lot of potential that could be tapped into. While we didn’t just want the army to shut down, we all went our separate ways and tried to use our experiences to help us in our next venture. Although, BD went on to win an award in SMAC’s summer awards, leaving the army name in the history books. For me, that’s what it was. While people may not see the value in the award, we were just happy to be there and recognised, to leave something small in the history books, even with this short-time army.

Now, in mid 2014 I joined Chaos and I spent my time earning my place and grinding through the ranks. This did coincide with Choas but even Klinkguin (who was also a member of BD) was in Chaos at the time.

Our time in Chaos more than likely led to Bacon Defenders’ closure as we had our sights fully on Chaos and BD was just for fun. When August came around I was still working in Chaos and getting closer and closer to where I wanted to be. On August 10th I was made UK division Commander even though I had only been there for a couple of months at most, and with this, I became a 3ic later on. The UK Commander position was temporary at the time but it was good to be able to lead the division. It allowed me to try and show what I brought to the army and to try and help them as much as I could, in my own way.

Whilst leading the UK division, we continued to march on through the SMAC tournament that was being held. We went on to make it to the finals of the tournament, facing off against Redemption Force. Unfortunately, RF proved to be too much for Chaos as their size only increased during the battle. In October the army made it into the CPAC top ten, proving itself as a big little army but also it showed our ability as a unit. It may not have been one of Chaos’ best times but considering that it was a time of renovation as Chaos saw the retirements of major leaders. It was all about adapting and moving on. 

Backtracking a little bit, my first week as Chaos UK division leader was a bit rocky, I’ll admit but we managed to improve upon previous weeks and stepped up to 2nd in the Top Ten placing above the likes of Golds and Purple Republic. The opportunity to step up helped me to make moves but also make mistakes and learn from them.

After this week, Chaos struggled a bit more. One of the things that Chaos struggled with after the leadership changes within the army and before I became a UK division commander/3ic was their sizes because people started to drop off. As many people will know, when leaders retire, it can demotivate some people and with September coming up you had the well-known September drop to think about, but that wasn’t in my mind. What was in my mind was trying to get troops to engage, whether they were old or new. While doing this, as previously said, I was learning and growing not just as a person but as a leader. Sure, I was a 3ic but I had certain responsibilities which required more than what Bacon Defenders did, for example, so it was a good learning experience.

As time went on, other people started to step and sooner or later a new UK leader was crowned (in late October/November, approx). Despite my personal loss, the army went on to strive for better things, such as winning the Halloween Bash Tournament and becoming #1 SM army of the year. This only fed as more motivation for me to continue trying to step up.

Towards the end of the year and entering the new one, some problems started to occur, making attending even harder. At the time, I had been in armies for over 2 years with my first experience being 3 years prior and the laptop I had at the time was on its last legs. I actually did a lot to try and improve its performance but one of the things that was hard to manage was trying to maintain it while also having XAT and Club Penguin open. I remember logging on for a Chaos event only to have the game freeze and just not load. Even refreshing didn’t help. It got to a point where my laptop would just crash at times when I was using it, not to mention long start-up times. So, with that in mind, I was running out of ideas of what I could do to improve the performance and solve the issue. I think that the issue was that the laptop was getting on a bit anyway but, it probably had issues that I didn’t know too much about back then. However, I do remember having to get the battery changed once because it stopped charging completely at one point – the battery was kaput. After all of this, I was able to eventually use it to some extent but it wasn’t as simple as getting it done within a week or a month even as I had no clue about what some of the issues were, including the battery but I eventually was able to get some use out of it. However, it was never the same as it used to be as its age was showing and problems kept occurring.

Anyhow, I tried to continue to support Chaos in any way that I could and I was very vocal but, in the new year, the army was soon struck with worse problems as they stared death in the face and eventually shut down.

In late April 2015, I moved onwards towards the Army Republic and I became a fourth in command within the army. Much like Chaos, the army went through many wars, winning many invasions/defences but it also went through some tough times. AR was unpredictable as an army, going from a small army to a powerhouse then back to a small/medium with multiple shutdowns (during its time). To show this, by July, despite maxing a lot lower than the month before, the army achieved maxes of 36+. It’s absolutely bonkers to think about but it’s true and AR were that type of army. 

Now, AR had some overlap with Chaos which made it a bit familiar but I also met people like Burr and 122344a who I considered to be great leaders and I also knew a couple of people who I met before joining AR like Darkstar. One of my favourite servers to this day is AR’s capital, Toboggan. My time there as well as how historic the army just left me loving their capital and it has influenced my server picks in recent years. It’s a server I always keep in mind. Always gotta keep the spirit alive. One person who was in AR who influenced my future was Brigade3. Brigade was chosen to lead the EU division in AR during my time and I was well aware of what he brought as an individual. So, expectations were high but in June he departed the army to revive Teutons. Our time in AR becomes more relevant in other parts of my CPA career but we’ll get to that later.

In terms of AR, I don’t recall much else about the army but it is one I remember to this day and I think that many people, even today, could look at AR and take inspiration because they are a historic army but they definitely had a lot of failures too but that doesn’t make their time any less impactful. Whether they were maxing 8 or 38 they were in the picture and even with multiple shutdowns, they didn’t just give up on themselves. That should inspire many armies even today.

I don’t know when I departed AR or how long I was there for but I do remember joining the Night Rebels in January 2016, upon their creation. For me, NR was something new and I wanted to achieve something with it because I had multiple positions in armies, I had already gone through so much yet never really struck gold. Actually, at one point I feared the worst for even NR because armies shut down quite frequently back then and with armies in my past often shutting down and then reopening, it made it even harder to try and cement my own place and to make the impact I wanted to make. I wanted to be able to make my way up to the top of an army and lead it to glory. It could be argued that I had small success in 2012 as a leader but I was always hungry for more. BD made an impact, my time in DCP was amazing, Chaos had its successes, IW was a force to be reckoned with, AR grew unexpectedly and rose up in the community once again, but I wanted to be able to stick my feet up somewhere and make a difference, not just in the short-term either. As for NR and how it was different, each army had a different atmosphere and NR’s was refreshing at the time and filled with interesting individuals like Harroon. It was quite easy to adjust and get involved quickly

Despite joining in January, by February I made my way into the high command of the Rebels, once again cementing a position in HCOM. In my introduction post, I mentioned that my previous army was AR. Assumedly, I left AR in January 2016 or before then. However, that is uncertain. Despite my past affiliations, I was eager to get started and to help propel the army further. My rise didn’t stop there either as I made my way to become a 2ic.

Also in February, I saw NR go to war with my former army, Army Republic but, despite past affiliations, did everything I could do to help us win. The war saw the two battle approximately 7 times before peace was agreed. Out of the 7 battles held and recorded on CPAC’s site, NR won 4 of them, ultimately winning the most battles during the war.

In the CPAC Top Tens, throughout January, NR was in the top 4 consistently, placing second in our first week. At the start of February, we continued to stay in the top 5 before falling out of the top 5 mid-Feb, yet we showed resilience and made it back up immediately. 

The army then went on to march into the Elite Eight of the March Madness before getting knocked out by RPF. From here, we went to war with the Green Mercenaries before closing down in March (2016). Following the army’s closure, many people floated over to the Dark Warriors. With that in mind, I decided to explore the army. Yet, DW wasn’t the army for me and I could see that almost immediately. At the time it was a bit too late for me to get into an army like DW. While I had a connection with someone in DW, they weren’t active anymore so there was nothing in DW for me. 

NR did revive in April, however, and I went back to the army shortly after it did. In June I was still 2ic and I wanted to progress to become a leader of the army but I don’t believe that ever happened. Yet, that doesn’t mean my time there was any less meaningful to me or the army. I enjoyed my time there and I remember bits of it but hey, we’re only human. Once we got back into the community with NR, we had to work our way back up, quite literally. In our first week, we were maxing 20 but only placing at 8th, just below ACP. It took us 3 weeks to improve in terms of our placements, going to 6th. Now, you would assume that our sizes decreased because it took us 3 weeks but that wasn’t it, the Top Ten was competitive, much like it is today. So while NR was improving day by day, it took a bit more for that to translate to the Top Ten.

1 thing about NR and myself it was an EU-based army, unlike Chaos for example, so it was much easier for me to have frequent input and really help them to focus on the UK division because it was our main one, alongside ausia. It was a strong point for me so I could utilise my abilities alongside the amazing leaders the army had to help us progress. By the end of May, we topped the Top Tens and held several big events. We continued to be in the conversation and prove our worth as an army. 

As for what happened with me, personally, I don’t know when I left as the Rebels’ site was defaced more than once and they even changed their site at one point. By late August, NR shut down, once again. I can only assume that is when I left.

Up to this point, I’ve mentioned a few armies but these were not the only armies I had been in during my time in CPA. I was in the Redemption Force for a while as a high-commanding member. But, saying that, I don’t know when. With a lot of history now lost, it would take a long amount of time to trace when. Now, I would assume it was in 2016 or late 2013-2014 but I don’t know exactly when. However, I do remember a bit of my time there as a high commanding member, becoming acquainted with the likes of Rishron as well as people from my past armies. It was easy for me to engage there because of this and to find my feet easily. Ultimately, much like NR, it became a time for me to learn the role and find my feet within the role not just in RF but outside it too.

As well as RF, I’m sure that I have easily missed an army or armies out because of history being lost. While I could say I remember X army, without something more solid then it’s harder to state even if it is in my memory.

Later in 2016, I was also in Teutons, alongside people like Superhero and Brigade. Once again, the site also got defaced so there are minimal posts on there with a lack of pictures, however, I was able to confirm that it was in 2016 due to my name being mentioned in a post.

Moving on from here, in 2017 near CP’s closure, I believe I went back to DCP, once again, to see the end of the penguin world as we knew it. As I said before, it wasn’t the first time and it wasn’t the last time I returned to DCP but it’s hard to put dates on my time within the army considering my history and because history has been lost over time. But anyway, regarding Club Penguin’s closure, we couldn’t have predicted CPA’s revival but it happened and, as fate would have it, it came back…and so did we. Whether that was good or not is not for me to judge. However, the past has seen many problems come into the present (overall) because of such, and no, I’m not referring to myself but the community as a whole. Yet, at the same time, CPA would not be alive today if it wasn’t for past members paving the way. 

After the closure of Club Penguin, I stayed connected with those from the army community and we all had our own private chats and group chats. As time went on, I discovered Discord but didn’t actually create an account until September 2017. One of the first servers I joined was Army Republic’s hangout and then, from there I casually just made my way into the community once again. I did approach Ganger90 to revive SWAT and he agreed to it, however, with him being inactive at the time and my lack of knowledge about how Discord works, it didn’t really plan out. But, the idea was there and lingered for a while.

My next step in armies was in 2018. I joined the Templars in approximately 2018 and soon became a third in command within the army. The community was much different to what it used to be, everything was on a platform which I was unfamiliar with. It took a lot of adjusting. The atmosphere in TCP definitely was different to that of NR or DCP so it took me aback for sure. 1 thing I remember is the drama between Epic and Xing which broke out into a war between Pirates and TCP. Now that was dramatic LOL. But the war saw two armies which had great strength, collide.

Whilst in TCP, we tried to create a side project, a small army. Myself and Xing named it the Sun Batallion. We actually were 7th in CPC’s Top Ten in our first week which impressed me, considering we were new. There were a couple of others involved in the army like Ben but, ultimately, side projects don’t end well so that had its small time and I then continued my time in TCP before eventually departing. Although, while I was leading SB, I did have offers to go and join the Green Mercenaries. Whilst I declined, after much persistence, I decided to scratch their back, see what was going and help them out in events. For me, it seemed like a ‘Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ situation but it was more than that. I knew people in GMA from OG CPA so we had a connection. Despite that, I didn’t want to throw away the shot I had in TCP/SB for a shot I could have. Like, this was in 2018 so I had chances in the past, of course, but wanted to make something work in the early days of my CPPS CPA career. So, while I did help GM, I didn’t “join”. It’s also quite funny that I was helping GMA against Pirates (considering the war between Epic and Xing)

Not too long after, tensions grew between myself and Xing as he planned to shut down the Sun Batallion and I was very much against it. It was understandable, considering he had TCP too, but back then, my perspective was very close-minded. I definitely fought for it to remain open, but whilst that situation was underway, I was still in talks with GMA as they wanted me there but I was somewhat attached to what we had in SB. Yet, at the same time, I knew it was slipping away. After a lot of persuasion, I eventually became a 2ic within the army under Samsungy and Superhero. But, shortly after joining, I regained my focus and left GMA because it was obvious I couldn’t do everything, even if friends wanted me there. So I focused on SB, and when that closed, TCP.

In mid-August I became staff for Club Penguin Central, which was a news organisation at the time. CPC was a well-oiled machine with tryouts being held for people who wanted to become a reporter. Applicants were put into teams and they were tasked with creating things that related to the task they gave you e.g. penguin hangouts. So, I remember my team created a server and based it around a theme, made simple graphics and set the server up well to showcase our abilities. I don’t believe this was the only task but it was just one example of things we had to do in order to pass the test. It was a rough test to be fair, with everyone getting judged on every little thing they did but it got results. I took a test a couple of times but my goal there was to enhance my own skills as a writer through reporting and to fulfil a job. There was one problem with what happened behind the scenes and who was pulling the strings, however.  Not even all staff knew of a problem that was there but it soon emerged into my view and that problem only got bigger as time went on. Yet, it was very much nothing to do with myself or my role and was out of my control. My information was limited, yet I could tell it was shifty. Anyway, moving on. I continued working for them eventually rising up the ranks there getting to editor/the rank above. I can’t recall the name. But it was fun while it lasted and I took a lot out of it, which helped me when I joined CPAH in 2020 as a reporter.

Eventually, CPC fell apart and by late 2019 I was detached from the army community and individual armies. I had departed the media landscape and just kept an ear out when I needed to but wanted to focus on things that had more meaning to me – real life. Yet, in December, a little birdie told me about a reunion…well there was more than 1 that was going to happen. 1 was Doritos and another was Ice Warriors. Now, at the time, I was split as I liked and had a past with both armies but ultimately I took a high-commanding role within DCP. Now, this is something I used to hold regret over but not for simple reasons. In the new year, real-life responsibilities started to hit and it was evident I would have a restricted amount of time for myself, never mind armies as I literally only had 30-minute breaks here and there so I stepped down. This was why I held regret because I felt I had an opportunity to be with friends from the past and to prove myself in a place which knew what I was capable of but needed to see me show it in the army. So, I felt that by doing so I lost an opportunity to do that but also to prove them right to give me said opportunity. But, I did say “used to hold” and that’s because there’s no point regretting the past and I know that my time in armies, my achievements and everything else speaks for itself. I’m sure my path would’ve changed a lot if things were different but ultimately, real life has to come first.

As the months went on, I had requests to join armies like Warlords Of Kosmos and others but I wasn’t going to return without what seemed like the “right” offer. Toxic Storm approached me a few times, first about joining Shadow Troops and I rejected it because of the time when he asked me and the lack of appeal for me. Later on, he then approached me about an army he was leading called the Coup Crusaders alongside Earthing, who I knew from OG CPA, and others. This was in May (2020). It intrigued me because it was something new with 1 person I knew and many others I didn’t but it presented a challenge as they were newly formed and hadn’t even held their first PB yet, with only 1 event being held prior. I didn’t actually want to join as a leader, I just wanted to help out. But, after having a conversation with Cat, I became a leader within minutes as they valued my experience within armies. 

From here, I remember preparing for our first battle against the Pizza Federation, which we won. For us, this was big because PZF was a big little army, often underestimated but strong, and this was CC’s first battle ever so it was great to see the army perform as it did. From here, CC marched through the Challenger’s Cup and slowly built the army up as well as warring with Kings and successfully invading their capital. Unfortunately, CC didn’t make it to the finals of the Cup and problems occurred but we kept going and tried to come back stronger. We even hired Kings’ leader to help our own growth.

The feeling I had during this time was crazy, like CC time for me was crazy because it had been the first time I’d properly been in an army for a while and I was learning more about the new landscape of the community (because that had changed a hell of a lot) and about new-gen armies. Some of the times were heart-racing moments, especially the war with TCP because it wasn’t just about it being sudden but it was also personal. This was an army that I felt had a lot of potential yet seeing old flames seeking to destroy it, well of course that’s gonna be fiery. CC had a lot of problems in its time but the chaos made you really get involved and made the experience that much more real and the costs that much higher.

CC had wars with Lime Green Army, ACP, Silver Empire and, as previously said, TCP – people wanted to take the coup out of the Crusaders but the fight within the army was strong. While all this was happening, towards the end of May, I had an invite to join SWAT before it officially re-opened. At first, I was offered an advisory position and then a leading position by Ganger. After consulting Storm, I decided to see what the leaders of the army had to say. Ultimately, the leaders SWAT had didn’t know me and they were much newer than myself so wanted to see what I could do. I took this as a challenge, working in SWAT to earn my way and helping CC to accomplish what they could. One major, one S/M, what could go wrong, right? LOL. I remember the two armies taking their place on the battlefield and the outcome saw CC come out on top which was amazing for the army, considering everything. Of course, there was a dispute but it was isolated and sorted.

The bombardment of wars on CC led to an alliance with Ice Warriors being formed which soon became a colonisation. Whilst this was frowned upon by some, the union saw an almighty force form. IW were a powerhouse in itself and CC was a resilient newcomer who had more issues in that short amount of time than some armies would have in several months. The two made a great duo and yet CC was still trying to identify itself as an army and not just as a colony. This was where troubles bubbled up from, even leading to Storm’s coup. Although they weren’t the start nor end of CC’s troubles, there were just a lot of things that happened including threats being sent. Despite this, CC trained IW members up and gave LITs a chance to lead, gaining valuable experience. A couple of examples of these people are LawCorazon, Alex and Erick. As time went on tensions rose between the two armies. Personalities clashed and there was no way back from that.

But there is one thing that I do remember, there was a war against an alliance which I believe the Water Troops had formed. This alliance tried to take CC down but even all of their armies were no match for IW/CC. I recall CC maxing up to 44-46 penguins at one point, showing the force of both IW and CC but also showing the relationship between the two armies. While the alliance did end badly, it cannot be understated that there was a bond between the two armies and it was more than just sizes and showing up, but I mean, you saw people go from IW, lead CC then become IW leader but during that process, you saw relations form between people which wouldn’t have been formed without the alliance. By relations I mean new friendships. While people may not think it, these very friendships can have an impact on your future whether it is personal or not. For example, my relations with IW helped IW and SWAT develop an alliance. Now, SWATxIW was much different to IWxCC as you would imagine but army relations are important and they often determine which side of the line you are on. Back then, the community was very much split between 2 sides and we aligned ourselves accordingly.

As all this was happening, I became a Leader in SWAT in late June/early July and my focus shifted. I helped CC sort out the problems they had, however, the help soon became a hindrance, I’ll admit. That situation was handled badly by CC  but I accept my part in that. After this, I stepped a bit further away and tried to help out when needed and focused on SWAT. Yet, SWAT definitely wasn’t easy either. 

1 thing people often look over is that despite me helping SWAT from the start, I was couped and then reinstated within hours at the end of August. Now, this shook me and it took a bit to recover from. I mean, how can you say you got couped from an army, reinstated and then led it for 3 years? People thought I was crazy and I probably was crazy but I saw an army from my past which needed to get back to where it used to be and I helped it to do that. During my time there, SWAT was always amongst the Top Ten, we had wars which we fought hard through and I was always one to face things head-on and not cower away. If there was a problem, I’d try to solve it, even if the odds were stacked against me. 

If you look at my history, you wouldn’t assume that I would be the type of person to spend so long in an army, dedicating so much time and energy to them but I had a goal in mind and I wanted to achieve it. Sure, there were easier options but my loyalty to the army kept me in it and kept me fighting for each and every day I was there. I wanted to achieve something, I wanted to have an impact not just on the army or the community but on the people within it. I wanted to create a legacy. It was quite nice but weird seeing people literally grow up during my time in the army, and knowing I had a part in them growing up and helping them to grow not just as an army member but as a person was a great feeling and this is something I wanted to do.

In 2022, I remember L90, also known as Rookie/Wheeze leaving the army and this hit like a ton of bricks. As I previously said, I genuinely loved to help people within the army improve and grow, not just as army members or staff but as people. He was one of the people who was there from the start and who I had saw develop so much so seeing him leave definitely was a punch to the gut. But that also showed how invested I was. It wasn’t just about the army but the troops within it too, even despite everything that went down.

Here are some of my accomplishments in SWAT:

In 2021, we made it into the Quarter Finals of the Christmas Chaos for the first time in SWAT’s history. 
In 2020, we dominated the SM scene and quickly became a major army. 
We reached sizes of 40-67, sizes that had been seen before but not in the new generation of SWAT.
SWAT was seen as major player in wars (for good and bad reasons)
We made strides in tournaments and broke records within SWAT that no other generation of the army did.
In 2021, we progressed to the Elite Eight of the March Madness tournament for the first time since 2013. – We repeated this feat by marching into the Elite Eight again in 2023
In 2022, SWAT beat RPF in the LC but were later disqualified for an incident that happened before the battle and not during – I still take this as a win since the battle wasn’t impacted.
We won the Monster Mash-up tournament against WV and ACP in October 2022 (which I’m still waiting for the trophy for)

During my retirement week, SWAT achieved #1 on the Top Tens for the first time in the new generation’s history
In December and November 2022 SWAT fiercely challenged the Templars for their top spot gaining #2 of the month. We were challenging all armies in the Top Ten despite everything that went down.
Even with the controversy, I kept the army alive and afloat.

Also, I led with approximately 35 leaders during my time in SWAT, including people with multiple leadership reigns. That just goes to show my longevity within the army in comparison to others as well as the dedication I had despite everything.

Now, I’m not gonna go back and check for everything that I accomplished but these are the things that I remember. What did I want out of my time in SWAT? What did I want to be remembered for? Why did I stay? These are all questions that I’ve been asked and during my time in SWAT I would say a couple of things and rotate between them whether it was to achieve things with the army, see people grow or simply “I don’t know”. But, I think that 1 thing that I wanted to leave was a legacy, I wanted to build SWAT up during my time there, I wanted to achieve things other people couldn’t, I wanted to keep the army afloat, build the future up, top the Top Tens, become a constant within the community and continue to be a major player, I wanted what I did there to have an impact and I did them things and left there with a legacy. I’m not saying this in an egotistical way but rather to show what I did there. From revamping the entire staff structure/system to helping build the future up (even if many did leave before me), I kept the army afloat and I tried to ensure some sort of stability even if there was chaos every single second, the channels there still have my imprint on whether it be the partnership scheme which I set up in 2020, the announcements, QOTD, the introduction to armies guide for new troops, which I also created a website post for, the staff server or whatever it may be. I still see that. Another thing I wanted to do was restore website activity and I did that, I also was able to restore many old posts – while these won’t restore full years, it was a start and ofc I left before finishing that but that’s life. I feel like I left my mark there and whether I did or not, well I’m sure that is up for others to decide for themselves

On March 28th 2023 I decided to retire from SWAT, leaving as their longest-serving leader. It was time for a change. It was time to breathe and just let the wind guide me. Following my retirement from SWAT, I joined the Army of Club Penguin on the 29th. I say “let the wind guide me” because even though there were some goals I had, I cast them aside and solely focused on each day as it came without procrastinating about the future or what may or may not happen. 

Me joining ACP may have been sudden but it wasn’t an idea that just appeared. When I was temporarily couped from SWAT in 2020, I had a place waiting for me within ACP if I wanted to go there. Yet, I chose to stick with the army that I knew I had a place in and I wanted to fight for my place there and do what was best for the army. I genuinely wanted to make a difference, improve the army and reach high.

Before joining ACP I was quite insistent that I had never been in the army in the past and yet when looking on ACP’s site, I came across my username once in 2012. I didn’t know my name was ever on the ranks until I joined ACP and looked out of curiosity. I’m unsure of whether I joined an event or two or I just accidentally stumbled upon an event and was marked on the ranks. Some people may say it’s destiny. Others may say it was just by chance. But 1 thing I do know is that I’m not leaving ACP the same way I walked in. I didn’t join because of the past but people like Max and Mchappy were influences for me, I mean, if you have a chance to join ACP, an army they led and transformed then you should. The atmosphere in ACP had always been different, I remember the atmosphere under Max, under Csy etc and of course the atmosphere changed as the staff did but there were times I’d sit in ACP chat and just talk crap. Now, I don’t mean shit-talk but I mean I could just talk at ease about whatever, whether it be philosophy or other things. 

Before joining, I remember staying up till 2 am just having some random-ass conversations without any tension or pressure being there and that’s something I valued. With people like Austin and Calgo within the army too, I knew it was a place I had friends in. I worked with both of these people before joining ACP and Calgo definitely helped me a hell of a lot to make the move. I can’t say the narrative would be the same without him. It was also a place where I could just work my way up to the top to help the army. ACP was my last chance to do something and that was in my mind – 1 final run in armies before I called it a day.

I joined ACP as a 2ic on March 29th and I found the whole thing overwhelming at first. (I believe I am only the 2nd person to ever be given 2ic in ACP straight off the bat in the CPPS era.) Any staff member will tell you that in comparison to other armies, ACP is a completely different cattle of fish. The organisation and the amount of things that have to be considered is immense and moving from SWAT to ACP saw massive changes but I tried to tackle them head-on. One example of this is the welcoming system ACP has and the staff duties behind the scenes. I had experience from previous armies so when I came into ACP, I saw the system but I also saw familiarity. The system wasn’t unfamiliar but I knew it could be a lot more organised and streamlined in the long run, making the staff’s jobs easier while also making the leader’s job easier too as from this new system it was easier to see who was taking these duties upon themselves. That’s something I tried with ACP almost immediately. I remember Calgo saying about trialling it at the time because everyone was used to the way it had been done in the past but that very system is still in place today and it makes everyone’s lives easier.

In terms of our responsibilities as HCOM in ACP or even staff, I’m sure everyone would agree that there’s a lot of ground to cover. But it is very much a team effort. While some people would consistently step up, ACP is about sharing the responsibilities placed upon us, whether it be tasks like event posts or minimums, everyone would chip in. This was refreshing but I definitely wasn’t used to it as I pretty much took all responsibilities on my shoulders in the past in order to get the jobs done. I carried a lot of weight on my shoulders in terms of my responsibilities and I had to otherwise things wouldn’t get done. Whether it was promotions or event posts, planning, training, website posts, QOTD, updating information/channels/ranks, website maintenance, announcements, scheduling, dealing with drama and the 505 things that would have to be done, I had to do them. In ACP, everything was laid out separately for staff, and it is a mess but it’s an organised mess. It’s cluttered but it’s helpful and for me in ACP, it was just about finding out where everything is, what everything did, what could and couldn’t be done in this historic army etc. That’s definitely 1 thing I had in mind too, ACP was a historic army so I made sure I was informed on protocols and things that could and shouldn’t be done. By doing this, I gained a better understanding of protocol and of the army and I knew I had the freedom while also having shared responsibilities that I would be more than happy to fulfil.

While I did do all this, I didn’t charge into ACP like a bull in a China shop. I was alert and tried to be as open and honest as I could be to be able to gain trust and form relations. I approached most, if not all, staff members and advisors at the time to open the door between myself and them, even one which was firmly closed. I didn’t expect to be taken aback by ACP but I was. I was able to share my experiences and breathe with everything behind me, only focusing on the future. Of course, I had threats and comments from outside the army targeted at me and these were seen even more once I got Leader but it was time for me to focus on something else, something bigger.

Upon joining ACP, the army then declared on Dark Vikings, almost right away. I had walked out of a war with POM into one with DV and I had to laugh because this cycle didn’t end here, ACP was always at war whether it was this one or the war with SWAT when myself and Austin became leaders or after WWIX after the SWAT war, hell even the EGCP war after LC.

The war with Dark Vikings led to my first event as an ACP member being a war battle. From here, I forged relations and aimed for a leadership position because that’s what I wanted to be when I joined ACP. I was lucky enough to be able to join ACP the way I did but that only made the expectations even higher and I tried my best to fulfil them. But, I have to admit, I did kinda like not being a leader too, it gave me a break from everything I did in SWAT and I really needed that break more than I can say but I still pulled the leadership skills out of the bag when I needed to. ACP soon saw maxes of 35 as we won every battle we fought against DV. In mid-April, the war ended with an 8-0-0 ACP victory. 

Along the way, I wanted to take a part in helping to revive the Shamrock Bulletin and make posts much like Max used to do. So, I set that as a mission to do, alongside Calgo. We took control of SB and started to streamline our content, trying our best to get posts out or get them assigned. However, being in an army like ACP, being an Editor in Chief in CPA and trying to work on SB was a bit much, especially during the war but we tried to get posts out when we could to keep it somewhat active. Max was a heavy inspiration for sure and I was compared to him being a UK ACP leader and holding a position in CPA but those are massive shoes to fill so while the comparison was amazing and I would love to have made as big as an impact he did within ACP and CPA, I would never personally aim to be him. I wanted to make my own experience, my own impact and my own legacy. I wanted to be Coolguy make changes and improvements within ACP, I wanted to get posts out through the Shamrock Bulletin, and I wanted to be a present figure in the media, helping to get out high-quality posts each and every day. 

On the week ending April 22nd, ACP made its way to the top spot on the Top Tens for the first time since I had arrived in ACP but Calgo’s 3rd time as ACP leader. This gave us the incentive to keep it up and to aim for more. The week ending on May 6th, we took the spot once again, and from there we aimed to record breakers and that’s what we did. Calgo went on to break ACP’s record for the most #1 finishes under a person’s leadership in the CPPS era. Then, myself and Austin went on to break Calgo’s record in January 2024. From there, I went on to further break the record myself and Austin created and extended it even further. Now, I don’t think that the record is unbreakable, but to know that I was able to do this and make an impact within the army which everyone can see is amazing.

On May 28th, just under 2 months after I joined ACP, I made my way into ACP’s leadership as the joint 50th leader of ACP, alongside AustinFraud. With Calgo, we formed a mighty triumvirate. With the announcement, ACP declared war on SWAT, which we won after they withdrew. We then got declared on by the Blue Sunset Alliance (Water Vikings, RPF, Elite Guardians) and we aligned with the Sapphire Concordat alliance to even the odds and gained some new allies in the process. The war enabled me and other leaders to improve our own leadership skills. It was challenging for us to try and overcome the challenges we faced in those battles. However, with each battle we led, the more we grew as leaders. Of course, we all had leading experience but were tapping into the next level because of the war. This was one of the things that enabled us to go into LC as great leaders. We knew our faults, we knew how to improve in battle and we did.

Once World War IX ended, we could finally introduce ourselves in ACP fashion, having our own Roman induction ceremony. Upon joining ACP, the Legends Cup was in my mind. In 2022, SWAT fell short of progressing in the LC. That loss only drove me to want the trophy even more. As for the rest of ACP, there was no convincing needed as everyone had their eyes set on the coveted trophy ACP had never won…until the triumvirate brought the trophy home.

Not only did we bring the trophy home but were able to achieve a new CPAB max for ACP with 61 troops in attendance. Going into the tournament, ACP were underdogs but we took that as a challenge to prove ourselves which is something I’ve been doing for the entirety of my CPA career.

Yet, from here, new challenges presented themselves and it saw another war with EGCP. The war saw ACP battle EGCP 34 times, making it the war with the most amount of battles within the CPPS era. It was draining for everyone involved but 1 thing that was clear was that neither side was giving up. ACP was being pushed and pushed and pushed. We gave just as good as we got but we never gave in. Ultimately, we came out on top with a war score of 18-1-15.

With everything that had happened, from SWAT to WWIX, to LC to EGCP, ACP didn’t really have a chance to breathe and yet we knew that and took it on the chin in our stride. While our burdens largened, our strides only became stronger. We soon took on ACP’s anniversary at the end of September, hosting the week to celebrate 17 years of ACP history. Not to mention sweeping CPA’s awards both in the summer and the winter.

While ACP’s 17th anniversary was a busy week for us, it was something we all looked forward to. I hadn’t been involved in their past anniversaries and SWAT barely knew the anniversary of its reopening so it was something different and it allowed us to re-engage with XAT and things from the past, celebrating army history.

After Calgo’s retirement, ACP had to find its feet and we soon did this by celebrating the reveal of our new D R A C P flag, hosting our first-ever CPJ battle and more. For some, October would’ve been uncertain, but for ACP October was business as usual as we all pushed to maintain ACP’s growth. This was evident during the Trick or Treat Trials tournament.

During that tournament, we shat the bed and I’m sure many others did too. No one was prepared for what went on during that tournament but we took it head on and luckily, we made it into the finals. We went on to face our brother allies, Help Force and this was great for the two armies. Both had won a tournament in 2023, and both had the motivation and will to win. It was the battle of the brothers. Ultimately, we came out victorious, securing the second trophy of our leadership.

For us, this was a great accomplishment and we couldn’t believe that we had won. LC was the best moment of our CPA career because it’s a historic trophy and an unbelievable feat but this was something else, it was something that shocked us because the first round was hell and it shook us but it also made us stronger and more determined to win. And so…we did.

Nothing on this journey has been easy. Every single one of us suffered at times for whatever reason. Whether it be a lack of sleep, procrastination or having burdens weigh you down, we all suffered. Yet, we all came out of it in 1 piece and we all thrived together. My time was different from my past experiences but it also wasn’t easy. I was faced with many tough decisions, choices and actions. If you told me last year that I would’ve led this long, I would’ve told you to piss off because I fully didn’t plan on leading for nearly 9 months, I just planned to take each day as it came and create goals based on those passing days. ACP was supportive of myself and the other leaders and we all tried to help each other through everything. At the end of the day, we did this and still managed to maintain a healthy and strong army.

When December came around we had our sights set on CC but unfortunately, we lost to WV and fair play to them, they put up a great fight and won the whole thing. Then we also hosted our Santa tracker which was fun actually, I looked forward to hosting it daily. After that, we aided our allies in a war with EGCP, which went on to end neutrally. Coming out of that, we knew we had Austin’s retirement, I knew I had to think about my own too, but we did what we could for ACP. I tried to do everything I could to help ACP progress, before and after Austin’s retirement. 

When thinking about my retirement I always thought about what was best for ACP and this led me to this point rn, leading alongside Ugly. 1 thing I wasn’t going to do upon Austin’s retirement was leave ACP in the lurch. I wanted to win NYB, and have ACP staff and members focused on this tournament so we could bring another trophy to the army trophy case and then focus on building up the army. I was lucky enough to have a period of solo-leading where I could showcase my own leadership skills. We were very lucky to also bring in people like Roxy, Mythic, Storm, Kailey and Kailey during this time to ensure ACP’s future. While the 2 Kaileys may be advisors, that doesn’t mean their position matters any less than that of a staff member. They are as influential as the others with any and all input they provide. I was proud to be able to welcome these amazing people onto the team during that time and I can’t wait to see them help the army to win the March Madness tournament together.

Without any doubt, ACP brought the trophy home, adding a 3rd trophy to the cabinet since August, which is just astonishing. 

I then inducted Ugly as ACP’s 51st Commander after his amazing work in the army. His passion and dedication cannot go understated and I’m sure that he will continue to prove himself within the army because there’s a lot more to show and certainly a lot more to win. I am sure that ACP can be even more successful in 2024. If everyone puts in the work and gets behind ACP’s 51st Commander then the future will certainly be bright.

My time in ACP has been recording breaking, much like Austin and Calgo’s whether it be together, apart or both. From having the most battles during a war (in the CPPS era) to being #1 for 5 consecutive weeks from December to the end of January – the longest ACP has consecutively been at the top in the CPPS era. I also witnessed ACP become the top army of the month in January, the second time ACP has achieved the top army of the month since I joined the leadership.

These stats are by no means achieved alone, an army cannot be successful with 1 person alone, it takes the entire army to make it happen. It takes the Staff, the Hcom and those around us who support us.

I also became a Bronze Medal Award holder alongside Austin and Calgo for achieving success in the Legends Cup.

I completed ACPTR and came out as an A+ Graduate

I came into ACP with 0 war/trophy medals in the army and will depart from the leadership with 7.

During my time here, people have asked me about what I want to do in ACP and what I want to be remembered for. This is a tough question and I definitely will repeat some things but here goes nothing. I don’t want to just be a name, I don’t just want to be “ACP’s 50th Commander”, I want to be remembered for what I did here. I came into ACP as someone who hadn’t been in the army before but I entered into the HCOM which isn’t something that just happens in ACP, it almost never happens. I came in from an enemy army so in regards to ACP, I was nothing. Yet, I proved myself in ACP, I had no history there but made some, I had no medals but earned some, I had no accomplishments there but I crafted some. During my time in ACP, I gave people chances to prove themselves, we gave some people chances even though many had already given up on them and while not all these worked out there were some stand-outs which proved that everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves. It doesn’t matter what a person’s age is or who they are or what they aspire to be, where they come from or what other people think of them. As long as they are willing to prove themselves, willing to learn and are good human beings, they are worth taking a chance on. I know some people thought they’d never be able to get to ACP staff or come back to ACP but have been able to thanks to being given a chance to prove themselves. I know I’m not the only person to provide these opportunities and I can only hope I’m not the last but it’s important to remember that we are all human so as long as they are a good human being, they deserve a chance to prove they are also a good army member. 

Alongside this, I want to be remembered for what I did and tried to do with the Shamrock Bulletin, what we tried to do with and for the staff, the achievements that I have had within the army and the fact that I never gave up. I may have my own flaws but I worked through them and I acknowledge them, I learned from them – much like everyone else and ultimately we all came out on top in the end. I put everything out there for all to see and witness and now, I take a step back from that and let others have their time. 

With all this being said, what is next I hear you asking? Well, my time leading is up and I am more than confident that ACP has a prosperous future ahead. Look at what we have accomplished and continue to accomplish! It’s incredible. There is no doubt ACP can do even more with one of the best staff teams and with Ugly at the helm. I don’t doubt Ugly will do a great job leading the army and you shouldn’t either. However, I’m not just gonna leave y’all in the lurch either. Therefore, I will be taking my place within the army as a second in command from this point onwards. Whilst we may have little time together, I will continue to support Ugly and the rest of the army until the day comes when I do depart.

As for my history in armies, I’ve missed some of my experiences like working for SMAP or SMAC or whatever it was (very briefly) or the fact that I worked for CPAH and CPAHQ as a reporter, column writer and even philosopher or the fact that I worked for CPA, left then came back in January 2023 as a reporter and quickly worked my way up to EIC. Now, my time in these happened alongside my time in armies and CPA is kinda like an army. Upon joining, it wasn’t the best, I’m sure everyone will admit that. While I won’t go into details, I will say that I wasn’t going into CPA to watch shit happen, I was gonna go in as a level-headed person, make sure anything that needed to be sorted was sorted and that the environment was one where everyone could feel welcome and work with each other. I wanted to be able to provide quality news posts and content with new and creative ideas. Ultimately I did this upon joining and have won numerous awards for my writing in CPA and in ACP. Thus, I am truly grateful. 

I also missed out on some other small times and interactions but these are still in my mind. Everything that has happened over the course of my army career has led me to this moment and there are definitely multiple people I could thank too. They all led me to this very point.

Now, I don’t know what the future holds but I do know that YOU can pave your own path. Make your own future. Change your fate. But here’s 1 piece of advice – always think about every single aspect of the decisions you make and don’t be afraid to jump into the darkness because sometimes that darkness can set you free. Sometimes, the light around you can hold you down. Be who YOU want to and know you can be.

March on ACP!

Coolguy

ACP 50th Commander-in-Chief

~ Signing off, as your 50th Commander for the last time

Filed under: ACP, Army of CP, Retirements, Shamrock Bulletin, UK Division | Tagged: 50th commander, 50th Commander in Chief, ACP, ACP Retirement, AR, Army of Club Penguin, Army of CP, CC, clover defenders, clover penguins, clover trooper, Club Penguin, Club Penguin Armies, Club Penguin Army, Coolguy, Coolguy retires, Coolguy's Retirement, cpa, CPC, fw, IW, Leader, Leader retirement, NR, Retirement, SB, SWAT, tcp, UCCP |