The Special Weapons and Tactics was founded by SWAT Legend Ganger90 as a Club Penguin army fueled with rogues, on July 7, 2009. Since its establishment on the Mammoth server of the game, it has experienced a variable climate under the sheer leadership of many powerful leaders. Today, SWAT scales to a large gaming community, having laid a firm foundation within Club Penguin armies.
The First Generation (2009–2011)
In 2009, Ganger90 had recently departed from the Roman Fire Warriors and wanted to create his own army. This army was the Special Weapons and Tactics army. The army started off with a large collection of rogues on Mammoth, with no form of communication outside the game of Club Penguin. Eventually, the Xat social platform was discovered, and SWAT switched to the platform.
Much early history of the army has been lost or obstructed due to the lack of a website or other means of persistent communication, causing historical gaps between 2009–2011. However, it is known that they participated in several large wars, and consistently placed around the lower end of the Weekly Top Ten. SWAT soon saw rivalry with the Army of Club Penguin. Conflicts with the army lasted long, and this rivalry stemmed from the armies constantly competing for the capital Mammoth.
The Modern Era (2012–2013)
The modern era of SWAT took off in 2012, where they often saw placements in the middle of the Weekly Top Ten. This era of SWAT was led by notable leaders including S Cargo2 and Cul8rsl, and for the most part without the involvement of the creator of the army, Ganger90. They challenged the Army of Club Penguin to gain control over Mammoth. In 2013, SWAT competed in Club Penguin Army Central Champions Cup, where they beat one of the finest armies around the time, including the Nacho Army of Club Penguin. During the tournament, they advanced to the Semi-Finals and were successful in defeating ACP. During the week in which SWAT had defeated ACP, SWAT was also able to obtain the first place on the Weekly Top Ten for the first time ever. SWAT was able to have a very successful generation overall with consistent sizes of over 35 troops throughout the generation.
Before or during the few early months of this generation, SWAT had implemented its first website on WordPress. It is currently holds a lot of legacy, as a lot of history is being consistently uncovered with its existence.
SWAT partook in the Black Alliance versus the White Alliance War in 2013. This was primarily because the Black Alliance’s goal was to defeat ACP. SWAT tumbled around in the Top Ten for the majority of 2013. Falling out temporarily, and then returning to the top three was quite common for the army. They were able to acquire their largest sizes yet at the Legends Cup tournament. Under the leadership of Ganger90, Tacodaily, Reacon, Paco, and Badboy, SWAT was able to max over 45 troops at the Legends Cup.
The Instability Period (2014)
In June 2014, SWAT was led by Stare3000, RapRocks669, Alina, and Reeses2011, while the creator of the army, Ganger90, had temporarily left the army to lay the foundation of the Light Troops. Ganger90 made his decision to depart from SWAT after a crushing defeat by the hands of their rivals ACP, leaving SWAT in the hands of the other leaders. This generation was able to max consistently in the range of high twenties to low thirties. This generation was relatively unproblematic, as they were not involved in any major conflict. However, this era was also a time of instability and uncertainty without the guidance of Ganger90. Despite the difficulties and lack of interactivity with SWAT among other armies, this generation proved to be successful.
Conclusion of the First Decade (2017)
In March 2017, the original game of Club Penguin was discontinued. All armies in the army community were adversely affected, as they were obliged to retract their title of an army. Many armies set up their events that they assumed were their last. Many armies and other former SWAT members were lost after the game closed. SWAT was one of the last armies to remain active till this moment. SWAT defended its capital Mammoth till the very end from ACP. The army was able to acquire sizes of over 20 troops. SWAT had announced its shut down.
Messages from Legends
Some SWAT Legends began authoring posts on SWAT’s website to commemorate the army’s legacy.
- Some Cool Things From The Past, by Recees2011
- I Am Not The Best At Final Goodbyes, by Recees2011
- The End Of The Line, by Badboy
- SWAT, by Ganger90
- Farewell – The End Of My Journey, by Badboy
- Goodbye SWAT, by Tigermca
- The Final Stand, by Ganger90
During this historic event, many leaders and notable army community members retained connection. Staying connected with others after the discontinuation of the game was key, as the need to communicate with them would be fundamental almost three years later.
The Contemporary Period
The Contemporary Period was never anticipated to exist after SWAT had shut down in 2017. The community was diluted, yet connecting with old legends was quite challenging three years later. Many old legends returned. SWAT reached to its peak performance during this period. This time period was accompanied with the use of Discord as a new mode of communication, after it was discovered to be efficient. Around this time, the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic caused a significant rise in activity in the army community.
Code: Red (2020)
Club Penguin private servers started to flourish immediately before 2020. The return of SWAT occurred in March 2020 when Epic101 and Darklink2315 interrogated with Zuke about bringing SWAT back. Zuke forwarded the request to Ganger90, and reopened arguably the greatest SWAT generation to date. This generation was spearheaded by Zuke, Sweater, Darklink2315, and S Cargo 2. In this era, SWAT received a surge in their maxes upon the release of Club Penguin Online game. This made recruiting much more convenient for armies, and allowed them to reach SWAT’s peak maxes of about 101 troops on CPO at the Defense of Permafrost. This was SWAT’s highest acquired sizes, ever. Eventually, SWAT Godfathers, Tacodaily, Domsamillion and Lights717 joined the leadership team. SWAT was also able to have a red division that utilized custom items created by SWAT Commander-in-Chief Zuke, along with custom codes to obtain the items within the game. The generation’s sizes never dropped under 50 troops and remained consistently high until CPO had shut down after receiving a DMCA violation declaration from Disney Interactive Experiences.
SWAT involved in a conflict with the Doritos of Club Penguin and the Ice Warriors, in which SWAT sided with their allies, the Ice Warriors. After the conflict had subsided, the leadership removed Darklink due to immaturity and misconduct brought towards various girls within the army. Shortly after the removal of Darklink, Badboy joined the leadership team. Very soon, Zuke was forcibly removed from SWAT leadership by other fellow leaders. Afterwards, Badboy decided to declare war on the Ice Warriors, despite the obvious opposition from the rest of his leadership team. SWAT was not victorious in this conflict. SWAT failed to win at least one room throughout the war. The war proved as an embarrassment to SWAT, whose members steadily began losing motivation.
Transition to Club Penguin Armies: The Game (2020)
After the closure of the Club Penguin Online game occurred, armies looked for a new Club Penguin private server to play on. SWAT, along with most of the rest of the army community, decided to transition to Club Penguin Armies: The Game. The game was unique for its army-efficient compatibility.
As a result of their loss to the Ice Warriors, and the transition to a new Club Penguin private server, SWAT found itself weakened, and as a result of their declining sizes, they merged into the Doritos of Club Penguin in May 2020. This merge was quite short lived, as it only lasted 2 weeks. Very soon, Sweater, Sophy Bee, and xfastx revived the army. Sammie joined the leadership, and the army was able to maintain consistent sizes ranging from over 20–30, throughout the majority of the generation. The generation was successful.
Sub-Zero Showdown (2020)
SWAT decided to take part in the Sub-Zero Showdown, where they were pitted against the Penguin Army Force. The Penguin Army Force neglected to show up to the battle, rendering it a forfeit and by proxy a SWAT Victory. These results were overturned however, when further analysis showed that SWAT had allowed its First Responders Firestar08 and LEGOMAN to attend, the league interpreted this as a breaking of the rule that prevented advisors from attending, though SWAT does not have an advisor role within its discord server. Despite the other army not showing up, SWAT was disqualified from the tournament. However, this tournament allowed SWAT to max a considerable amount of troops.
The Eagre Foray (2020)
Much time after the eventual shutdown of CPATG, SWAT eventually moved operations to CPArmies.net, the new major CPPS for army gameplay. This generation of SWAT began as a Small Medium army and was able to reach consistent maxes of 15+. However, they were eventually flung into a conflict with the Water Vikings Army due to troopstealing allegations against SWAT Creator, Ganger90. This conflict was known as The Eagre Foray. Through this war the army was able to successfully max 25+ on numerous occasions. In the midst of the lengthy war, many promotions were given, including Honda departing from the Red Ravagers and enlisting for Leader-In-Training, and Mare was promoted to leadership. However, after about a month of fighting, SWAT leader Kaliee770 decided to transfer all of their land to their Brother Allies the Dark Warriors. This was seen as an act of surrender and deemed a win for the Water Vikings. The war verdict was contested by SWAT due to the revelation of a multilogging scandal involving Doritos Leader 32op and the Decree of the Shimmering Tides treaty signed between the Coup Crusaders and the Water Ninjas that prevented ally intervention within the war. However, the war is ultimately recognized as a Water Vikings win. With the end of the war also brought the promotion of former Elites and Ice Warriors Leader, Firestar08 to the SWAT leadership team.
Purple SWAT (2020)
SWAT was eventually able to gain a purple division through the use of custom items added to CPArmies.net by former leader Zuke. The division was released following The Eagre Foray conflict. This allowed them to do divisional battles and have an additional custom army code within the game. Despite being the basic uniform, the green division was able to successfully outmatch their purple counterparts on numerous occasions. This was despite the green division only having one leader, in contrast to the purple division having three leaders for most of its lifetime. During the majority of the divisions, green was led by Firestar08, Honda, and LEGOMAN while purple was led by Kaliee77, Belts and Coolguy. However, Aubz was added to the roster of green division leaders after she returned from a brief hiatus. The divisions were short lived due to the shutdown of CPArmies.net at the end of the year 2020.
Servings Weapons and Toppings War (2020)
The Servings Weapons and Toppings War was a war initially begun by SWAT on December 14, 2020 against the Pizza Federation (PZF). This conflict arose due to SWAT believing that PZF was carried by their allies and had exhibited “Anti-SWAT” behavior upon numerous occasions. In the midst of this conflict, the SWAT allies, Island Invaders announced their merge into SWAT in order to help offer their troops and resources in favor of the war effort. This merge introduced such high command members as LEGOMAN as a Leader-in-Training, along with Caitlinx and Plazimo as Third-in-Commands to assist their recruiting efforts in favor of SWAT. This war was however never finished, as both armies agreed to a cease fire for the final days in December due to the holidays.
Flash Nemesis War (2020)
The Flash Nemesis War was a final war between rivals from creation, SWAT and ACP. ACP declared war on SWAT on December 26, 2020, with only 5 days remaining before the end of the CPArmies.net game and the Adobe Flash program itself. In this brief conflict ACP was able to successfully take all of SWAT’s land within this short timespan, through the use of battles spread across multiple timezones. After taking a massive hit in previous battles with ACP, it seemed as if SWAT could not fend off ACP. SWAT eventually decided to neglect the last few war battles, and not show up in defense of their territory. As a result of this and the massive size difference that ACP was able to bring in comparison to SWAT, ACP was able to successfully win and negotiate a treaty with SWAT that also ended the Special Weapons and Toppings Conflict.
Post-Flash Era (2021)
Transition to Club Penguin Chapter 2 (2021)
Following the shutdown of Adobe Flash, armies were forced to scramble to find an alternative Club Penguin Private Server to continue on. The Club Penguin Army Hub was able to successfully partner with Club Penguin Chapter 2 and transfer all of their army codes from CPArmies.net over, so it seemed like a viable option for SWAT. SWAT held numerous events on Club Penguin Chapter 2, but the game ran extremely slow, and troops began losing interest due to getting lagged out of the game numerous times. Despite this, SWAT was able to maintain consistent maxes of around twenty penguins on Club Penguin Chapter 2.
Transition to Club Penguin Rewritten (2021)
Once the highly anticipated HTML5 Club Penguin Rewritten CPPS was finally released, SWAT immediately switched over to that for their events. Despite not having an army code, they urged troops to wear black, and on their first event alone they were able to reach peak maxes of twenty-five penguins. They went on the perform consistently well, averaging about twenty penguins per each event on Club Penguin Rewritten. Eventually on February 6, 2020 SWAT engaged in a practice battle with the Army of Club Penguin. This marked a historic moment, as it was the first post Adobe Flash shutdown practice battle. SWATs operations on Club Penguin Rewritten continue as of the present. Following this battle, LEGOMAN and Susej were promoted to SWAT leadership on February 7, 2020. SWAT eventually established a rogue base on the CPR Server, Zipline. After the release of the February catalog, an official SWAT CPR uniform was able to be released. This the uniform consisted of the Black Parka, Red Ski Goggles, Scuba Tanks and Green Untied Sneakers. They additionally began holding brief recruiting segments on Zipline to further spread their influence.
The March Madness Tournament (2021)
In March of 2021, SWAT was entered in the CPAHQ March Madness tournament. They were initially pitted against the People’s Imperial Confederation army in the first bracket of the tournament. SWAT received the majority of the administration predictions from CPAHQ and did not disappoint on the battlefield. On March 13, 2021, they won all three rooms against PIC, allowing them to proceed onto the second round. This round placed SWAT against the Ice Warriors of Club Penguin. SWAT lost this round and was thus eliminated from the tournament. This tournament also signified the end of Ganger90’s extremely long term as leader, as he stepped down to an advisory position. However, this retirement was short lived as Ganger90 returned after a few weeks of inactivity.
Writing the Pages of the Legends
SWAT Creator, Ganger90, SWAT Godfather, Stare3000, and SWAT Commander-in-Chief LEGOMAN all worked together and looked through old event pictures dating back to SWATs founding years in an attempt to revamp the Special Weapons and Tactics Hall of Fame page on the SWAT Website. This was done as a way to honor the immense loyalty and dedication shown by the legends who paved the way for SWAT to be where it is today. LEGOMAN designed custom penguins and frames that were modeled after each SWAT Legend in their original uniform in an attempt to pay homage to all of the different personalities and people that make up the past and present of SWAT.
Project: Conquest (2021)
SWAT was briefly involved in the Club Penguin Army Headquarters’ Project: Conquest tournament for a short period before removing themselves from the tournament to focus on the upcoming Legends Cup tournament.
Operation: Templaria (2021)
Operation: Templaria was a conflict that had been brewing for months between SWAT and the Templars, culmination in a total state of war between both nations. SWAT delcared an official state of war in a website post entitled “The Unholy Cowards,” written by SWAT Commander-In-Chief, LEGOMAN.
The Post-Flash Era concluded by the end of 2021, as armies were finally set to last long on the new HTML5 interface of Club Penguin private servers.
The Face Fade (2022–2023)
After two years of significant activity in SWAT, the community seems to appear diluted as several legends finally announce their last words within the community. Many legends had quit before this era. The era of the Face Fade depicts how SWAT’s face value fades. This era was not quite successful, especially because SWAT did not manage to win a trophy and had concluded the era with the lack of performance. SWAT did win in certain wars and a few small tournaments, however.
Amid 2022, the SWAT Leadership Elections 2022 was held. Certain High Command members were nominated for the elections, and had the ability to promote their campaign. Among the nominees were SWAT Leader-in-Training Fun X Time (considered Krill 300 in the elections), SWAT Leader-in-Training Toxic Storm (considered Naji2 in the elections), SWAT Leader-in-Training Oli129, Rye Bread, Smithy, Pandor, and Hidcre. The results of the elections were soon announced. The victors of the elections were Rye Bread, Toxic Storm, and Pandor.
By the start of 2023, leaders Rye Bread and Logical left SWAT silently. They collaborated with each other to lay the foundation of the Penguins of Madagascar. Soon, SWAT was at war against POM. The war began and finished in March 2023. A treaty was signed in lieu of the Women’s History Month in March. The treaty also contained a request where the armies request the Club Penguin Army Judges organization to reinforce new and more fair judging guidelines. By the end of the war, Coolguy left leadership. He later joined the Army of Club Penguin.
Outperforming Army in April 2023
In April 2023, following the retirement of Coolguy from the army, SWAT had constituted its first placement on the Weekly Top Ten after almost a decade. This is one of the most historic moments in SWAT. This event also received the Best Moment of 2023 award at the Yearly Awards 2023. The week was proved to be successful when as Coolguy’s retirement event was highly anticipated and received a lot of hype.
In lieu of this historic success, SWAT Founder Ganger90 wrote:
“I think that SWAT getting number 1 is something that has certainly been a long time coming for everyone here. As Club Penguin Armies have evolved and changed over time, I am so proud to see the continuous greatness that this army displays to the community no matter what’s going on, the legacy that it upholds and solidifies while creating their own. Of course there’s been countless moments where while we were not ranked #1, we knew and felt that SWAT was the strongest army. The new era that is being built here everyday is full of limitless potential, from the Staff, HCOM, Staff in Trainings, Advisors, new troops, and future leaders. We know how much work you all put in and how much you care about SWAT. And of course we cannot forget all our great legends and veterans of this army. I’d be understating to say that the sky is the limit, and words cannot describe how proud I am of all of you carrying this army back up to #1. @Lego uwu“
Related:
- 2,695 Days – SWAT #1, by Lego
- First Time In 8 Years: SWAT Makes It To #1, by Superhero123 at CPA
Soon, by the end of the same month, SWAT acquired the first placement again, greatly motivating many of the army’s troops. However, the momentum of SWAT did not last long. By the end of May 2023, SWAT partook in two wars—the Bloodbath Barrage and the World War IX. While the first was successful, the latter resulted in the defeat of SWAT’s alliance—the Sapphire Concordat. During the World War, SWAT suffered its first and one of the greatest setbacks in history. SWAT had also lost its major title, falling into the small/medium army category. By the end of June 2023, SWAT High Command members Fun X Time, Fwapo, and Ggogle collectively worked to help revive SWAT. They began updating roles and reworking several features of the Discord server. By the end of July, Ggogle left to join the People’s Imperial Confederation. Amid August 2023, Fun X Time implemented Operation: Ascension, which suggests the theory of publishing an event schedule on a monthly basis. The name of the operation was suggested by Legoman, who also scheduled the operation’s first event.
Conflict with the Templars (August 2023)
Immediately after the implementation of Operation: Ascension, SWAT re-entered war against the Templars. SWAT achieved a good score during the war, but had lost after failing to adhere to the war terms.
The Beach Brawl III Tournament (August 2023)
SWAT partook in the Beach Brawl III tournament, where armies categorized as Small/Medium compete. SWAT had performed fairly well. However, the victory was taken away by the People’s Imperial Confederation.
The Trick or Treat Tournament (October 2023)
SWAT partook in the Trick or Treat tournament in late October 2023. The event saw Ganger90 promoting Fun X Time to Leader-in-Training. The army was not able to compete well against several armies. SWAT did not manage to win a room.
SWAT-EGCP War (November 2023)
On November 5th, 2023, SWAT had performed a friendly raid during the pre-room of an event held by the Elite Guardians of Club Penguin. It was an AUSIA event. SWAT made use of friendly tactics and greeted them. However, the Elite Guardians failed to recognize this act, and assumed it was misconduct. A few hours later, they declared war on SWAT. SWAT forfeited several battles with the motive “to show that war does not affect SWAT; SWAT remains SWAT”. The Guardians also performed several raids on our events. Most of the raids failed, primarily because they had noted the incorrect timings, or were simply suppressed from receiving information about them.
Amid the war, SWAT saw the induction of Fun X Time, Fwapo, and Bull Hour. Simultaneously, Legoman retired to take up the post of Advisor.
SWAT approached the Guardians to request for a treaty. EGCP’s treaty contained forbidden terms, including the removal of certain leaders, banishing legends, the induction of Guardians themselves to leadership, and the grant of the position of protectorate. SWAT declined this request, and peacefully left the discussion. However, the war indeed faded away a few days later, after the Christmas Chaos XIII tournament began to anticipate and rejuvenate the army community. The Guardians stated that they will continue the war for months on SWAT tirelessly. The Guardians had not fulfilled their words, as the war receded.
Signs of the Better (November 2023—December 2023)
After the induction of Fun X Time, Fwapo, and Bull Hour, the leadership decided to cause several advancements into the army. The first prototype of the Constitution of SWAT began to be drafted in early November 2023. The SWAT Bot continued its consistent development to keep pace with these developments. On December 1st, 2024, the Seasons feature was introduced by Fun X Time in SWAT to add engagement. Agents were engrossed in completing missions by attending events and showing activity within the community. Attentiveness during events added to the agents’ merit. By the end of December 2023, the Yearly Awards 2023 was introduced. SWAT took advantage of the winter holidays, acquiring sizes of over 10+ consistently. The Constitution of SWAT was officially implemented during New Year 2024 at 12:00 PM UTC. New rules for the Discord server were added.
Do you endeavor to build history with SWAT?
