The week 2 has been concluded and continued to provide us with interesting results.
On Friday, the 1erRC took on the German from the Nr4 in what promised to be a thrilling series between two opponents of similar strengths. The match certainly held on to its expectations, as both regiments traded rounds and neither seemed capable to take an early advantage. After a really long and intense battle (the whole match lasted close to 3hours), the 1eRC got themselves the fifth round, leaving the Nr4 with only the draw to play with. Such a draw seemed very possible prospect for a good part of the last round, as the Nr4 managed to get back a 4v8 situation down to a 4v5, with all 1erRC members dismounted while the Nr4 could still count on three mounted players. As Sebi managed to pick-up two quick kills, turning the round into a 4v3 in favour of the Nr4, not many would have expected the 1erRC to come back. But fatigue probably played a role in the conclusion of that match and as the Nr4 rushed the last kills, they committed a few mistakes which allowed the 1erRC to clutch it against all expectations, getting the final round and making it a 6-4 victory in their favour. 1eRC coming back from that round seemed unlikely .. but so long as it's not impossible, you should never count them out!
The second match of Week 2 was held on Saturday and featured the 11e and the 5e Hussards. The 11e was given favourite in that match-up after the poor performance from the 5e against the Nr4, but this match was announced as treacherous for Lindblom's men. And as expected, it was a completely different 5e which faced the European regiment on that evening. More organized and incisive, the Frenchmen took off at full throttle and started chaining rounds, one after the other. It took 6 rounds until the 11e finally found a way to stop them but the 5e had already secured themselves the draw and could approach the end of the match in a more serene manner. The end of the match was a bit more disjointed and if it wasn't for Remao's impressive clutch, the 5e could have give-up another round, but the more important was the result, a victory against a high calibre opponent, as well as the denial of the defensive bonus. After a difficult first week, the 5e showed great composure and impressive team play which proven being stronger than the 11e's strong individualities on that particular day. On the 11e's side, this match probably showed that despite being one of the regiments with the highest potential in this competition, they still had room for improvement and a real synergy to find. But the road is still long and both these regiments will have many more challenges to overcome before proving themselves as real contenders for the title. Unlike again the Nr4, the 5e managed to hold on to their advantages taken early, which helped them finishing most of the rounds without too much trouble.
The last two matches on Sunday opposed a German derby between the 2Lr and Nr6 while the 4e faced the 16e. While the 2Lr and 16e didn't stand many chances, they managed to show a slight improvement compared to the previous week and picked-up one round each. Against way stronger opponents, every round is good to take and while it probably doesn't consist in a satisfying result for these two, it certainly gave them something to work on for their future encounters. The 16e/KGl alliance actually showed some strong signs in their encounter against the 4e. If Erik's men had the whole match under the control, a lot of the early rounds saw both regiments trading players equally and if the 4e's experience allowed them to close every round without too many troubles, the 16e and KGL proved that on a large scale match, they were not to be underestimated.