Impending Doom - The Matrix Games version of East Front II

[Teamgame] : Historical; location : 45 km northeast of Warzaw, Poland. In the last days of Operation Bagration, the destruction of army group Center, STAVKA wanted to exploit the operation to it's fullest. With huge gaps in the front, Soviet forces were streaming through and heading west as fast as they could. STAVKA was aware that the operational supplies were attaining critical levels, but still it wanted to reach Warzaw before the front stabilised again. While other forces were attacking the Polish capital from the east, a secondary attack was aimed at getting to it from the north. Initially this attack was done by the 35th Guards Rifle Corps of the 5th Guards army. But when this reported that the germans were streaming back to the Neman river, the 5th Guards Tank Army was directed to this sector and ordered to secure a bridgehead over the Neman in the vicinity of Wyszkow. But the initial reports were not entirely true! Generalleutnant Richert, commander of what remained of the 35th Volksgrenadier division decided that his troops would not survive in a mobile battle. He had ordered his weak kampfgruppe to head for Lochov and there follow the highway back to the west. When he arrived in the city he found the warehouses still filled (Lochov was a supply center for army group center.) He took over command of the city garrison : security troops and administrative personnel and formed a defensive perimeter around the city. The last of the troops to reach the city were the StuG's of a Sturmartillerie Brigade. Meanwhile his cries for help had not gone unnoticed! Two powerfull SS Panzer divisions, Totenkopf and Wiking were directed to Wyszkow once it became clear that the drive for Warzaw had stalled. Since the Red Army Air Force had control of the skies, both commanders knew not what to expect. With their forces moving up in column they feared more the occasional airstrike than an armoured attack. But their orders were simple : relieve Richert's troops, then fall back across the Neman and put up (another) defensive line.