El Alamein - a FOW friday night game

I try to play a FOW game almost every week.
I really enjoy that ruleset and his detailed gameplay.
I've set only 3 parameter to myself:
1. you shall play only historical plausible matches (my personal toy soldier's god set this imperative to me...)
2. you shall play only with fully (or almost fully) painted minis
3. you shall play only with your own armies (borrowing armies is a capital sin to the forementioned god).

Last Friday I've contravened to the third commandment... I've enjoyed a very fun match with not even a soldier painted by me on the field.
It was a "for fun" match, which means we could play more relaxed, without the usual millimetre counting we are used on tournaments and, of most evidence, both lists were non competitive, with a lot of funnies you'll not field usually.
We had planned a mid war desert battle and, after seeing a lone train station sitting on the table aside a tiny and unnoticeable hamlet, we got a shiver… we were at El Alamein. A name still capable to make our Italian hearts lose some beats. 

On the allied side, we had a huge British armoured company, with 3 Sherman platoons, 2 grant platoons, and a crusader platoon. All of those with 3 tank per platoon. There were also 3 Daimlers acting as company own recce plt. and a motor platoon with full complement. This company was supported by an impressive field battery support of 8 25pdr guns.

On the axis side, we got 2 small companies with a German grenadier company with 2 grenadieren zugs with an organic Pak38 attached, a support of 2 fearful 88s, 2 Diana tank-hunters, 2 8 rad armoured cars and a lonely but dreadful Tiger1e tank.
Italians got 3 platoons of m14, 1 plt. of their good performing Semoventes and a small (and this time mostly ineffective) howitzers battery. 6 L6 were on the field looking for a good chance to deliver severe punishment on everything or everyone who dares to move in front of them...

Brits launched an enveloping attack on both Italian flanks, trying to seize the objective on the far left of axis force, threatening the right objective as well, in order to keep everyone busy and unsecure...

But, on their left flank they had a very unpleasant surprise… 4 semovente and their carro commando, were in ambush in the thick palm tree wood and start to pound very hard on British exposed flank… a menace that, simply, the brits tanks couldn’t ignore.

In the meanwhile, the 88s and the tiger in the centre of the field start to exact their toll on both british flanks, thanks to their long range guns. On the Italian left there was a preliminary manoeuvre, to keep all the allied assets covered from the houses and the linear walls. They simply cannot forget to have a full platoon of grenadier with their pack and a couple of Dianas waiting for them.

Both artilleries achieved nothing, with English crews showing a little more competence in aiming and Italian ordnance getting a lot of misfires and unexploding ammo.

With the British charge on the right flank nailed down, the Italians could move some assets to support the left flank, while the British tried an all out attack against their positions. Some good shots from the brits got a Diana and some m14s burning on the field reopening the match, with the slow Tiger still far away and the Italian tanks under strength.

Unfortunately a daring action from the company commander, with a solitaire charge to outflank the Shermans, levelled this tiny chance to close their objective. The other m14 platoon, in the meanwhile, keep the British infantry with their head down behind a fence, just some inches outside the small hamlet, which was the British main objective…

After a very hard gun fire, on the right flank, the British M3 Grant proved themselves invulnerable to artillery and semoventes shots, and managed to destroy the feared tank-hunters platoon, but they proved to be unable to rally and to remount their bailed crews, among which was the platoon HQ.

Unable to move, they got the Italian daring counter-attack on their flank. And, even if with only 3 m14 surviving, the Italians managed to destroy the last Grant.

The game was over, the British retired, letting the Axis force to begin their long march to the Mareth…