OBA is fickle. Newer scenarios take this into account by giving players an automatic black chit for the first Battery Access draw. That would help the Punjabi cause in A39, but only if the Allies don't "box" Radio Contact on the first attempt.
According to ROAR, the scenario is roughly 58% in favour of the Italians. I don't think the British balance (adding an MMG) is enough to narrow this gap. An auto black chit might. Adopting a
Pleva-like OBA rule where a Battery is never permanently lost could prove to be too much. Granted this is tempered to some degree by the radio, which could fail to gain/maintain Contact or malfunction.
Thanks for the AAR, I had looked at this scenario recently when searching for a scenario to play against a newer player. As written, it's a possible candidate for a novice DTO player who wants to try his hand at attacking in the desert. The Italians have the forces and the time to get the job done.