Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't it The Gentlemen that were the predominate force in taking a couple of our alliance cities. If I am not mistaken they were trying to clear us from the left side of the map. They used to camp one of our cities near them so bad people would have to log even when it was our day on the mine because we couldn't match their numbers and they would come back again and again, sometimes before we could re-equip. In the end we ended up giving up our day on the mine because it wasn't cost effective to stay there.