How about you provide a 1 month shield for new players who join so as to help them build. Or implement an algorithm to check age of players and prevent too high ranked players to attack newbies. Clash of clans had an algorithm to find equally powered enemies. That helps balance the game for newbies and oldies.
Posted using Partiko Android
for @drugwars peeps
I agree with the above..
I would add that since you have a 'rating' for each player, I am assuming on what levels all their building are, you can easily set up a deal like with other PvP where only certain 'levels' can attach each other..
Or really throw your ninja-dev work into having a mini-game for the battles so there's some actual human interaction and the possibility of actually challenging and fighting each other..
or simply frequently log into the game and build your resource save first, before building an army! there are always ways to grow, even when being new and small. it may take a bit more effort in terms of time and the frequency of login the game multiple times a day to do something with your gained resources (easy with the mobile friendly version of the game); thought of joining a gang? that helps also with (less) users coming to you and try to steal resources.