Absolutly legal thing. Only your units are counted into damage. Yes, other guy units are used to open fight but they are not counted. In the end only important thing is how much generals you killed to each other. If they killed your generals they made you damage. Who cares how they did it. It is war....
There is no rule that says something like that is not allowed
disagree with everything. Thats like saying if i bleed all your forges and get better damage that on you... no, unfair standard. I've never fought gauntlet war because it is an agreement that both sides play fair and in this case, they aren't. Cancel it, fight for real. Thats my opinion. Then all the 'absolutely legal' tactics can get used anyway no problem
You can agree od disagree but fact is that like they used tactic to save army, enemy used tactic to kill it...
In general, it's easier to hide an army in Ikariam than to find one. Therefore, we have to resort to emergency measures.