"Hole fixers" "Gap fillers" Call them what you want many alliances use them and my humble opinion its smart play you use them to defend an area, they do a similar job as you would have previously asked an allie to do for you. Oh and of course they are killed to control areas too etc.
Its a tactic that i fully agree with the only time i won't agree with it is when them little expendable accounts are then used to block in coming attacks, that i feel is a bit cowardly and ruins the game.
Remember guys war is war and its human nature to find an edge to over come your enemies to win. We all need enemies. Enemies make it a war game, remove the enemies and all you got is TRACTORS, farm or fight. I prefer to fight ?