Vikings is a game with many different levels of players.  Some spend lots of money, some spend little.   That is not a problem.   Those that do not spend money need to be content that they will never be king.

But there is a problem with lower level players that are not spending a lot of money getting wiped out by high level players.   It may take them a long time to build to a certain point.   If a player that is many times their size then wipes out their troops and resources repeatedly it often causes them to quit.  They find that even though they have played the game a long time they are not competitive, and they never will be competitive.  I am referring to someone that is wiped out by a player that is 10 or more lvls higher than them, not just normal battles.  Basically a big player being a baby killer.    

This problem could be addressed with the addition of some type of reputation or honor metric. The more honorable things you do the higher it goes. The more villainous you are the lower the statistic. It would work similar to reputes.

That way when a huge player starts attacking smaller players that have no chance (lvl 26 player wiping up level 15 players) it would drive down their honor metric. At a certain point it would start causing negative buffs like the negative reputes. If it gets low enough then the person could no longer train higher level troops because they will not fight for a dishonorable person. Perhaps it starts creating negative battle effects, etc. The effects would last for a limited time, just like reputes.   You could also lose honor for being kicked out of a clan.   When traveling to a new kingdom your existing honor would be capped since you need to build honor points in your kingdom through being a good player.

Honer would increase for winning battles against players your own size, sending resources to clan and sh, etc. Perhaps it would increase even more if you win battles against those bigger than you. Successful onslaughts against tough targets could bring honor to all members of the clan. Honor would have positive buffs, like learning or building bonuses. Completing clan tasks might also be a good place to gain honor. Also gaining honor for having a high rank in your clan in clan and individual events.   You would also gain honor when you compete in global events.

A player would be required to have a minimum level of honor to rule a kingdom or to compete to be King of Jotunheim. If a kings honor dropped below a certain level while ruling it would cause their ouster. The POP would go back to siege status. The King of Jotunheim would continue King but would start losing his or her benefits from being king.

The new honor metric should be earned with no option to purchase honor points. If someone becomes a baby killer and kills low level towns it should take a while for them to gain their honor back.

But at the same time, if a small player keeps hitting your tiles you could choose to retaliate, understanding that you would have low honor for a while .  Large players could still do whatever they want, it would just have temporary consequences if they did things that reduced their honor.