@Ozerf If you are playing atrittion then the defence bonus doesn't affect men lost by you or your opponent, just the chances of winning. I've had ties when attacking werewolves and my opponent's territory has been left with up to 4 men rather than 1
If it's HC well it's HC, the more spread out you are the more a single 8 can eat you up

Plus Pumpkins attacks are awesome on attrition, their tendancy to reduce the opponent to 1 and then mow the lawn with a single 8 is amazing (not the spawn bonus, because thats almost nonexistant, but still something to count)
The simple, the best.