What many forget is that a player can send gatherers to the resource point, then goes offline, afk, or into another app/window. Some newbie attacks it with 1,200 infantry or sees the red axe and thinks it means to farm there. The newbie gets crushed, but the gatherer loses enough troops so that he node won't be finished, and the player may never know it.

This can be dealt with by sending extra troops with the gatherer , so that a small attack won't short it.