Server downtimes can and do happen. They're very rare, but unexpected internet outages can happen. In this case it was due to a double-failing of switches in the data-centre (one failed switch, then a replacement switch immediately failing, and some head-scratching to figure it out before a 3rd switch was tried).
As per the user agreement everyone accepts when they sign up, I cannot guarantee 100% uptime for everyone because unexpected things on the internet and around the world like this can happen. You can get DDOS attacks that cut a website off for hours at a time, lightning strikes in the wrong place that fry networks or power generators, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, and the most common natural disaster, a server technician (they seem capable of causing far more damage than any of the other things when the mood suits them).
Server outages, just like user accounts that get deleted, cannot have a fair system of "compensation". Because "compensation" for one person, is different to another person;
* Somebody who's attacks were out and were about to steal huge amounts of land, will not want their uber attack recalled the moment the server comes back up. I've tried a "mass recall" of mobs once a few years back, and the amount of moaning on the forums from people saying it was unfair that this or that attack/defence of theirs got recalled and they might not get the chance to do it again was incredible.
* Somebody who's being attacked and sees the downtime as the perfect opportunity to escape the doom they just faced will go on and on and on about how everything should be recalled and frozen and how it would be perfectly fair, or somebody who's attack had failed.
* Some people will get stuck because they wanted to recall their attack, couldn't make it online when the server came back up because the duration was unknown and unexpected, and unfortunately things didn't go well.
* Some people will be glad their mobs didn't get recalled without their say so simply because of unexpected downtime.
There is no "fair" system that will make everyone happy. In the past I have experimented with delayed tick starts (that got moans from people saying it was giving defenders lots of time to organise defence on their incomings before ticks started up again) and mass recalls (that got lots of moans as per above). Not doing anything at all equally gets moans, but at least not doing anything at all doesn't seem like I'm specificically and intentionally trying to benefit one set of people over another, and matches what happens when an account gets deleted (I don't try compensating every victim of a cheater when somebody gets deleted for cheating because, as per a long discussion on another thread some time ago, it's impossible to truly know what knock-on effects happen because of something occurring).
So yes, it's impossible to know what impact a server downtime really has on every single individual case, you can only really take people for their individual words of "I lost this because of it and totally would have been 1000 land and 1 billion troops better off if it never happened therefore you owe me 1000 land and 1 billion troops!", I've tried both delayed tick restarts and mob recalls on server downtimes in the past and got just as many if not more gripe threads on the subject of what a stupid decision I had made to mass recall/delay tick starts, and the short of it is the user agreement does state that I cannot guarantee 100% uptime nor can any server in the world.
All I can do is apologise for the downtime as ever, state that these things can and do happen in the world of the internet, and it can be seen as an unexpected "Natural disaster" - and when a "natural disaster" with nobody to blame occurs people should pool together, grit their teeth, and get on with lives as best they can, not start screaming at God for flooding their house