What people seem to be forgetting here, is that this doesn't solely apply for attacks on the rank 1 alliance. Sure, you won't get a -2 on ranks 20-40, but I know that last night, even rank 150 got a -1 on me, and I'm not in the top ally.
So what we encourage here, is low ranked people rushing top ranked players.
Let's take a step back, and see what this will accomplish:
1. You're a high ranked solo robo. You get rushed by an rpg everytime your ar mod allows it.
2. You're a high ranked allied RPG. You get rushed by TL everynight. Impossible to defend.
So, the victims of these rushes have 2 possibilities: Either be contactable 24/7, or continuously lose troops every night. A bit like what bikers did to poms back in the old days: Bikers weren't terribly effective, but they'd kill a few mil every night, resulting in a fair bit of losses when you looked at it over a longer period of time.
Result: Either the top player gets burnt out from being contactable 24/7, or he gets bored of losing troops to little shrimps every night. Either way, the top player will quit active play.
@Cheese: Sure, jeeps and humvee can provide for good flak. But in the case of an SA rush for example, you got 10 minutes to get those players with jeeps or humvee, on... That x2 modifier for -1 rushes, will make an SA rush probably worth your while on a TL or RPG. Fun times.
And @whoever said to retal: You'll get rushes from your counterroute, so retalling (especially on a solo) will not be the interesting option. And to retal, you have to be online.
I personally think this change is ridiculous, yet another way to punish whoever puts in the effort.