I developed a working theory about auto verse regular attack,
Auto tends to grab a chunk off dice rolls from the dice pool at once, so if that chunk is full of low rolls , you will likely lose, or if it is good rolls you will win.
OK ...DUH ! ! In my experience though, auto is very rarely my friend. So I avoid it except when I am on a rampage and only 1's and 2's are in the way.
I never use it unless my army count is at least 10 to 1 . I have even lost those rolls at times..lol Early in the first few of my games, I lost 20 men to a 1. Learned real fast to not use auto .
Now by choosing to use regular attack , I can see what type of rolls are showing up, if those rolls tend to lean more towards the defender, I can stop and wait for a chunk of the dice to be used up by other games, then try my luck again. I have found that this tends to work in my favor more then not.
When I pay attention to the pattern of dice rolls , with patience and slow attacks I usually win in the end.
