A good general strategy, I find, is to hire a bunch of Mowers and upgrade them to 2 armor each without using money. When you have enough money, get a fire lord and use ALL the upgrade points on attack speed because each subsequent upgrade is not reduced. If the battle lasts a while, get a ice lord and upgrade its attack speed as well. I guarantee victory using this strategy.
To beat the boss, if u havent already figured it out, is to avoid the head at all cost, try to swing behind it and take out all the "tail" with your arms, speed, range, and laser are important upgrades.
To get pwong pwner on insane, u must get all the power ups. When u get sticky paddle and then large paddle, collect as many as you can and after that keep using up your ammo and try not to let a single one through. You do not have to have all the upgrades (though it would help).
its almost impossible to lose a battle if you are controlling a destroyer except if there is a testudon(s), simply maneuver yourself so that everyone is following behind you and then slow down enough so that the missles u have can hit them and they cannot hit you, in that way you will definitely win, even against 20 fighters or more.
When I got to 41 days on normal, it was so boring that I just died on purpose. i used quake gun and 3 beast boxes in beginning, then use that really big gun and 3 shield turrets on max upgrade.
If you have over 300 health, get licorice allsorts because they have the highest health/price. If you're having trouble getting items, don't be afraid to die, though it may be inconvenient sometimes.