I finally beat it on the deity setting. But then I realized there's very little replay value. I really like the game play but think it can and should be expanded to keep the replay value going. Think of Rebuild 2. I still play that all the time.
I beat it on nightmare, finally. It's doable but what you really need to start out is a suburb, trailer park or apartment next to your initial four squares that is hopefully empty. Take that over immediately while recruiting two more survivors and scavenging for food. After that, find a hospital fast. The lab can wait a bit but it's vital to winning the game. Then just make sure you keep your people fed by either scavenging or farms and keep growing! If you have spare soldiers, use them to kill zombies in neighboring squares even if you're not going to reclaim them. It'll keep you safer.
@Warhero, hold all your units back until the first black imp is there, hit with the meteor (fully upgraded). The dragon also tears up black imps. it takes a while but it's a doable.
Would be nice if there was an "Endless" mode after you beat the game. I eventually got a brilliant rating on every level and now there's no reason to play again. Great game, wish I had a reason to replay.