I liked it. The controls were not bad, the ice effect actually made sense, and it was a fun little game. I liked the puzzles, not too much back and forth, the complexity ramps up nicely, etc. For a flash game this is a nice little adventure!
When someone attack you, the color decides what you should do. If it is Green choose that option. Red is low odds of success. Yellow is half way.
Enemy Army Strength; If it is green choose Fight (get 10% bonus)
Enemy Leader Cunning; If it is green choose Cheat (no bonus)
Choose Flee if both are red and you can't afford to lose people (usually just choose Fight for the 10% bonus to Strength, but later on it REALLY does not matter- nothing you do will keep up with threat).
Honestly, this game is not that much of a grind.
Have four harvesters, don't upgrade everything until you get the last ship or last upgrade option, and no need to 100% every stage. The most important thing is stars as it unlocks upgrades - the escort jets are worth their slots until you can buy nukes.
This game is really slick. Great controls, nice animation, and smooth frames, especially considering the number of things being animated. The only criticism is not enough variety - oh sure it LOOKS that way, but really the only gun worth having is Homing Missle (Meteor Launcher for last level on Extreme), and the only ships worth having are the four slot ones. I only ever used the other guns for the badges. Still, lots of fun and very well executed!