Beat it on normal with starter group on second run. Got to Volcano with 4 completed islands, 3 maxed pilots, all energy(and 20% grid defense).
One of my pilots had Flight as an option, which made the Prime mech even more useful. I maxed out its damage, gave it a rock thrower(that I never used), and a point each into move and health.
The Brute mech, I also maxed damage and put a point into move and health, and gave it a weapon that hit 3 squares in a line, and upgraded it to 2 uses per battle.
The Ranged mech had a pilot who pushed enemies when he healed, and I did building immunity, +2 damage, +1 health/move, and 1 core into a passive ability that made all bump damage to enemies 2 damage.
The prime mech could 1 shot anything if I could push them into something due to 4 base damage + 2 bump, and was likely to have a good angle thanks to flight. Brute wasn't far behind, doing 3 base, and another 2 on bumps. The ranged mech mostly just kept people off buildings, and set up the other 2 mechs for more damage.
After a while, it seemed very rote. Didn't suck me in the same as FTL, but I unlocked two new squads to try today, so we'll see. I think the biggest issue I have is that buying cores is the best thing you can do like 90% of the time. Every decent weapon I saw was 1 use, inferior to what I already did, or a major liability in some way.
