Do not wait for the protection to expire before attacking. Begin attacking as soon as you have the Barracks and 18 soldiers trained in order to get resources and build your base faster. To get access to new troops, research them in the Command Bunker after you have enough resources. Research requires a lot of time, but can be done at the same time as an upgrade. When selecting an opponent, choose those that have a small amount of medals. Chances are, they will be easy to defeat. When early in the game, focus on getting more resources and not medals.