Instead of going the sticker route, is anyone painting just the bases solid colors? I have no interest or time to paint the whole mini, but the bases painted up to differentiate would be nice. Is there a list to go by to paint the right amount of each mini? The instruction book is pretty vague on that part.

Look at page 11 of the Learn to Play guide, at the bottom-right part of the page. It has a picture of a Stormtrooper Deployment Card with a blue/white arrow pointing to the "Group Limit"--in the case of Stormtroopers it's 3 figures per Deployment Card. Stormies come in groups of 3, Trandoshian Hunters come in groups of 2, etc. Just look at the Group Limit on each Deployment Card.

Awesome, thanks! I hope painting the bases won't mess with future expansions, paint is permanent and the stickers could be swapped out easily.

I'd recommend that you pay attention to the Gray and Red colors on the Regular and Elite levels of characters. You might consider painting the bases either Red or Gray, and then perhaps painting the sides of the bases a different color to designate a different deployment group.

I like what Crabbok did with his to that effect: http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/129658-painting/?p=1382897

I have painted just the rims red for elites and black for second normal groups.

Not had a chance to play yet to see if it makes a visible difference when the board is loaded with minis