I usually don't like "rate my list" posts but these are some ideas I'm kicking around. I'm running into storage space issues and have to plan carefully about future figure acquisition. I just kind of casually pick up clampacks here and there as my painting queue shrinks. But I've realized my designated Star Wars: IA battlefoam case is now down to 6 infantry and 2 big beasty slots. My main concern as I come up with ideas for lists is not taking names, but having fun. I don't really care if I win, I just don't want to be so sucky that it gets to the other extreme of boredom through inevitable defeat either.

Dewback regiment. I already have one dewback, how bout three? I kind of like the idea of Terro, plus two non-unique dewback riders. Cause it's only non-unique if I have more than one in my collection. This will be pricey and eat up my last two slots for big models. There are lots of thematic models to pair them up with, which is a pro. But I don't want to do it if it's going to be frustratingly awful on the battlefield.

Bantha riders in the sky... I have the 4 foot tusken raiders and I like the bantha model... but is there any fun way to come up with 40 points of tusken raiders? I can't really see them allying with anyone. I think if I buy two, and use all my infantry as elites, that still leaves me at only 32 points. Am I likely to find 8 points of useful upgrades? Storing two of these guys looks like a real pain which is a con. But if I only buy one, I'm down to a max of 23 points, how can that be feasible? This is the 3rd system where I've run into this. What good are the 4 I've got (other than campaign) if I can't expand them into a 40 point squad? However, I am hearing that the bantha comes with an upgrade card that would make my Hoth rebel's tame wampa much more useful. Which brings us to...

More Echo Base Troops. I am coming to the realization I am probably going to have base my rebel list around 2 squads of elite Echo base troopers. With one squad of them, I am struggling to find 40 points of rebels that are fun (for me) to play. But when I imagine a second squad, I suddenly can't decide what to take with only 40 points to spread around. So it seems like I am about 8 points short of where I need to be! But again, if this will just be frustratingly limited and repetitive I don't want to go there. These I don't need as much advice on, I guess, as I can just use the cardboard tokens as a 2nd squad for awhile.

Edits: Typos and clarity and such.

I'm a proponent of having at least one of everything, so I'd say start there.

Regarding storage, I'd recommend getting a glass shelf and storing your miniatures there, and using foam for transport.

As for the multiple Dewback and Bantha models, I've considered it, but I could never justify more than two of each. if you're running an entire Sand People squad, I think you'll have some difficulty. All the Raiders are melee, and your only ranged output would come from the massive Bantha Riders. I think Dengar would be a good addition thematically, but I'm not sure it would be a great overall group.

Do you have any Rebel Rangers? You'd get three snipers to compliment the more front line focused pair of Echo Elites. If you could recover one more point, you could fit them in for 9. There's nothing wrong with getting two more Echo Base Troopers, though.

My collection stands at:

Core, Hoth, Twin Shadows, and Jabba's Realm boxes. Plus Weiss, Chewie, IG-88, Leia, Dengar, Sorrin, Echo Troops, R2/3PO, Dewback, Alliance Rangers, and Jabba the Hutt. Not a gigantic collection but not tiny.

The Alliance Rangers are cool for cobbling together games and pairing off with Chewie for an Endor list or whatever. But I like to put together all-Hoth armies in most SW minis games. I keep trying to figure out how to paint certain models to look right for Hoth and most of them just won't. Saska Teft will cause of her gloves, and she lets me recruit a Wampa or something. Wookies and droids always fit the theme too. I'm toying with doing a custom paint job on IG and making him a captured war droid that "Taska"* reporgrammed to fight for the Alliance. Obviously I can take Leia but i shy away from main movie characters and like to invent my own rebel cells. Likewise, it is of no consequence to get Han Solo and paint him in his Echo base costume. You just make his vest and shirtsleeves the same color of dark blue. And paint his pants brown.

Tusken Raiders have a weak shooting attack I believe. But the only thing I can think looks halfways visually compatible with them is Nexus. Not much points there. But I feel like I'm missing something. In-universe, they don't like jawas, they don't like Jabba's men, dunno what to do with these guys. The Alliance Smuggler looks like he could be painted as a "Man Who Would Be King" type running around with his adopted tribe of Sand People though.

Good to know about the dewbacks not needing more than two. I assume you mean two total: Terro and a plain rider. If heavy stormtroopers and Somos aren't enough to use with them, Sandtroopers will pair visually with plain elite stormtroopers too.

While I appreciate the storage tips, I seriously have around 2,000 painted minis. And that is after a substantial downsizing I went through last year because I was drowning in unused toys. IA is not event the tip of the iceberg. I'm really trying to rein in the impulse to expand IA beyond one case at least for a while because I also have extensive Hasbro and Grenadier Star Wars minis collections. At some point, I am sure an Endor boxed expansion will come out, or perhaps a second Hoth expansion, or I will break down and snag The Bespin Gambit, I will have to get another designated IA battlefoam case.

*I will tend to custom paint, re-name, and do brief character bios of other rebels that the IA hero minis are being used for. To that end I have to figure out who my own "PC" is going to be... Maybe Biv repainted as a bounty hunter in arctic gear. He has little enough exposed skin that it could work. Call him "Tantos. You get a gold star if you know why. Other options for my personal avatar in battles include Davith or Obi-Wan repainted as a washed up old drunk. Remember the 90's?

Ah, you're right, I forgot about the ranged attack the Raiders have. You could probably find a second hand set of Tuskan Raider minis and deployment cards for much cheaper than a second Twin Suns expansion, and you could roll with two elite Bantha Riders, two elite Raiders, and a regular Raider. Otherwise, an elite Nexu with the Beast Tamer skirmish upgrade would be 7 pts, and that could work. If you pick up Jabba's Realm, you could easily imagine a group of Tuskan Raiders walking in single file behind their tamed Rancor...

I have Jabba's Realm. I was going to religiously stick to Hoth and then it dropped right when I was buying my boxes and the Rancor was in there... plus rules for dewbacks... I do really like all OT creatures! A stolen Rancor is an interesting idea... I am really hoping for a "between boxes" wave of packs that includes the Rancor Keeper! Seems like I need at least one Bantha for collecting/painting, and for the beast tamer card. Come to think of it, the original Hasbro Tusken Raiders suffered from awful scale creep, meaning they should be as tall as FFG ones. I think I have 4 of them around to use as a spare infantry squad. Hmm.

But a list centered around 2 squads of elite Echo Base Troops and C-3PO won't just be a speed bump huh? Guess that seals it, I need to snag another pack... The thing is, I buy all my stuff at the local store. They don't keep the IA aisle terribly well stocked. So I like to have a "green light" list of a few different products. So that they will always have something I need. I get to paw through the racks of figures looking for the right ones, takes me back to the 80's hunts through the racks of Kenner ones! Why is the one you want always in the back?

There does seem to be an utter lack of long rage rebel Hoth stuff. I was hoping for a fast moving tauntaun, maybe with interchangeable rider like the dewback. A general Reikan figure would have been good too. Oh well. Got to make my own stuff.

I figured out why Biv just doesn't fit the Hoth aesthetic no matter how I re-imagine his colors. It's the cut of the pants. So he is out of the running. Not that he offered much long range help anyways.

I also expected a Tauntaun expansion! I guess the reasoning for excluding it was that it's too fast, but I fully expected some Rebel Calvary.